1. A gradient inspection system constructed and configured to inspect a wavefront exiting an object, the system comprising: an illumination system constructed and configured to illuminate said object such that an angular coverage of light comprising a same pattern is received by each point of said object; an imaging system constructed and configured to image said object onto an image plane; at least one aperture stop of said imaging system; at least one conjugate plane associated with said at least one aperture stop; a gradient element comprising at least two distinct areas, each area enabling a passage of light of at least one of a defined spectrum and power therethrough, said gradient element being disposed in said at least one conjugate plane; and a sensor disposed in said image plane of said imaging system, said sensor comprising at least one pixel, said at least one pixel receiving an image of at least one related region of said object, wherein said sensor is capable of differentiating between said at least two distinct areas of said gradient element, and wherein at least one of a color characteristic and a gray level characteristic of said at least one pixel enables reconstruction of said wavefront at said at least one related region of said object, and wherein said gradient inspection system is thereby adapted to inspect properties of said object.