1. A method of filtering a digital image, the method comprising: selecting a set of pixels from the digital image, the set comprising a central pixel and pixels surrounding the central pixel, the set having a plurality of subsets of pixels, at least one subset including the central pixel; and assigning a value of a corresponding central pixel in a filtered image, the assigned value being a mean value of pixels in an identified subset of the plurality, the identified subset having a lowest edge activity; wherein the filtered image is one or more of stored in a memory, displayed to a user, passed to another image processing operation and transmitted over a communication channel, and wherein selecting a set of pixels employs a three-by-three window centered on the central pixel that has eight pixels surrounding the central pixel.