A scalable multislice system (10) configured to generate multiple streams of image data with different image quality characteristics prospectively and simultaneously is described. Such capability enables improving existing clinical diagnosis and also enables use of clinical application protocol driven method for image reconstruction and display as well as image analysis. More specifically, with the scalable multislice imaging system (10), multiple rows (>2) of x-ray scan data along the patient's long axis are simultaneously acquired. Multiple protocols (100) are "pre-built" based on specific applications to determine image slice thickness, image reconstruction filter, display method, e. g., field of view, filming requirement and image archiving requirement, prospectively. Multiple image sets with different slice thickness, different reconstruction methods, different display model - axial, 3D or reformat which are pre-determined by the protocol (100) used can then be displayed.