The intercomparison of a black and white and a color display: an example of the use of receiver operating characteristic curves.

A black and white display was compared to a color display using the heated object spectrum with the aim of verifying which display was better for the detection of small abnormalities in a reasonably complicated background. Receiver operating characteristic curves with location (LROC) were generated for each type of display for each observer. The data were analyzed by taking the LROC curves in pairs, for each observer, fitting I binary ROC curve using a model, and using both parametric and nonparametric statistical tests for the paired differences. It was found, in this study, that the black and white display was significantly "better" than the color display. There was no significant difference in the time required to make a decision between the two displays. The technique of using paired ROC curves is suggested as being an appropriate and powerful test for intercomparing different imaging procedures and techniques in medicine.