Digital pathology

Digital Pathology Scanners Compared: Models, Capacity and File Formats

Every whole slide scanner brand writes its own file format: Leica Aperio writes SVS, Hamamatsu NDPI, 3DHISTECH MRXS, Philips iSyntax, Roche VENTANA BIF, ZEISS CZI and Evident VSI. Which scanner a lab bought decides which software can open its slides, so this comparison lists the current models, their capacity, the formats they write, their DICOM options, and whether each format opens outside the vendor's own viewer. Facts are from each manufacturer's pages, checked on 8 October 2026.

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12 scanner makersFormats and DICOM outputLinked to vendor sources

Whole slide scanners and the files they write

Manufacturer	Current models	Slide capacity	Native format	Other output	Opens in SlideScope
Leica Biosystems (Aperio) ^source	GT 450 DX, GT 450, GT 180 DX, CS5 DX	GT 450: 450 slides; GT 180: 180; CS5: 5	SVS	DICOM option	Yes
Hamamatsu (NanoZoomer) ^source	S360MD, S540MD, S20MD, S60v2	S540: up to 540; S360: 360; S60v2: 60	NDPI	Not stated	Yes
3DHISTECH (PANNORAMIC) ^source	1000 DX, 480, 250 FLASH III	1000 DX: up to 1,200; 480: 480; 250 FLASH III: 300	MRXS	DICOM	Yes
Philips ^source	SG300, SG60, SG20 (Ultra Fast Scanner previously)	SG300: 300; SG60: 60	iSyntax	DICOM (JPEG or JPEG XL) on SGi models	iSyntax: no. DICOM: supported, SGi output not tested
Roche (VENTANA) ^source	DP 600, DP 200	DP 600: 240; DP 200: 6	BIF	TIF, DICOM	Yes
ZEISS ^source	Axioscan 7	12 or 100	CZI	DICOM, OME-TIFF export	Yes
Evident (Olympus) ^source	SLIDEVIEW VS200	Up to 210	VSI	TIFF, DICOM	VSI: no. TIFF and DICOM: yes
Grundium ^source	Ocus 20, Ocus 40, Ocus M20/M40, Ocus R	1 to 600	SVS, TIFF, SZI	DICOM export	SVS and TIFF: yes. SZI: no
Huron Technologies ^source	TissueScope iQ, VX504, HT540	iQ: 400; VX504: 504; HT540: 540	Pyramidal BigTIFF	DICOM compatible	Yes
KFBio ^source	KF-PRO 005 to 400	5 to 400	KFB (brightfield), KFBF (fluorescence)	SVS, TIFF, DICOM; QPTIFF for fluorescence	KFB: no. SVS, TIFF, DICOM, QPTIFF: yes
Motic ^source	EasyScan, FlexScan	Varies by model	Not stated	DICOM, SVS, JPG	SVS and DICOM: yes
Quanterix (formerly Akoya) ^source	PhenoImager HT	80	QPTIFF, IM3	TIFF, JPEG	QPTIFF: yes. IM3: no

"Opens in SlideScope" is by format. The test corpus behind our format benchmark holds Aperio SVS, Hamamatsu NDPI and 3DHISTECH brightfield MRXS among others; SVS and TIFF files written by other scanners are untested, and MRXS is read as a 2D RGB image, which suits brightfield rather than fluorescence scans. Capacity is the vendor's maximum for standard 1×3" slides. 3DHISTECH lists the PANNORAMIC 1000 DX as "up to 1,200" on its main site and 840 on its partners site. "Not stated" means the vendor's pages did not say, not that the option does not exist.

Scanners cleared for clinical use

Research and clinical scanners are often the same hardware sold with different intended use. These clearances are stated by the vendors or the FDA; always check the exact intended use for your region.

Scanner	Status
Leica Aperio GT 450 DX	FDA 510(k) K232202, cleared 16 April 2024, for primary diagnosis (source)
Hamamatsu NanoZoomer S360MD, S20MD, S540MD	FDA 510(k) cleared; S20MD and S540MD announced 2 September 2026 (source)
Roche VENTANA DP 200 and DP 600	Cleared as part of Roche Digital Pathology Dx: DP 200 in June 2024, DP 600 added January 2025 (source)
3DHISTECH PANNORAMIC 1000 DX	EU IVDR compliant (Category A); research and education use only in the USA, per 3DHISTECH (source)
ZEISS Axioscan 7, Evident SLIDEVIEW DX VS200, Grundium Ocus	IVDR / CE-IVD variants in the EU; research use in other regions (source)

