The first printed circuit boards were much simpler than the designs we see today. Containing far fewer solder connections and components, the primary form of inspection was called MVI, or manual visual inspection. This process was as simple as looking over a board and ensuring all of the components were connected in the right place.

As the complexity of printed circuit boards has grown exponentially over the years, manual visual inspection has grown out of practice. This method was seen as easily prone to failure thanks to human error, and produced substandard board quality as the complexity of printed circuit boards spiked. When not caught early, defects lead to faulty boards that become increasingly more difficult to fix as the board proceeds down the assembly line, leading to higher costs and greater amounts of waste from faulty boards.

To reduce human error, the visual inspection process has become largely automated. Paired with surface mount technology, inspections can proceed at a much higher rate with greater degrees of accuracy. As surface mount technology has led to smaller Metal core PCBs and multilayered design, other tools like X-rays are required to find early detection of faults.

What are some of the most common types of Metal core PCB inspection available today? We investigate the topic in depth below.