Shortly there are three main image quality parameter with an X-Ray image
Sharpness measures resolution perpendicular to the beam (spatial resolution - SR)
Contrast measures resolution in direction of the beam (contrast resolution - CR) high contrast resolution == low noise
Time to get a sufficient image quality in relation to SR and CR
The amount of X-Ray photons define the X-Ray triangle with the three corners for optimation:
The different applications and markets define their areas within the triangle: