A high-speed image converting system is described. The system is capable of display both in multiframing- and streak-mode image for a pulsed x-ray source. The system relies on a new concept without employing an image converter tube. To achieve both temporally and spatially resolved display, the image of the x-ray source is acquired with a pinhole camera and with multichannel arrayed scintillator–photomultiplier combinations, which are used complementarily. The temporal resolution is 3 ns. This system is successfully used to observe the time evolution of soft x-ray emissions around 4 Å in plasma focus discharges with puffed Ar. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.