title: Influence of the display monitor on observer performance in detection of dental caries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Digital imaging continues to gain acceptance in dentistry and video display used for this becomes important. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the display monitor on observer performance on caries detection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Artificial enamel lesions were created in 40 extracted teeth at random using 1/4 and 1/2 round burs. Teeth were mounted in dental stone blocks to simulate a hemi-dentition. Approximate exposures were recorded at 70 kVp using a Planmeca (Planmeca Co, Helsinki, Finland) digital imaging system. Three oral and maxillofacial radiologists rated each image on a five-point scale for the presence or absence of lesion. Radiographic images were viewed on the following monitors: (1) LG Flatron 700p (LG Electronics Co., South Korea); (2) Samsung Magicgreen (Samsung Electronics Corp., South Korea); (3) Hansol 710p (Hansol Electronics Corp., South Korea) and (4) Toshiba satellite laptop (Toshiba Computer Corp., Philippines). Examiners were allowed to magnify and adjust density and contrast of each image at will. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed. Data was subjected to repeated measures analysis of variance and ordinal logistic regression to test for significance between variables and to determine odds ratios.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean ROC curve areas ranged from 0.8728 for the LG monitor to 0.8395 for the Samsung. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed significant differences between observers (P<0.0001), lesion size (P<0.0001), examiner/monitor interaction (P<0.033) and examiner/block interaction (P<0.013). However, no significant difference was found between monitors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that observer performance is independent of the visual characteristics of the display monitor.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Esmaeili
authors.forename: Esrafil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Balaei
authors.forename: Firoz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pouralibaba
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kaviani
authors.forename: Atabak
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kashefimehr
keywords: Diagnostic imaging; digital radiography; perception