The quality assurance and monitoring methods in this chapter discussed sensitometric aspects because they are quite complex. Physical quality, however, is equally important. It is good practice to monitor physical quality along with image quality by a methodical examination of control strips and finished work. The appearance of scratches, digs, spots, or streaks indicates a mechanical malfunction somewhere in the processing cycle (fig. 2-19). In many cases, the causes of these defects are self-evident, and often a bypass test can isolate the malfunction.

Figure 2-6.-Information derived from a characteristic curve.