Image quality is a highly subjective topic – what may work for one office may not work for others, which means in many cases, filters need to be adjusted per office and per brand of device. This document will cover both general post-capture filter adjustment steps, what filters should be used for different scenarios, as well as device specific settings.
In general, we recommend using post-capture filters rather than real-time filters in Apteryx as the primary method of improving image quality. This is not the case for all devices (see Kodak); However, most will benefit from post-capture filter adjustment. This is especially the case for DSOs or large organizations that use the same Apteryx site. Adjusting post-capture filters allow for the returned image to be filtered and diagnostic as soon as the image returns, eliminating the need to apply any real-time filtering.
There are a number of devices that will not use any post-capture filters or require a complete rework of the default post-capture filters - If a client uses any of the following brands of devices, please refer to the Device Specific Settings portion of this guide:
· Schick
· Kodak/Carestream
· Kavo/Dexis/Gendex
· Instrumentarium
· Jazz
· Vatech
· E2V sensors (Tuxedo A Series, Quickray, Dentiray 4, XDR, etc.)
Exposure Time
The first thing that should be adjusted or confirmed is the office’s current exposure time on their x-ray unit. If exposure time is too high, the image will be overall too dark and show something called “burnout,” which causes low density areas to fade into the background. If the exposure time is too low, the image will be underexposed, causing the image to be too light and washed out. The exposure time should be adjusted before adjusting post-capture filters, to ensure we’re not combating underexposure or overexposure problems. The chart below can be used as reference for recommended exposure times:
Post-Capture Filters - What filters to use, when
In general, post-capture filters should be adjusted after adjusting exposure time on the x-ray unit perthe Exposure Time section of this article. Once exposure time has been dialed in and is within the ranges described within that chart, you can proceed with adjusting post capture filters.
A basic run down of what filters need to be added or adjusted based on the quality of the current image is as follows:
Too light? Lower the Gamma Correction value
Too Dark? Raise the Gamma Correction Value
Too Blurry? Raise the Sharpen factor
Too Grainy? Lower the Sharpen factor and add Fast Noise Removal
A more descriptive explanation of commonly used post-capture filters can be found below.
Gamma Correction: Likely the most important and most used filter. Affects the lightness and darkness of an image using a “curve.” This allows for the ability to darken images while still enabling light areas of an image to remain light compared to the rest of the image, and lighten images while enabling dark areas of the image to remain dark compared to the rest of the image.
This is almost always used instead of a “brightness” filter.
Base value: 1.00. Lowering this value darkens the image, while raising this value lightens the image. For example, if no gamma filter is applied in the post-capture filters, adding one with a value of 0.80 (80 when entering the value) will slightly darken the image without affecting overall quality.
Sharpening: Used when an office states their images are blurry. Always use “Sharpen (Spatial).” Sharpening increases the “sharpness” of the edges within the image. There are two components to this filter – Mask size, and Factor.
Mask size should always be set as high as possible, with the factor as low as possible. This will allow for the image to be sharpened, without adding too much graininess. For example, a mask size of 15x15 with a factor of 10-20 will oftentimes produce a great image.
It should be noted sharpening will always cause some level of graininess, with graininess increasing with higher factor values.
Noise Removal: Used to reduce “noise” in the image. “Fast noise removal” is most used.
Adaptive Normalization: Works somewhat similar to gamma filtering but is not as commonly used. This filter usually already exists within the post-capture filters if a device requires it, however some devices need the values to be adjusted. See “device specific settings” for these settings.
Contrast adjustment: Not often used but can be useful in niche cases. Increases or decreases overall contrast between dark and light areas in an image. A value higher than 0 will increase contrast, while a value lower than 0 will decrease contrast. Adjusting in increments of 5 or less is recommended, if even needed.
Brightness adjustment: Increases or decreases the overall brightness of an image. Always use gamma correction first. A value higher than 0 will increase brightness, while a value lower than 0 will decrease brightness. Adjusting in increments of 5 or less is recommended, if even needed.
Invert filter: changes white to black and black to white. If an image is coming out inverted during initial testing, add or remove this filter.
Flip and rotation filters: Corrects image orientation. Only use if ALL images taken with a specific device are incorrectly rotated or flipped. For example, if a client tests their pano and all panos come out upside-down, add a vertical flip filter. If all sensor images they capture come out rotated 90 degrees clockwise, add a 90 degree counter clock-wise filter to offset this.
Most other available filters are rarely or never used – the ones listed above should be the only ones needed based on what the office is looking for in their image quality.
How do I adjust and apply Post-Capture Filters?
To review image quality, the office needs to capture an image of someone’s teeth first and foremost. These steps are used when dealing with a sensor that does not have known device specific settings, or when the “default” settings are not producing an image the office likes.
