Semiconductor device image inspection with contrast enhancement

The disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The owner thereof has no objection to facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all rights under copyright law. Machine vision methods for inspection of semiconductor die lead frames include the steps of generating a first image of the lead frame, generating a second image of the lead frame and any defect thereon, and subtracting the second image from the first image. The methods are characterized in that the second image is generated such that subtraction of it from the first image emphasizes the defect with respect to the lead frame.