As semiconductors continue to become more complex, and manufacturers look for ways to improve their processes, machine vision is creeping into more places in the production chain. Acting as the watchful eyes of precision processes, vision systems are being used for more than just off-line checks at the end of the assembly process. To help matters, vision systems are becoming easier to understand and use, partly because of a move to Windows-based software and PC-based inspection systems. This makes systems less complicated to set up and more flexible to accommodate manufacturing changes.