· View the image in XVCapture and go to Image Enhancements, or double-click on the image
· Go to Enhance > Automatic Enhancements > Create New Enhancement (this enhancement will not actually be used, this is just to determine what filters to apply to the actual post-capture filters later on)
· A window will open containing the image and filters to be applied
· To add a filter, go to Filter Options > Add new filter > choose the filter(s) you need, and set its values
· Once the filters you have added are producing an image the office is happy with, take note of the filters in place or screenshot them, then cancel to back out of this area and go back to the home screen of XVCapture
· Go to Advanced User Tools > Preferences > Imaging Extensions > Drop-down digital x-ray image capture > select the device extension being used to capture these images > Image Quality Settings > Modify Post Capture Filters
· A window will appear similar to the previous area you had been testing the filters in
· Apply the same filters you had applied earlier. If any default filters populate within the applied filters list, leave them be. If one of the default filters is a filter you had applied during testing in step 4, edit that filters value instead of adding a 2nd filter (for example, if you applied a gamma correction of 0.80 in step 4, and a default filter for gamma already exists in the PCFs, change that gamma filter to 0.60 instead of adding a 2nd gamma filter)
· Capture a new image of someone’s teeth to verify the images now come out correctly
Device Specific Settings
Schick Sensors:
Refer to https://apteryximaging.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407881878043 . Schick 33, Elite, and AE sensors will use driver level filtering that can be enabled in the hardware settings. The attached article shows how to enable these step by step. No post-capture filtering is typically needed.
Kodak/Carestream Sensors:
Refer to the image quality section of RVG 6200 Sensor . Although the article listed is for the RVG 6200 sensor, this applies to all models of Kodak RVG sensors. I would recommend trying the post-capture filters listed first.
If the office does not like the quality, set the PCFs back to default (filter options > reset to default) and create a real-time filter in the web with the values listed in the 2nd screenshot. Set the “manufacturer and model” drop-down to whichever model of sensor they have, and enable “always show enhanced images” in the web. If they use other brands of sensors, you’ll need to remove the default Apteryx IO filter from the web. If they use multiple models of Kodak sensors, such as a 5200 and a 6100, create multiple of the same filter for each sensor. If they also need to be able to view images in XVCapture, the Carestream RTFs need to be installed and applied during viewing. These are located here, under “DCV and Apteryx Extras (All Versions): https://apteryximaging.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4412764698779
Kodak/Carestream Pano and Ceph units:
Try adjusting the execution method to ‘Simple Process’ within the Kodak extension’s miscellaneous settings. DicomConvertToFP.exe needs to be able to run during acquisition to produce the correct image.
Pans/Cephs appear with B&W bars or Very Light
Processings2D.dll and DICOMConvertFP.EXE missing from install folder. Solution: Download and run newest extension upgrader from Current Imaging Downloads
Dark/blurry panoramic images
Follow the steps above first, then try adding adaptive normalize at 1%, 2%, and sharpening at 15x15 factor of 20 to PCFs.
If contrast is too high, adjust adaptive normalize filter to %1, %1 or %2, %2.
NOTE: If the install uses RVG sensors, or other Carestream devices, ensure the affected modalities is set to PX
Kavo/Dexis/Gendex Sensors:
These devices do not typically need post-capture filters added or adjusted. Instead, plug a sensor in and right click on the sensor icon in the system tray and select “Image Settings.” In this window, enable “Optimizer.” This applies driver level filtering to the images produced by these sensors. If the Optimizer option is greyed out, GXPicture needs to be modified to enable “other software – filters enabled.” The Optimizer being toggled on works for most offices, but if additional filtering is needed, add post-capture filters after enabling this.
Instrumentarium Optime:
Refer to the image quality section of Optime Scanner .
Jazz:
Clients experiencing image quality issues with Jazz sensors should be referred directly to Jazz Imaging. Jazz sets up image quality filters on a driver level using the Control Center. They are also familiar with adding additional post-capture filters if need be.
(as of 3.19.2026 this is no longer the case) Jazz support sets Jazz Control center to no driver level filter then applies default PCFs according to their KB. (I do not have at time of this edit but, once available, we should remove this comment and replace with suggested PCFs.)
Vatech:
Vatech sensors always use an “Image Processing Mode” instead of post-capture filters. These can be found by going to Advanced User Tools > Preferences > Imaging Extensions > Drop-down digital x-ray image capture > Vatech extension with the sensor plugged in. Vatech Classic sensors should use Processing mode IP301 or IP664, while HD sensors should use IP701 or IP704.
E2V sensors (Tuxedo A Series, Quickray, Dentiray 4, XDR, etc.): E2V sensors almost always use the following settings, combined with a gamma correction of 0.80 in the post-capture filters:
The sharpening factor can be raised or lowered if the image is blurry or too sharp.