Practices and attitudes about cathode-ray tube-based and film-based image interpretation.

A questionnaire was mailed to 708 practicing radiologists and 348 members of the Society for Computer applications in Radiology (SCAR) in order to evaluate current practices and attitudes regarding the perceived advantages or disadvantages of film- and CRT-based image interpretation. A total of 27% of the 1,056 questionnaires (137 practicing radiologists; 145 SCAR members were returned. Ninety percent of practicing radiologists used film at least 75% of the time. Advantages of film-based reading listed by more than 75% of the respondents included: film reading is faster, and facilitates viewing multiple images. Advantages of CRT-based reading included: access to the entire dynamic range and potential imaging processing. Desirable attributes of existing displays included: adjustable grey scale, magnification, ability to view multiple images, allow quick review, and viewing by several individuals. Valued potential advances included: multiple higher resolution monitors, image processing and multimodality display. Practicing radiologists and computer applications society members had similar attitudes. Film-based reading is still nearly universal, but radiologists are interested in CRT-based reading if such devices have the proper features and become more available.