How is a Radiographic Image Formed

X-rays are differentially absorbed when they pass through an absorber. The absorption of x-rays is related to the absorber component's thickness and density. Therefore, when the x-ray beam exits this absorber, it will have varying intensity levels. The radiographic receptor will record the variation in the x-ray intensity as radiographic density. The difference between the radiographic densities is the radiographic contrast. The radiographic densities related to a thick absorber will be brighter than the densities of the thin absorbers (Figure 1).^1-5

Figure 1. Illustration of a radiographic image formation.

Figure 1. Illustration of a radiographic image formation.