An optical characterization system includes a camera assembly and a workstation. The camera assembly is configured to capture images of different portions of a structured light pattern emitted from a device under test in accordance with imaging instructions. In some embodiments, the device under test may be a diffractive optical element (DOE). The workstation provides the imaging instructions to the camera assembly, and stitch the captured images together to form a pattern image. The pattern image is a single image of the entire structured light pattern. The workstation also characterizes performance of the device under test using the pattern image and a performance metric.