An Evaluation of Performance Characteristics of Primary Display Devices

Ernest U. Ekpo, Mark F. McEntee

The aim of this study was to complete a full evaluation of the new EIZO RX850 liquid crystal display and compare it to two currently used medical displays in Australia (EIZO GS510 and Barco MDCG 5121). The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Task Group 18 Quality Control test pattern was used to assess the performance of three high-resolution primary medical displays: EIZO RX850, EIZO GS510, and Barco MDCG 5121. A Konica Minolta spectroradiometer (CS-2000) was used to assess luminance response, non-uniformity, veiling glare, and color uniformity. Qualitative evaluation of noise was also performed. Seven breast lesions were displayed on each monitor and photographed with a calibrated 5.5-MP Olympus E-1 digital SLR camera. ImageJ software was used to sample pixel information from each lesion and surrounding background to calculate their conspicuity index on each of the displays. All monitor fulfilled all AAPM acceptance criteria. The performance characteristics for EIZO RX850, Barco MDCG 5121, and EIZO GS510 respectively were as follows: maximum luminance (490, 500.5, and 413 cd/m(2)), minimum luminance (0.724, 1.170, and 0.92 cd/m(2)), contrast ratio (675:1, 428:1, 449:1), just-noticeable difference index (635, 622, 609), non-uniformity (20, 5.92, and 8.5 %), veiling glare (GR = 2465.6, 720.4, 1249.8), and color uniformity (Δu'v' = +0.003, +0.002, +0.002). All monitors demonstrated low noise levels. The conspicuity index (χ) of the lesions was slightly higher in the EIZO RX850 display. All medical displays fulfilled AAPM performance criteria, and performance characteristics of EIZO RX850 are equal to or better than those of the Barco MDCG 5121 and EIZO GS510 displays.