Comparison of monochrome liquid crystal displays with different resolutions for soft copy reading of chest DR images: An observer preference study

Objective The purpose of this study was to subjectively compare the visibility of normal anatomy of the lung among three monochrome liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) with different resolutions. Materials and Methods 93 chest DR images were obtained from our hospital's picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Each image was evaluated independently by three high-, three mid- and three low-experienced radiologists for the visibility of markings midst upper field of right lung with 2 mega-pixel (MP), 3MP and 5MP monochrome LCDs, respectively. The readers were requested to rank each image using a three-point confidence level rating scale: excellent, fair and unsatisfactory. Paired t tests were performed to assess the difference of preference for different reading modalities. Results With respect to the visibility of markings midst upper field of right lung, there were no significant differences among these three types of displays for any aptitude of radiologists. There were no significant differences among these three aptitudes of radiologists with both 2MP and 3MP monochrome LCD. And on 5MP-LCD, there was no significant difference between mid- and low-experienced radiologists; however, the difference was significant between low- and high-experienced radiologists and between mid- and high-experienced radiologists. Conclusion High-experienced radiologists could get more information on 5MP-LCD. Mid- and low-experienced radiologists had the same preference among the three types of monochrome LCDs.