Inspection system and method of inspection

An inspection system comprising:

• an inspection lighting device configured to irradiate inspection light onto an inspection object,
• the inspection lighting device settable such that an irradiation solid angle of the inspection light irradiated onto each point on the inspection object has solid angle sectors each having different optical attributes with an optical axis as a center,
• the solid angle sectors radially arranged around the optical axis of the irradiation solid angle and being adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction;
• and
• an imaging device configured to image object light reflected, transmitted, or scattered by each point on the inspection object, the imaging device configured to selectively image the different optical attributes of the object light,
• wherein the inspection system is configured to specify three-dimensional characteristics of a surface of the inspection object by detecting, at each point on the inspection object, a change in an optical axis of the object light or a change in a solid angle of the object light relative to an observation solid angle formed at a point on the inspection object by the imaging device, in an inclusive relation with the observation solid angle, as changes in the object light having the optical attributes resulting from the solid angle sectors of the inspection light, and specify incline directions and incline angles of inclines in a plurality of directions at each point on the inspection object based on the proportions or ratios of the detected sectors having the different optical attributes.