| Piezoelectric and Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers (CMUT) are usually measured and compared in regards to acoustic and electro-acoustic performances. This paper is focused on the imaging performances of such transducers and propose a quantitative imaging assessment of B-mode images. In this purpose, fully integrated CMUT and piezocomposite-based probes were manufactured. Transducers were designed with close features (geometries, center frequency, interconnect and packaging) and plug on a clinical ultrasound system with a research interface. Major imaging performances (Speckle to Noise Ratio, Resolutions and contrast) of the probes are presented. Despite a piezoelectric-like integration of the CMUT array and a system based for piezoelectric transducers, CMUT exhibits comparable image quality as compared to a state-of-the-art piezocomposite probe. Indeed, close resolutions are calculated, field of view is improved in phased-array imaging, and contrast is significantly improved. |