Anybody out there have any suggestions for monitors that would be best for viewing digital xrays.  These images are all grey scale.  Thanks  

Interesting question.
 
As with CRT's a smaller dotpitch should help show detail, as I imagine that fine detail is you'd be looking for, creaks breaks etc. Good contrast ratio, although given how both CRT and LCD work i'd be surprised it black and white only displays were not of much much higher resolution, just not sure if anyone actually makes one.
 
Is it an industrial or a medical application?
 
You might want to look at vendors of non-destructive testing equipment looking for cracks in welded joints that kind of thing, they probably have a much high speed requirement than med and so may have already solved this problem.  
 
If it is an industrial app have a look at medicalx-ray systems they might have solved it for different reasons, battlefield portable x-ray machines etc.

This is actually a very interesting question.  Most doctors will never look at a digital x-ray because the quality is not good enough to make an accurate analysis.
 
My friend's dad is actually working on a compression technology that would allow doctors to send digital xrays without any degradation in quality.

I am a pediatric dentist, and the x-rays taken will only (98% of the time)be shared within my office network, so there is no degredation of info. I will look into the suggestions about the monitors used for other apps.  Do you all feel the highest contrast will be a starting point?  Thanks

I do help desk for a radiology company.  Our radiologists use these insane $20k B&W monitors to do their readings.  Actually each reading station has two of these beasts.  The are simply amazing.  Doubt that's what you're looking for... but man these things are big and crisp.

I am a physician that looks at xrays and CT's at home while on call.  I happen to have a Dell 2407WFP LCD and everything looks great.  Heck, it is better than the LCD that the hospital set up at my clinic.  While this isn't the same as the advanced LCD setup that the radiologists use in the reading room at the hospital, it is more than adequate for home use.  
 
For me, being able to turn the monitor to portrait view is a good quality for reading many films.  I would not recommend a CRT due to this consideration.
 
Currently the price is about $879, but I was able to snag one on the Dell site for less than $800.   You just have to keep a watch for sales.
 
I hope this helps.

Oh... one more thing.  The system that I use is the Kodak DirectView Web software.
 
As for doctors not looking at digital xrays, that really isn't all that true any longer.  Most of the time it is the radiologists that do not like looking at anything on a less than perfect screen.  However, I know several radiologists that likely have vision that is worse than mine.   I would say that, while better screens increase fine viewing, many older rads probably cannot even benefit from this.
 
(/endverbalemesis)

The image actually does fit on the screen while in portrait mode, but the program can make small adjustments on its own.  It automatically can resize the image by small increments so I cannot guarantee that the image I see is the exact same as the printed image would be.
 
I spoke to our surgeons and they have about the same size monitor that I do or even a tad smaller.  I suppose the guys with the smaller screens are just using the zoom feature more often.  You do always have an option of going for the 30" apple display, but this would likely be overkill for cost to usefulness for a home setting.

 
well you can tell your friends dad that his search is over he can use the TIFF format and winzip
 
You clearly know nothing about x-rays.

Yow.. you guys are really getting into the nitty gritty of it all.  Here is a nice link that outlines the basics of medical imaging as it relates to digital imaging.
 
(The PACS Kodak system is pretty widespread, and gives a good example of a common imaging setup.  The problem is selecting the best way to store images for long term without A) being too large, and B) going in and out of a compression scheme that loses quality each time.)
 
Check out the link:
 
http://www.asnr.org/elc_2002/File_ [...] .htm#DICOM

 
I recently atteneded the ADA national convention In Anaheim, a first for me.  I was surprised to see cephlometric/panoramic digital x-ray offerings from company's like Carona, Kodak, etc. being demonstrated on your average $900 notebook with on board graphics.  A near six figure Kodak digital system was demonstrated to me on a probably $600 generic notebook.  The software that was loaded on the notebook cost nearly 10K.  Then I found a manufacturer who was offering a free Dell desktop computer if we bought at the convention.  The price was 50k and I was prepared to see a tricked out Dell system to run the equiptment.  i open the Device manager and there was no display adapter listed.  At first I was kinda stunned.  I thought it must be  amistake.  Then I realized I was looking at a probably $359 desktop with probably a 15 inch LCD thrown in if asked and it was all running on an onboard graphics chip .  Quite a day I spent at the ADA.  I knew more about the stuff in one day than 80 percent of the people they had trained to demonstrate it.
 
You would be looking at a digital Periapical set up being a pediatriac dentist.  I looked at those too   Need one too!  I have been an x-ray technician for nearly twenty years.  Can't wait until we buy new digital equiptment.  Maybe next year.  I think I read only twenty percent of private orthodontitsts own digital x-ray equiptment.  Most still use the old way with old guys like me
 
BTW when setting up at a national convention like the ADA, companies can haul their notebooks around a lot easier than a heavy desktop.
 
Edit:  Sorry, I was directing my reply to the pediatric dentist.  whew. Oh, you are the pediatric dentit