Deflectometry for specular surfaces: an overview

Deflectometry as a technique to assess reflective surfaces has now existed for some 40 years. Its different aspects and variations have been studied in multiple theses and research articles; reviews are available for certain subtopics. Still a field of active development with many unsolved problems, deflectometry now encompasses a large variety of application domains, hardware setup types, and processing workflows for different purposes, and spans a range from qualitative defect inspection of large vehicles to precision measurements of microscopic optics. Over these years, many exciting developments have accumulated in the underlying theory, in the systems design, and in the implementation specifics. This diversity of topics is difficult to grasp for experts and non-experts alike and may present an obstacle to a wider acceptance of deflectometry as a useful tool for research and industrial applications. This paper presents an attempt to summarize the status of deflectometry and to map relations between its notable branches. Its aim is to provide a communication basis for experienced practitioners and also to offer a convenient entry point for those interested in learning about the method. The list of references introduces some prominent trends and established research groups in order to facilitate further self-directed exploration.