Patent ID: 8269970

Claim:
An optical comparator comprising: a viewing screen, an optical projector that projects an optical image of a test part under inspection onto the viewing screen, and a video projector that projects an optical image of a pixilated template pattern containing illustrated specifications of the test part onto the viewing screen, the video projector including a digital display engine for generating the pixilated template pattern, a first illuminator for illuminating the test part and a second illuminator for illuminating the digital display engine, the optical projector and the video projector being related so that the images of the test part and the pixilated template pattern are projected concurrently onto the viewing screen at a matching scale, and a program-driven interface between (a) one or more digital files containing specifications of the test part and (b) the digital display engine of the video projector for converting the specifications in the digital file into the pixilated template pattern in an illustrated form for comparison with the projected optical image of the test part on the viewing screen, wherein the program-driven interface converts information concerning one or more boundaries of the test part in the digital file into one or more tolerance zone bands in the pixilated template pattern.