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Such a sensor (used to) exist, Foveon X3. It is very interesting as it also uses the differential absorption of different wavelengths of light at different dept

by janekm 9y ago

Such a sensor (used to) exist, Foveon X3. It is very interesting as it also uses the differential absorption of different wavelengths of light at different depths in silicon to distinguish colours: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveon_X3_sensor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foveon_X3_sensor It had various advantages, and some disadvantages related to distinguishing colours, but ultimately wasn’t very successful in the market despite getting shipped in some DSLRs, possibly due to the marketing challenges (Bayer array sensor manufacturers count each R/G/B sub pixel as part of their “megapixel” count, so the Foveon sensor appeared low resolution by that metric).

bitL 9y ago
My Sigma SD1M still produces mind-blowing images I can't do with high-end Nikons and Canons. Foveon can truly make magical images, though there were so many issues with DSLRs it shipped on, e.g. they were almost always awfully slow and had very bad (but film-like) low-light performance. Also, original research suggested that to get realistic colors, up to 7 layers are needed. Bayers OTOH just interpolate and cook colors, but with the increase of resolution might at some point perform similarly, when lens limit is hit. Foveon was also always manufactured by a far worse process than e.g. Sony top-end sensors, and its quantum efficiency was orders of magnitude worse.
- CarVac 9y ago
  Bayers don't cook colors when they interpolate, they cook edges.
teemwerk 9y ago
I don't follow, Sigma hasn't stopped using Foveon sensors, they still use the Foveon Quattro stuff afaik. Now they use a 1:1:4 ratio for R/G/B layer resolution, where the blue layer also records luminance. They decided they wanted to confuse people more when they tried to compare it to a Bayer sensor.
- janekm 9y ago
  Actually I didn't realise they still made them... Nice to know. I remembered the Foveon sensors from when they were first introduced, but didn't see any reference to them still being made when I did a quick search to refresh my memory, so they may have a bit of a marketing issue ;)

by janekm 9y ago

bitL 9y ago

My Sigma SD1M still produces mind-blowing images I can't do with high-end Nikons and Canons. Foveon can truly make magical images, though there were so many issues with DSLRs it shipped on, e.g. they were almost always awfully slow and had very bad (but film-like) low-light performance. Also, original research suggested that to get realistic colors, up to 7 layers are needed. Bayers OTOH just interpolate and cook colors, but with the increase of resolution might at some point perform similarly, when lens limit is hit. Foveon was also always manufactured by a far worse process than e.g. Sony top-end sensors, and its quantum efficiency was orders of magnitude worse.

CarVac 9y ago
Bayers don't cook colors when they interpolate, they cook edges.

teemwerk 9y ago

I don't follow, Sigma hasn't stopped using Foveon sensors, they still use the Foveon Quattro stuff afaik. Now they use a 1:1:4 ratio for R/G/B layer resolution, where the blue layer also records luminance. They decided they wanted to confuse people more when they tried to compare it to a Bayer sensor.

janekm 9y ago
Actually I didn't realise they still made them... Nice to know. I remembered the Foveon sensors from when they were first introduced, but didn't see any reference to them still being made when I did a quick search to refresh my memory, so they may have a bit of a marketing issue ;)