When it comes to medical imaging solutions, the debate of commercial monitors vs medical displays often comes up. And rightly so. I mean, when you see the price tag of a medical display and compare it to it’s commercial counterpart, the difference can be eye-watering. Despite their pricing however, medical-grade displays have a wide range of benefits that commercial monitors just simply don’t have.
As a simple example, most consumer monitors display 16 million colours. Medical-grade displays on the other hand, display up to 1 billion! So, with comparisons between commercial monitors and medical displays in mind, let’s compare!
Commercial Monitors
The upside of investing in commercial monitors is that they are cheaper than their medical-grade counterpart. Though of course, you get what you pay for. And as a result, the downside is their lifespan.
While medical displays are admittedly more expensive than commercial monitors, they are also more of an investment. Medical-grade displays are made with higher-quality, medical-specific components, meaning the lifespan of a medical display tends to be four times longer than even a high-resolution commercial monitor. Further to this, manufacturers are known to provide extended warranties with medical displays, which is a bonus.
The biggest downside to commercial monitors however, is the need for medical imaging screens to be DICOM compliant. Essentially, any display that is used in a medical environment has to adhere to particular safety and diagnostic standards. And to put it simply, medical displays were purposely designed to meet these standards whereas commercial monitors were not.
Medical Displays
As standard, medical displays feature highlights such as a backlight stabilization systems, front ambient light sensors and low blue light technology. All of these features work together to create a display that enhances diagnostic accuracy, boosts productivity and ensures a comfortable image reading environment. High brightness levels are known to cause eye discomfort and even injury over an elongated period of time. And so, medical displays incorporate the above features to reduce this risk by calibrating the displays to maintain a steady luminance and automatically adjust brightness levels depending on the ambient environment.
Some medical-grade display monitors also have multimodality capabilities and both colour and monochrome functions. This allows medical professionals to view medical images from a wide range of specialities using just one medical display, including MRI, Mammography and even pathology.
Reliability and longevity are of course, upsides when it comes to medical displays. But the biggest upside of all is that medical display monitors have been expertly designed and manufactured to comply with DICOM standards, as we mentioned earlier. This means medical professionals will have peace of mind knowing their medical imaging equipment is designed not just for diagnostic accuracy, but for their own health and safety.
While buyers from medical groups may be tempted by the lure of commercial monitors, doctors, radiologists and even patients are more likely to favour medical displays. Not just because of their reliability and longevity, but because diagnostic displays improve the lives of everybody involved.