Chromaticity and correlated color temperature of the white point in medical liquid-crystal display

Purpose: The color characteristics of medical liquid crystal displays (LCDs) have become one of the main interests in quality assurance and quality control of medical display devices. It is necessary to evaluate variations of the color characteristics in medical LCDs in order to provide consistent color characteristics for image reading. In this study, we characterize the color characteristics in grayscale images displayed on medical LCDs. Methods: Eight medical color LCDs and eight medical monochrome LCDs were used in this study with operating times ranging from 800 to 25 000 h. Default settings of correlated color temperature (CCT) of white points for all color LCDs were set at 7500 K. We measured chromaticity in the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) u'v' color space and CCT of the white point at 18 luminance levels. A colorimeter and grayscale test patterns with various luminance levels were used for the measurements. First, we examined differences in chromaticity and CCT at 18 luminance levels for each LCD. Second, we compared chromaticities of the different LCDs. Then, chromaticity and CCT of LCDs were measured at different ambient light conditions (30 and 560 lux) and compared to those measured in a dark room. Finally, the relationship between operating times and CCT was evaluated. Results: The chromaticities of monochrome LCDs changed toward the blue and CCT increased as luminance decreased. In color LCDs, the chromaticity and CCT of the white point except at the minimum luminance were nearly constant to those measured at the maximum luminance. We observed differences in chromaticity between color and monochrome LCDs because of the nonadjustable white point of monochrome LCDs. When the ambient light increased, chromaticity varied, and CCT decreased on every LCD. Ambient light had a much greater impact on chromaticity and CCT at lower luminance levels. The CCT of LCDs decreased in longer operating times. The grayscale of LCDs with longer operating times was measured to be more yellowish due to the degradation of cold cathode fluorescent lamps. Conclusions: Our results clearly indicate that the white point in grayscale images displayed on medical LCDs changes depending on luminance levels, color or monochrome LCDs, ambient light conditions, and operating times. These data provide useful information to understand color characteristics of LCD for image reading, especially for quality assurance and quality control of LCDs. (C) 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1118/1.4737869]