Double Black adds new software and LCDs to portfolio
Double Black Imaging (DBI) highlighted several new additions and updates to their product line during the annual Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) meeting in Seattle.
DBI also exhibited the new Wide P-Series line of LCDs at this year’s SIIM show, which included a 2MP and 3MP display in monochrome and color as well as a 5MP monochrome LCD for mammography.
The new line features higher brightness levels on each LCD, digital uniformity control, 12-bit processing, a retractable front sensor for true DICOM calibration, a backlight sensor for luminance control and bonded protective panels. X-CAL calibration software for automatic DICOM calibration and display quality assurance is available with all Wide P-Series line,” Joe Lloyd, president, DBI, told Health Imaging News.
With the P-series, brightness uniformity is found over the whole screen of 5 percent maximum difference. “So the brightness is within 5 percent over the entire screen area,” he said.
The calibration software consists of two components, a local agent package and a network administrative package. Paired together with their displays, this software and hardware combination allows each display to be remotely calibrated to the DICOM gray scale display function and monitored from a central workstation, send notifications to the central workstation or administrator when the LCD requires service and allow the administrator to adjust and perform DICOM 3.14 Calibration on each LCD from the remote location.
“You can calibrate remotely any display on your network from a central workstation,” said Lloyd.
The company also introduced an upgraded version of X-Cal which allows users to monitor and control an unlimited number of displays from a central workstation and does DICOM calibration from the front of the LCD.
Other functions X-Cal offers include: automatic calibration and conformance tests, graphical results; table formatted reporting of data for future use; the ability to schedule intervals between auto-calibrations; the ability to adjust luminance and other workstation settings; and the ability save historical data on white level, black level, calibration and conformance test for Joint Commission compliancy/medical traceability.
The company said both pieces of the software package are included free of charge with the purchase of a Wide LCD system.
DBI also showcased DICOMetrix, a proactive DICOM image flow and network performance monitoring solution that enables PACS administrators, directors and IT personnel to actively monitor, historically track system performance and alert radiology and PACS support staff about system slow-downs and outages.
DICOMetrix is available in three versions, according to Lloyd. The first version, the client version, is located on the workstation and monitors the DICOM traffic; the server version monitors all modalities from a central server; and the new web-based enterprise (WebDES) version monitors all clients and servers in one easy to access location.
“This tier [enterprise] allows you to monitor any slow-downs in the system, proactively,” Lloyd said. For example, if there is a slow-down on a CT machine, the system sends an alert so “you can start troubleshooting that problem before it becomes a patient care problem.”
“The IT staff is typically overworked and so anything you can do to make PACS more efficient, that’s what they are interested in,” said Lloyd. “And that is what we are doing here with both X-Cal and DICOMetrix—we are proactively monitoring the PACS, the flow of images and the display luminance, and informing them of a problem before it becomes a patient care problem.”
DBI also exhibited the new Wide P-Series line of LCDs at this year’s SIIM show, which included a 2MP and 3MP display in monochrome and color as well as a 5MP monochrome LCD for mammography.
The new line features higher brightness levels on each LCD, digital uniformity control, 12-bit processing, a retractable front sensor for true DICOM calibration, a backlight sensor for luminance control and bonded protective panels. X-CAL calibration software for automatic DICOM calibration and display quality assurance is available with all Wide P-Series line,” Joe Lloyd, president, DBI, told Health Imaging News.
With the P-series, brightness uniformity is found over the whole screen of 5 percent maximum difference. “So the brightness is within 5 percent over the entire screen area,” he said.
The calibration software consists of two components, a local agent package and a network administrative package. Paired together with their displays, this software and hardware combination allows each display to be remotely calibrated to the DICOM gray scale display function and monitored from a central workstation, send notifications to the central workstation or administrator when the LCD requires service and allow the administrator to adjust and perform DICOM 3.14 Calibration on each LCD from the remote location.
“You can calibrate remotely any display on your network from a central workstation,” said Lloyd.
The company also introduced an upgraded version of X-Cal which allows users to monitor and control an unlimited number of displays from a central workstation and does DICOM calibration from the front of the LCD.
Other functions X-Cal offers include: automatic calibration and conformance tests, graphical results; table formatted reporting of data for future use; the ability to schedule intervals between auto-calibrations; the ability to adjust luminance and other workstation settings; and the ability save historical data on white level, black level, calibration and conformance test for Joint Commission compliancy/medical traceability.
The company said both pieces of the software package are included free of charge with the purchase of a Wide LCD system.
DBI also showcased DICOMetrix, a proactive DICOM image flow and network performance monitoring solution that enables PACS administrators, directors and IT personnel to actively monitor, historically track system performance and alert radiology and PACS support staff about system slow-downs and outages.
DICOMetrix is available in three versions, according to Lloyd. The first version, the client version, is located on the workstation and monitors the DICOM traffic; the server version monitors all modalities from a central server; and the new web-based enterprise (WebDES) version monitors all clients and servers in one easy to access location.
“This tier [enterprise] allows you to monitor any slow-downs in the system, proactively,” Lloyd said. For example, if there is a slow-down on a CT machine, the system sends an alert so “you can start troubleshooting that problem before it becomes a patient care problem.”
“The IT staff is typically overworked and so anything you can do to make PACS more efficient, that’s what they are interested in,” said Lloyd. “And that is what we are doing here with both X-Cal and DICOMetrix—we are proactively monitoring the PACS, the flow of images and the display luminance, and informing them of a problem before it becomes a patient care problem.”