Which term describes the spatial detail of the digital image, often influenced by the physical size of detector elements?

• A. Capture efficiency
• B. Dynamic range
• C. Spatial resolution
• D. Signal processing speed

Answer: (C)

Spatial resolution is about how finely you can distinguish small details in a digital radiograph. It depends a lot on the size of each detector element (the pixel size) because each element samples a patch of the image. Smaller detector elements sample more precisely, allowing you to separate closely spaced details; larger elements merge neighboring features and blur them together, reducing the ability to see fine structure.

Other aspects of image quality describe different ideas. Capture efficiency relates to how many photons are collected and converted into signal, not how sharp the image is. Dynamic range deals with the span of gray levels the system can display, not the level of detail. Signal processing speed concerns how quickly data are processed, not the image’s spatial detail.