NIST DISPLAY METROLOGY HELPS MAYO CLINIC SCOTTSDALE SAVE $1.5 MILLION PER YEAR.

NIST has developed the measurement technology required to characterize flat-panel displays, including such properties as contrast ratio, reflection, and colorimetry, and is extending these techniques to emerging display technologies. Many of these techniques have been included in the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) Flat Panel Display Measurement (FPDM) Standard, the first scientifically-sound and comprehensive document on metrology for flat panel displays. This document, prepared in large part by NIST staff, is the basis for worldwide metrology between flat panel display suppliers and consumers. For example, the FPDM standard was relied upon heavily by the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale to specify the purchase of flat panel displays (1000 purchased so far) for radiology use. The use of high-quality flat panel displays has allowed the clinic to migrate from printed radiographs (x rays) to digital images viewed on flat panel displays. This technology has been estimated to save the clinic at least $1.5 mi llion per year (1 million radiographs, at an estimated cost of $1.50 per radiograph).