Method of evaluating object based upon image processing and inspection apparatus using said method

Claim 1

An inspection apparatus for inspecting a surface state of an object comprising: reading means for reading said surface of said object and generating multivalued image data for each pixel representing gradation information of said object; binarizing means for binarizing the multivalued image data read for each pixel by said reading means into binary data for each pixel; first evaluating means for evaluating the surface of said object in accordance with a first characterizing quantity relating to distribution of brightness based on the multivalued image data which represents gradation information read by said reading means and which is not binarized by said binarizing means and outputting a first evaluation result, said multivalued image data representing a multivalued image of a first tonality characteristic; second evaluating means for evaluating the surface of said object in accordance with a second characterizing quantity relating to position information based on the binary data binarized by said binarizing means and outputting a second evaluation result, said binary image data representing a binary image of a second tonality characteristic different from said first tonality characteristic; and third evaluating means for evaluating the surface of said object in accordance with both the first and second evaluation results, and outputting an inspection result.