Clover Learning Fundamentals of Digital Radiography Practice Test 2026 – Your All-In-One Guide to Mastering Radiography Essentials!

In computed radiography, the image reader’s job is to detect the light emitted from the phosphor as the plate is scanned, turning that light into an electrical signal. A photomultiplier tube was the traditional detector for this light, but a charge-coupled device can take its place because it directly converts incoming photons into an electrical signal with high sensitivity and good spatial sampling. This solid-state option fits well with the scanning geometry of the reader and provides reliable, fast readout.

The other options don’t function as the light-detecting element in the CR reader. A thin-film transistor array is typically used with flat-panel detectors rather than the CR readout chain. Amorphous selenium is a photoconductor used in direct digital radiography to convert X-rays to charge, not to detect the readout light. An analog-to-digital converter digitizes the signal after detection, so it isn’t the device that converts light to an electrical signal.