© 2016 SPIE. In this work we present an information-theoretic framework for a systematic study of checkpoint x-ray systems using photoabsorption measurements. Conventional system performance analysis of threat detection systems confounds the effect of the system architecture choice with the performance of a threat detection algorithm. However, our system analysis approach enables a direct comparison of the fundamental performance limits of disparate hardware architectures, independent of the choice of a specific detection algorithm. We compare photoabsorptive measurements from different system architectures to understand the affect of system geometry (angular views) and spectral resolution on the fundamental limits of the system performance.