Photomultiplier tubes, hybrid photodiodes, and silicon photomultipliers have been investigated under laboratory conditions as candidates for the read-out system of the HallD/GlueX barrel calorimeter at Jefferson Lab. The shapes of pulses among those read-out systems are presented here, with emphasis on the rise time and pulse duration. The energy spectrum for a minimum ionizing particle traversing a scintillating fiber was measured with a photomultiplier tube and a silicon photomultiplier. The light output of a BC400 fast plastic scintillator, a double clad scintillating fiber with a 1mm diameter and the OPTITRON light flasher were used as a source of light.
