Up until the late 1970s, the contour projector or optical comparator was the mainstay of automated two-dimensional inspection systems. Since then, while there have been many advances in projector technology, video based image analysis has jumped to the forefront for noncontact inspection and measurement tasks.
Driven by advances in optics, cameras, electronics and software, vision metrology systems have increased in performance, speed, and versatility. The ability to quickly collect and analyze hundreds or thousands of accurate measurement data points makes acquisition of vision based, noncontact metrology systems a high ROI business investment.