EDAX NPAR™, or Neighbor Pattern Averaging & Reindexing, is an innovative approach to measuring crystallographic orientation from electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) patterns. Noise can reduce EBSD indexing performance by hindering the detection of the diffraction bands. Noise is introduced into EBSD patterns by amplifying the signal to obtain faster camera frame rates. EDAX’s advanced indexing and band detection routines perform well even with considerable noise. However, band detection becomes unreliable, and indexing performance suffers when the noise exceeds allowable limits. Noise levels can be lowered by reducing the gain on the detector and averaging multiple frames together. However, both approaches increase the acquisition time necessary for EBSD pattern collection and orientation mapping.