Scientist Develop Sensor More Sensitive to Color

Hat Tip: Imaging Resource

Researchers at the University of Granada along with those at the Polytechnic University f Milan (Italy) have developed an imaging sensing device capable of capturing far greater color information.

The sensor is similar to Simga's Foveon sensor.  It detects the wavelength of light associated with a photon of light based on how far it penetrates into the silicon used in the sensor.  Different wavelengths (perceived as different colors) penetrate to different depths.  The sensor determines the color associated with a particular pixel based on how far the light penetrates the sensor at that point.

(It's probably a little more complicated that that, but that's close enough for anyone not trying to develope the technology.)

The scientist refer to the sensor as a "Transverse Field Detector" (TFD).  It utilizes a transversal electric field with varying intensity to modulate the depths at which photons are collected.

(Join the club if that description just goes right over your head.  I think it means they can control the sensor so that it only detects certain wavelengths, and so so on a per-image basis based on the strength of the electric field use.)


The sensor is capable of obtaining 36 channels of information.  Current imaging technology produces three: red, blue and green.

36 channels of information is far more than what is required to produce a viable photographic image.  It's unlikely that any application would require the use of that many channels at the same time.  Plus the files size would be huge; roughly 12 times that of a three-channel image.

There might be times when someone might want all 36 channels in order to view them separately or to compare a channels.   (I think Astronomers might find the 36 channel capability useful when determining the chemical signatures associated with different astronomical bodies.)


36 channels of color information is overkill when it comes to photography.  3 Channels at 8 bits results in over 16 million possible colors.  Extending that out to 10-bits per channel results in 4 Trillion possible colors (yes, that's a "T").  This is far more than the human eye is capable of seeing. 

If my math is correct, 8 channels at 8 bits would result in over 18 Quadrillion possible colors.  (The color combination increases 256 times every time you add another channel.)  To put this in perspective, 18 Quadrillion dollars is 1000 times more than is needed to pay off the current US national debt.


The current 10-bit (or more) 3 channels of color used by many modern DSLR cameras results in more colors than the human eye is capable of discerning.  Adding additional channels would just result in useless additional information.

The ability to pick 3 different channels out of 36 possibilities might prove useful, though.  Especially if those options include infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.  A camera that could switch from normal 3 channel (RGB) mode to one capable of taking infrared and/or ultraviolet pictures simply by changing settings might be of interest to some photographers.

The capability to switch the camera to detecting particular wavelengths might also prove useful under certain lighting conditions.

(The original article can be read here)