Which statement about CR versus DR is true?

Which statement about CR versus DR is true?

• A. DR offers dose reduction and fast image production
• B. CR is portable and slow to read
• C. CR is portable with images in 7-10 seconds and has unsharpness from plate scatter
• D. DR is cheap and does not require monitor viewing

Answer: (C)

In computed radiography, the image is stored on a photostimulable phosphor plate and must be read by a dedicated CR scanner before it becomes a digital image. That reading step introduces a short delay—often a few seconds to a few tens of seconds—before you see the image. Because the latent image is stored in the plate and then released as light during scanning, light can spread within the plate and during the laser readout, which can cause some unsharpness compared with direct digital capture. The plates themselves are portable, so the same CR system can be used with mobile radiography units, giving portability advantages. This combination—portable plate use with a modest readout time and a potential for slight blur from plate scatter—matches the statement noted as true. Conversely, the idea that DR is cheap and does not require monitor viewing is inaccurate, since DR systems are typically more expensive upfront and still require monitor viewing for image interpretation. DR also delivers near-immediate images because there is no separate plate reading step, which is a different workflow from CR.

In computed radiography, the image is stored on a photostimulable phosphor plate and must be read by a dedicated CR scanner before it becomes a digital image. That reading step introduces a short delay—often a few seconds to a few tens of seconds—before you see the image. Because the latent image is stored in the plate and then released as light during scanning, light can spread within the plate and during the laser readout, which can cause some unsharpness compared with direct digital capture.

The plates themselves are portable, so the same CR system can be used with mobile radiography units, giving portability advantages. This combination—portable plate use with a modest readout time and a potential for slight blur from plate scatter—matches the statement noted as true.

Conversely, the idea that DR is cheap and does not require monitor viewing is inaccurate, since DR systems are typically more expensive upfront and still require monitor viewing for image interpretation. DR also delivers near-immediate images because there is no separate plate reading step, which is a different workflow from CR.