Image quality of film transparency printer output of digital dental radiographs.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the physical properties of the film transparency output of a printer and its potential use in dental radiography.


METHODS
A color printer (Sony UP-D70XR) was used to produce film transparencies of digital radiographs. A physical evaluation for the image quality was conducted including measurements of the image density reproducibility, the dose response function, the root mean square (RMS) granularity and the modulation transfer function (MTF).


RESULTS
The characteristic curve of the hard copy image produced a nonlinear, sigmoid response for pixel value or x-ray absorbed dose. The RMS of the scan parallel direction was greater than that of the scan perpendicular direction in low density areas, but it reversed beyond density 1.3. The MTF of the scan perpendicular direction was superior to that of the scan parallel direction.


CONCLUSIONS
It was suggested that further examination of the image qualities of this printer is worthwhile.
Sakurai
Takashi
T
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Kanagawa Dental College, 82 Inaoka, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 238-8580, Japan. sakurait@kdcnet.ac.jp
Matsumoto
Yukiko
Y
Onoyama
Kazuo
K
Kawamata
Ryota
R
Kashima
Isamu
I
D016287:Computer Peripherals; D011327:Printing / Q000295:instrumentation*; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results