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A practical approach to soft-copy display consistency for PC-based review workstations.
1Department of Medical Physics & Engineering, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, St James's University Hospital, Leeds LS9 7TF, UK.
The British Journal of Radiology
|September 23, 2003
Summary
Achieving consistent soft-copy display on non-dedicated PCs is challenging. Simple adjustments using the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) test pattern can improve grayscale image consistency in Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS).
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Display Technology
- Radiology Informatics
Background:
- Increasing use of digital modalities and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) drives soft-copy display adoption in hospitals.
- Non-dedicated workstations using standard PCs offer cost-effective image access but often lack specialized displays, leading to inconsistent image presentation.
- The Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Working Group 11 developed a grayscale display function standard (part 14) for image standardization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate simple, reproducible methods for achieving display consistency on non-dedicated PC-based review systems.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of adjusting monitor brightness and contrast settings using the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) digital test pattern.
- To assess consistency outside the established DICOM standard (part 14).
Main Methods:
- Adjusting monitor brightness and contrast settings on non-dedicated PC review systems.
- Utilizing the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) digital test pattern for calibration.
- Evaluating display characteristic curves against the DICOM standard's grayscale standard display function (GSDF).
Main Results:
- Adjusting brightness and contrast alone could approximate DICOM GSDF but required unacceptably low luminance levels.
- Intradisplay and interdisplay consistency were achievable using a straightforward monitor setup procedure with the SMPTE test pattern.
- The proposed method offers a practical approach to improving grayscale image display consistency on standard PCs.
Conclusions:
- Simple monitor adjustments and the SMPTE test pattern can achieve display consistency on non-dedicated PC systems.
- This method provides a viable alternative for standardizing soft-copy display in PACS environments where DICOM part 14 is not fully implemented.
- Further research may explore optimal luminance levels for clinical acceptability while maintaining consistency.