Investigation of basic imaging properties in digital radiography. 9. Effect of displayed grey levels on signal detection.

Results of an 18-alternative forced-choice experiment have shown that observers were capable of detecting a signal with a contrast of 1 in terms of 10-bit data which were displayed on a CRT monitor with an 8-bit video generator and a window width setting of 1024. We investigated the conditions under which 10-bit signal data can be detected when displayed using an 8-bit video generator. Results show that the 10-bit digital quantum noise, which was approximately Gaussian distributed, can act as a carrier of the signal data, thus allowing a signal having a contrast of a fraction of a displayed grey level to be detected. We demonstrate the relationship between the rms value of the digital noise (obtainable with a clinical digital subtraction angiography system under various exposure levels), the number of bits available in the display video generator, and the "transmitted" signal contrast displayed on the CRT monitor.