Practical assessment of the display performance of radiology workstations

Abstract

The performance of 14 primary clinical display monitor workstations in use in the Radiology Department of a large acute NHS Trust was assessed using the methods and guidelines described by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 18. Tests undertaken included the measurement of ambient light, display uniformity, luminance ratio, luminance response, maximum luminance and spatial resolution. Four display monitors failed to meet at least one of the test's guideline tolerances. In addition a number of display monitors were found to be operating at settings that might reduce their useful life span. These devices were either replaced or recalibrated by the installers, or were subject to local adjustment to ensure applicable standards were met. Consequently the study suggests that quality assurance testing of display monitors used for image reporting is necessary and valuable to ensure that images are viewed at an appropriate standard.