Concerning a number of different kinds of physically vapor deposited (PVD) hard coatings on different substrates, four mechanical parameters were obtained using a series of new systematic measurement techniques which have been established by the authors. They were the interface toughness, film toughness, Young's modulus of and residual strain in film. The results were quantitatively compared with the results of conventional evaluation such as the critical load obtained by scratch tests and Young's modulus by indentation tests. The reasons for the ambiguities and insensitivity of the scratch test results were able to be clearly seen through the four parameters. Possible error in Young's modulus evaluated by indentation was also quantitatively examined. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.