A Better Photodetector
Foveon™ is now
producing a new genre of photodetector arrays that will revolutionize
digital imagery. Rather than use the red, green and blue planar triad
array of sensors for each pixel, the new device employs a 3-dimensional
structure that senses blue light at the surface, green about 20 microns
down, and finally red at a depth of about 30 microns. This capability
to exploit the dispersive property of silicon has never been achieved
before. Smaller, faster arrays are the result, that need no software
to generate a single, 3-color pixel from three, single-color pixels.
Moiré effects and other artifacts of the averaging calculations of the
archaic CCD sensors will be history. Look for the new cameras as early
as Fall of 2003.
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