The Secret Behind the Name, X-Ray Digital Camera

Sakou

"Most of the visitors we talked to expressed what an outstanding product Canon had devised." (Sakou)
--- The name of this camera is superb. X-Ray Digital Camera. It says it all. You don't need film. You can work with images on a PC. Images are easy to save and send. Everything good about the product comes out in its name. Fuse: In the industry, the field is called digital radiography, and our products are called the CXDI Series. "Digital camera" makes it easier to understand for ordinary people, though.

Sakou: Actually, there's a little known story behind the naming of this product. We first used the name at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Exhibition in 1996. This is the largest exhibition of X-ray diagnostic equipment in the world. --- Five years ago. Sakou: The exhibition was held for five days, and we had very few visitors to our booth in the first few days. Our new product looked just like X-ray equipment available in the marketplace, so visitors didn't realize it was digital.--- Even though this was the first time you displayed it? Sakou: Yes. We were having such a low turnout that we made a makeshift sign with "X-Ray Digital Camera" in huge letters, and then hung it up at the entrance to our booth. In no time, we had crowds pushing their way in. Most of the visitors we talked to expressed what an outstanding product Canon had devised.--- Even though it had already been sitting there for two days. (Laughs) Fuse: Within Canon, quite a few voices were raised against using the term "digital camera." At the time, digital cameras were still clunky and had a cheap image.--- When you put it that way, five years seems like ages ago. Fuse: Only because of how far technology has advanced in the meantime.
What is an X-Ray Digital Camera?
The scientific term is digital radiography, which means a device that digitally processes X-ray diagnostic images. Large-sized film, which was previously used to shoot, record and store X-ray images, is replaced by a large-area sensor and recording as digital data. Because Canon's system makes film developing unnecessary, images can be displayed on a computer screen only three seconds after an X-ray is taken.