Quality control of cathode-ray tube monitors for medical imaging using a simple photometer

As computer monitors are used more in medical imaging and the use of picture archiving and communication system workstations with multiple monitors is increasing, quality control protocols become necessary to track subtle variations in performance characteristics. Several tests based on previously published work were applied to 10 monitors of three different types over a period of 5 months. Each test is explained, and the results are shown. For example, without corrective adjustments, 2 monitors from the same workstation showed a small but steady decline in maximum luminance of 8.1% and 7.6% over the course of 11 weeks that was not perceptible. From this experience, we took the first step toward developing a practical and useful quality control protocol. The proposed protocol requires only a photometer and the ability to generate the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) test pattern, and takes approximately 5 minutes per monitor per week to gather data.