Hat Tip: PetaPixel
Chalk another one up to engineers realizing there is no need for a digital image sensor to behave exactly the same way film behaves. Sony has now designed a new image sensor that uses variable exposure times. The exposure time for each pixel depends on the amount of light hitting the sensor at that pixel's location.
The sensor works by applying one of two exposure times to each pixel. A short exposure time to the bright areas of the image and a long exposure time to the dark areas. Theoretically, this allows the sensor to capture details in the darker areas of an image without over exposing the lighter areas.
There are obvious issues with using different exposure times for a single exposure.
The most obvious issue involves movement. Moving object could conceivably move from "light" areas into "dark" areas (or dark to light.) This would result in a motion-blur with different exposures in different areas. Not necessarily the result the photographer is looking for.
Light emitting objects could produce additional problems. A light emitting object that starts in a "light" area and moves into a "dark" area could result in the dark area being over exposed.
Sony has apparently considered the potential problems associated with using multiple exposure times for a single image and have attempted to address these issues via the software used with the sensor.
The actual patent can be viewed here for those interested.
The patent description includes a link to a pdf file with images and includes a little more detail on the approach used to address blurring/movement.
It's always nice to see digital imaging innovation that comes as a result of diverging from the "image sensor as film" mentality.
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