To date there have been occasional reports on the technical aspects and accounts of the clinical use of digital radiography. There has, however, been a lack of reports on the clinical use of the technique in a large number of patients. We report our experience concerning more than 1250 chest x-rays on patients in intensive care; these have been carried out since December 1987, using a digital system. The method produces improvement in the radiological diagnosis of patients in intensive care; this is due to avoidance of incorrect exposures, the ability to obtain lateral films, consistent exposures and the ability to manipulate and store images electronically.