Each vendor's own viewer

Viewer	Vendor	Platforms	Notes
Aperio ImageScope	Leica	Windows only; free	No longer under active development, per Leica
NDP.view2	Hamamatsu	Windows 10/11, macOS 13 to 26	Free with Hamamatsu slides; NDP.view2 Plus (paid) also opens SVS, SCN, MRXS, CZI and VSI
SlideViewer	3DHISTECH	Windows 10/11; free	CaseViewer for Mac only shows slides from a CaseCenter or SlideCenter server
ZEN lite	ZEISS	Free	ZEISS's free CZI viewer
OlyVIA	Evident	Windows 10/11	Reads VSI and TIFF
IntelliSite Pathology Solution	Philips	Clinical system	Image management and viewing for iSyntax
navify Digital Pathology	Roche	Web	Roche's clinical image management and viewing

Most vendor viewers run on Windows only. On a Mac, or with slides from several scanner brands, a vendor-neutral viewer is usually simpler: QuPath (free), or SlideScope, which opens SVS, NDPI, MRXS, SCN, BIF, VMS, SVSLIDE, QPTIFF, AVS, DICOM, TIFF and CZI on Windows and Mac. The whole slide image viewer comparison covers the options.

When your scanner's format will not open

Philips iSyntax: OpenSlide reads only Philips's TIFF export, not iSyntax (OpenSlide). SGi scanners can write DICOM natively (Philips).
Evident VSI: the VS200 can save TIFF or DICOM instead (Evident).
KFBio KFB: the KF-PRO series can save SVS, TIFF or DICOM for brightfield and QPTIFF for fluorescence (KFBio).
Grundium SZI: the same scanners write SVS and TIFF (Grundium).
3DHISTECH MRXS that will not open: the .mrxs file is only an index; copy the folder of the same name with it. See opening MRXS files.

Our format benchmark opened 792 real files from these formats and publishes every failure, including the few SCN and BIF slides that could not be read.

Open a slide by format

SVS · NDPI · MRXS · CZI · QPTIFF · DICOM · TIFF and OME-TIFF · SVS in Python

Scanner questions

What file format does each slide scanner use?

Leica Aperio writes SVS, Hamamatsu NanoZoomer writes NDPI, 3DHISTECH PANNORAMIC writes MRXS, Philips writes iSyntax, Roche VENTANA writes BIF, ZEISS Axioscan writes CZI, Evident VS200 writes VSI, KFBio writes KFB, and Huron writes pyramidal BigTIFF. Many current scanners can also save DICOM, and several save SVS or TIFF as an alternative.

Which whole slide scanners are FDA cleared for primary diagnosis?

Among the scanners on this page, according to the vendors and the FDA database: Leica Aperio GT 450 DX (510(k) K232202, 2024), Hamamatsu NanoZoomer S360MD, S20MD and S540MD, and Roche VENTANA DP 200 and DP 600 as part of Roche Digital Pathology Dx. Check the vendor for the exact intended use and your region.

Do digital pathology scanners support DICOM?

Increasingly, yes. Leica Aperio, 3DHISTECH, Roche VENTANA, Evident VS200, KFBio, Motic and Grundium state DICOM output, ZEISS exports DICOM through a converter, and Philips SGi scanners write DICOM natively with JPEG or JPEG XL compression. Hamamatsu does not state DICOM output on the pages we checked.

Can I open Philips iSyntax or Olympus VSI files without the vendor software?

Not with most open-source viewers: OpenSlide does not read iSyntax, and SlideScope reads neither iSyntax nor VSI. The practical route is the scanner's open export: Philips SGi scanners can write DICOM, Philips software can export TIFF, and the Evident VS200 can save TIFF or DICOM, which SlideScope, QuPath and other viewers open.

What is the difference between SVS, NDPI and MRXS?

All three are pyramidal whole slide images from different vendors. SVS (Leica Aperio) and NDPI (Hamamatsu) are single TIFF-based files. MRXS (3DHISTECH) is a small index file plus a folder of the same name holding the pixels, so the file and the folder must always be copied together.

Sources and disclosure

Every model, capacity, format and clearance above comes from the manufacturer's own product pages, brochures or news releases, or from the FDA database, checked on 8 October 2026 and linked in the tables. Vendors change line-ups often; corrections are welcome at support@slidescope.science. SlideScope makes a desktop viewer and does not sell scanners; it is not affiliated with any manufacturer named here.

Open slides from any of these scanners

SlideScope opens SVS, NDPI, MRXS, BIF, SCN, CZI, QPTIFF, DICOM and TIFF on Windows and Mac, with nothing uploaded. The free trial covers 10 of your own images or 3 days, no card needed.

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