An automatic surface quality inspection system installed on a finishing line of cold rolled strips is introduced. The system is able to detect surface defects on cold rolled strips, such as scratches, coil breaks, rusts, roll imprints, and so on. Multiple CCD area scan cameras were equipped to capture images of strip surface simultaneously. Defects were detected through “Dark-field illumination” which is generated by LED illuminators. Parallel computation technique and fast processing algorithms were developed for real-time data processing. The application to the production line shows that the system is able to detect defects effectively. An automatic surface quality inspection system installed on a finishing line of cold rolled strips is introduced. The system is able to detect surface defects on cold rolled strips, such as scratches, coil breaks, rusts, roll imprints, and so on. Scan cameras were equipped to capture images of strip surface simultaneously. Defects were detected through “Dark-field illumination ” which is generated by LED illuminators. Parallel computation technique and fast processing algorithms were developed for real-time data processing. The application to the production line shows that the system is able to detect disadvantage effectively.