ISO 16526-1:2011 specifies a method for the direct and absolute measurement of the average high voltage of constant potential (DC) X-ray systems on the secondary side of the high voltage generator. The intention is to check the correspondence with the indicated high voltage value on the control unit of the X-ray system.

This method is applied to assure a reproducible operation of X-ray systems because the voltage influences particularly the penetration of materials and the contrast of X-ray images and also the requirements concerning the radiation protection.