ExtremeTech website reports that Panasonic’s filterless camera sensor technology might be a low light breakthrough. The article notes that the Achilles heel of modern camera sensors based on the Bayer colour filter array (CFA) is their loss of light, due to the fact that each photosite is filtered only to receive either red, green or blue so over half the light hitting the sensor is thrown away. This, in turn, affects this quality of photos in low light situations.
Panasonic has a proud history of innovation across its entire product range, always with a view to enhance the lives of consumers, and this approach sees an exciting solution to this issue for photographers.
ExtremeTech goes on to explore Panasonic’s “radical new way to redirect the light coming into a sensor so that nearly all of it can be used by the sensor.” A traditional CFA uses an array of tiny microfilters, whereas Panasonic’s new approach uses micro-colour splitters that diffract the light so that various combinations of wavelengths (colours) hit different photosites.
For the less technically-minded, the end result is a solution that allows the sensor to gather 1.85 times more light than traditional Bayer-array-based sensors. Those who are fascinated by the inner workings of cameras will enjoy the in-depth analysis of this new technology on the ExtremeTech website.
Read more about Panasonic’s breakthrough technology here.