System performances in terms of image quality between an amorphous silicon DR system and a conventional film-screen system were evaluated. Various aspects of image quality MTF (modulation transfer function), NPS (noise power spectrum), SNR(signal-to-noise ratio) and contrast were measured and calculated. The MTF of the DR system was comparable to the film-screen systems. The noise was mainly dominated by the quantum mottle in both systems and the electronic noise was found in the DR system. The contrast of the DR system was better than the film-screen systems by virtue of high sensitivity and image processing. Compared to the film-screen systems in general radiography, the DR system had similar resolution and showed better contrast with the same exposure condition after contrast manipulation. The results of this study provide some useful information about the performance of the DR system in connection with medical applications.