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A Six-Year Longitudinal Evaluation of the DICOM GSDF Conformance Stability of LCD Monitors


S McKenney

S McKenney1*, N Bevins1 , E Olariu2 , M Flynn1 , (1) Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI, (2) William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak,, AA

Presentations

WE-D-204-3 (Wednesday, July 15, 2015) 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM Room: 204


Purpose: The calibration of monitors in radiology is critical to ensure a standardized reading environment. If left unchecked, monitors initially calibrated to follow the DICOM Grayscale Standard Display Function (GSDF) can fall out of calibration. This work presents a quantitative evaluation of the stability of a cohort of monitors with similar deployment times and clinical utilization.

Methods: Fifty-four liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors (NEC L200ME) were deployed for clinical use in 2009. At that time, a subset of eight of these monitors were used to generate a look-up table (LUT) using the open-source software pacsDisplay. The software was used to load the LUT to the graphics card of the computer in order to make the monitors compliant with the GSDF. The luminance response of the monitors was evaluated twice over six years, once in 2011 and again in 2015.

Results: As expected, the maximum luminance of the monitors decreased over time, with an average reduction from 2009 of 35% in 2011, and 53% in 2015. The luminance ratio (maximum luminance divided by the minimum) also decreased, with the all of the decrease occurring in the first two years (average 20%). There was an overall increase in relative error compared with the DICOM GSDF from measurement to measurement, indicating that deviation from the GSDF increases with monitor luminance reduction. Along with changes in luminance, several other issues were identified during the testing, including non-uniformities, bad pixels, and missing calibration software.

Conclusion: From the initial installation of these monitors, most of the degradation occurred during the first two years, highlighting the importance of routine clinical testing of displays. Following such quality assurance, displays could be either re-calibrated or replaced depending on different thresholds. In addition, other issues not related to luminance could be identified and corrected.


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