Why are my S100 scans coming out bad or degraded?

If your scans are coming out degraded or incomplete — and the problem continues even in a dark room with no daylight or interior lights — the cause is likely not lighting. On S100 scanners, a known issue is that Windows audio driver settings, specifically enhancements applied to the Xbox NUI Sensor microphone, can interfere with the depth capture process.

Fix: Disable Audio Enhancements on the Microphone

Follow these steps to turn off the audio enhancements that interfere with the depth stream:

Open Settings → System → Sound.
Select your Xbox Microphone Array device.
Scroll down to Audio Enhancements.
Change the setting from Device Default Effects to Off.

If you have more than one microphone listed under Sound, repeat these steps for every active input device.

Once you have done this for all microphones, run a new test scan and check whether quality has improved.

Check Your Frame Rate with the Kinect Configuration Verifier

The Kinect sensor should run at 24 frames per second or higher. If the frame rate drops below this, scans will come out degraded, incomplete, or with missing geometry even when the room and subject conditions are correct.

To check your frame rate:

Open the Kinect Configuration Verifier — it is usually located in your Downloads folder. If you do not have it, download it from the Microsoft Kinect SDK page.
Launch the tool and wait for it to connect to the sensor.
Look for the Color or Depth stream frame rate displayed in the tool. It should read 24 FPS or higher.

If the frame rate is below 24 FPS, try the following fixes:

Fix 1: Enable the Kinect Microphone in Windows Privacy Settings

Windows may be blocking microphone access, which can interfere with Kinect depth stream performance.

Open Windows Settings → Privacy → Microphone.
Make sure Allow apps to access your microphone is turned On.
Scroll down and confirm that Styku Studio (or desktop apps generally) is also allowed.
While you are here, review the other applications listed and make sure no unwanted applications have access to the microphone — other apps competing for the microphone array can starve the Kinect depth stream and drop the frame rate. Turn off microphone access for any app that does not need it.
Restart Styku Studio and re-run the Kinect Configuration Verifier to check if FPS has improved.

Fix 2: Disable Antivirus Software Temporarily

Antivirus software (AVG, Norton, Windows Defender, etc.) can interfere with the Kinect USB data stream, causing frame drops.

Temporarily disable your antivirus and run a test scan to see if quality improves.
If it does, add Styku Studio as a permanent exception in your antivirus settings so you do not need to disable it each time.

Other Things to Check

If the scan quality issue continues after disabling audio enhancements, also verify the following:

The camera tower USB cable is firmly seated at both ends — the tower and the laptop.
No direct sunlight or bright ambient light is entering the room (even indirect light through windows can affect depth capture).
The subject is standing still on the turntable, within the marked area, and at the correct distance from the camera tower.
The Styku Studio software is up to date.

If this resolves your issue, no further action is needed.

If the problem persists, contact support and include: your scanner model (S100), screenshots or saved scans showing the quality problem, confirmation of which audio enhancement steps you completed, and whether the Xbox NUI Microphone appears in your Windows Sound Settings input list.

Applies to: Styku S100 scanner; Styku Studio on Windows.