This investigation was performed to test the readability of the video based digital radiography, that can be applied clinically, compared with the periapical radiograph. The experiments were performed with IBM-PC/AT compatible, video camera and ADC (analog-digital converter). And spatial resolution was 512 X 480 with 256 (8 bit) gray levels. The radiographs obtained by using variable steps of exposure time were digitized. and then the digital images were analyzed. The obtained results were as follows: 1. There was no remarkable difference in readability between the radiographs and their digital images. However, under over exposure the digital images were superior to the radiographs in readability and vice versa. 2. As the exposure time was increased, the gray level of the digital image was decreased proportionally. 3. The correlation beween the regions of interest and the aluminum step wedges were relatively close; R=0.9965 (p <0.001).