We present a digital signal processing system based on a photon counting approach which we developed for a thermal neutron detector consisting of ZnS(Ag):(LiF)-Li-6 scintillating layers read out with WLS fibers and SiPMs. Three digital filters have been evaluated: a moving sum, a moving sum after differentiation and a digital CR-RC4 filter. The performances of the detector with these filters are presented. A full analog signal processing using a CR-RC4 filter has been emulated digitally. The detector performance obtained with this analog approach is compared with the one obtained with the best performing digital approach. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.