The minimum require for reading X-ray for diagnostic purposes is on 3MP monitors. . There are standards set by the American College of Radiology that consumer grade monitors simply to not met. While the ACR specs are only recommendations, it may be hard to defend a missed read if these recommendations were not embraced in your hardware purchase choice, especially when dealing with mammography. A precedent is well established that the guidelines put forth contribute significantly to the determination of standard of care. That being said, if the majority of radiologists in your locality follow the recommendations and you don't, than using consumer grade monitors would be practicing below the standard of care.
There's also other features in the QA/QC arena that consumer grade monitors don't offer. There's more specs to look for than just luminance, just like there's more to QC than just checking luminance. One of the most important features of medical grade monitors is Dicom Calibration, which consumer grade monitors do not offer. Dicom calibration ensures that images are displayed consistently over time and that pairs of monitors are color matched.
There is a reason that hospitals purchase $15,000-20,000 medical grade monitors instead of consumer grade monitors.
The company I work for a company that actually wholesales and refurbishes monitors. Our solutions start at around $2000 a monitor ($4000 a pair) for 3MP monitors and $4500 ($9000 a pair) for 5MP monitors. We also carry 6MP monitors. All our monitor solutions come as a total, complete plug and play package. The package includes the monitor, the Barco graphics card ( Windows 7, 64 bit compatible), and all the necessary cables and adapters. Refurbished units come with a 3 year unlimited usage warranty and a 3 year loaner warranty – for new units this is five years – as well as a 30 day money back guarantee.
Please feel free contact me if you have any questions about medical grade monitors.
philip.hobson@baylanddigital.com