Digital imaging is a process that;

• Detects a physical entity (e.g. an analog intensity map of x-rays exiting a subject's body),
• Converts this analog map into a digital representation (analog to digital conversion),
• Applies processing that makes the digital representation conform to modality/device needs (geometric correction, edge enhancement),
• Packages the image in a "storage container" (DICOM),
• Extracts the digital image and exports it to a display interface,
• Processes the image so that it shows on the display in a manner appropriate to the needs of the user.

Quality control at each phase of acquisition, processing and display is essential to ensure consistent and accurate representation of anatomy.

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) have been working on quality standards for medical display units for a long time, but most significantly in the early 2000's when computed and direct radiography came into mainstream use. The most significant product of their efforts is their Task Group - 18 (TG-18) report.

While the AAPM methods are the definitive QC process for soft copy display, they are difficult to implement. This page links to some ad hoc QC tools the webmaster has developed to do a quick assessment of the state of monitor images.