Kodak's alternative to Bayer sensor pattern

[bob geoghegan]

I know people out there have will opinions &/or informed speculation about
this:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0706/07061401kodakhighsens.asp

The short version is that by replacing 1/2 of the sensor elements of a bayer
pattern with panchromatic elements, Kodak claims a 1-2 stop boost in
sensitivity:

"This breakthrough advances an existing Kodak technology that has become a
standard in digital imaging.  Today, the design of almost all color image
sensors is based on the "Bayer Pattern," an arrangement of red, green, and
blue pixels that was first developed by Kodak Scientist Dr. Bryce Bayer in
1976.  In this design, half of the pixels on the sensor are used to collect
green light, with the remaining pixels split evenly between sensitivity to
red and blue light.  After exposure, software reconstructs a full color
signal for each pixel in the final image.

" Kodak's new proprietary technology builds on the existing Bayer Pattern by
adding panchromatic, or "clear" pixels to the red, green, and blue pixels
already on the sensor.  Since these pixels are sensitive to all wavelengths
of visible light, they collect a significantly higher proportion of the
light striking the sensor.  The remaining red, green, and blue pixels are
then used to record the color information of the scene."

Bob G



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[Paul D. DeRocco]

> From: Bob Geoghegan
>
> I know people out there have will opinions &/or informed
> speculation about
> this:
>
> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0706/07061401kodakhighsens.asp
>
> The short version is that by replacing 1/2 of the sensor
> elements of a bayer pattern with panchromatic elements, Kodak
> claims a 1-2 stop boost in sensitivity:

Seems like it captures the same amount of light energy as a CMY sensor,
which is to say 2/3 of the available light. I've never read anywhere an
explanation of why CMY sensors haven't become widely used.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...


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[Julian Vrieslander]

On 6/14/07 7:57 AM, "Bob Geoghegan" <bobgeo@...> wrote:

> I know people out there have will opinions &/or informed speculation about
> this:
>
> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0706/07061401kodakhighsens.asp
>
> The short version is that by replacing 1/2 of the sensor elements of a bayer
> pattern with panchromatic elements, Kodak claims a 1-2 stop boost in
> sensitivity:

Not exactly a new idea.  The retina in human eyes uses a somewhat similar
scheme.  Cone cells are selectively tuned to red, green, and blue light.
The brain integrates the outputs of cones to produce our sensations of
color.  Rod cells are optimized for low light levels (sensitive to a single
quantum) and their outputs provide luminance information.  Mother Nature has
been in this business a lot longer than Kodak.

The analogy between retina and the new Kodak sensor is not perfect.  The
relative concentrations of rods and cones varies across the retina.  And if
I remember right, rods are not truly panchromatic.

--
Julian Vrieslander <julianv@...>



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[Paul D. DeRocco]

> From: Julian Vrieslander
>
> Not exactly a new idea.  The retina in human eyes uses a
> somewhat similar scheme.  Cone cells are selectively tuned to
> red, green, and blue light. The brain integrates the outputs
> of cones to produce our sensations of color.  Rod cells are
> optimized for low light levels (sensitive to a single
> quantum) and their outputs provide luminance information.
> Mother Nature has been in this business a lot longer than Kodak.
>
> The analogy between retina and the new Kodak sensor is not
> perfect.  The relative concentrations of rods and cones
> varies across the retina.  And if I remember right, rods are
> not truly panchromatic.

Also, I think rods are pretty much saturated in normal daylight conditions,
so the brain ignores them. In night vision, the cones are putting out zero,
so the brain ignores them.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...


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[Michael Kersenbrock]

Bob Geoghegan wrote:

> I know people out there have will opinions &/or informed speculation about
> this:
>
> http://www.dpreview.com/news/0706/07061401kodakhighsens.asp
>
> The short version is that by replacing 1/2 of the sensor elements of a bayer
> pattern with panchromatic elements, Kodak claims a 1-2 stop boost in
> sensitivity:
>
>

Makes sense I guess.  NTSC TV was designed with the data bandwidth for
the luminance
a great deal higher than the  chromiance  that I recall, and done
because that's what made
sense for the eye as they split available bandwidth.  This sounds like
the same idea.

Mike K.


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[Paul D. DeRocco]

> From: Michael Kersenbrock
>
> Makes sense I guess.  NTSC TV was designed with the data
> bandwidth for the luminance a great deal higher than the
> chromiance  that I recall, and done because that's what made
> sense for the eye as they split available bandwidth.  This
> sounds like the same idea.

Not horribly noticeable, but noticeable. Lots of point-and-shoot cameras
blur the crap out of the color, to reduce color noise. The resulting
artifacts don't scream at you, but the images do look a bit odd.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...


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[George Harrison]

Is this server working or not? It seems to come and go like an English
summer.

George Harrison


-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@...
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@...] On Behalf Of Paul D. DeRocco
Sent: 15 June 2007 17:11
To: gh50@...
Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Kodak's alternative to Bayer sensor pattern

> From: Michael Kersenbrock
>
> Makes sense I guess.  NTSC TV was designed with the data
> bandwidth for the luminance a great deal higher than the
> chromiance  that I recall, and done because that's what made
> sense for the eye as they split available bandwidth.  This
> sounds like the same idea.

Not horribly noticeable, but noticeable. Lots of point-and-shoot cameras
blur the crap out of the color, to reduce color noise. The resulting
artifacts don't scream at you, but the images do look a bit odd.

--

Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
Paul                mailto:pderocco@...


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