Lower pixel count means larger individual pixels, which increases their quantum efficiency. This gets you more accurate information about the light itself; thin

Lower pixel count means larger individual pixels, which increases their quantum efficiency. This gets you more accurate information about the light itself; think of it as more bit-depth. In scientific applications especially, this is often a better tradeoff than going the other way. If you need fine detail of distant objects, do it with lenses rather than raw pixel count.