Skip to main content

Blame the Bayer filter for your camera’s poor low-light performance, says Panasonic

panasonic-micro-color-splitter-1
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Small digital cameras have an inherent problem: The small sensors they use can’t capture as much light as the ones found in larger cameras. Sure, all digicams – even smartphones – perform well under bright lights, but don’t expect them to deliver the same image quality in low light. But a new technology developed by Panasonic could improve the color and light sensitivity of digital camera sensors in the future.

Just about all of today’s digital cameras use something called a Bayer filter in conjunction with their image sensors to create color images. The Bayer filter is a mosaic pattern of 50-percent green, 25-percent red, and 25-percent blue filters that allow only that color of light through to the image sensor.  The biggest limitation of the Bayer filter is that each pixel can only record one of those three colors – this raw output is called a Bayer pattern image. In order to then create a color image, the camera must process the captured data to interpolate a color value for each pixel. There are alternatives to the Bayer filter, but none are in very wide use.

The electronics giant claims that the Bayer filtering method blocks 50-75-percent of light from ever reaching the sensor. In order to capture the lower light input, a sensor’s “volume” must be turned up, which leads to lower image quality due to noise. Panasonic’s new filtering method replaces the mosaic pattern arrays with tiny “micro color splitters.”  The color splitters diffract light into various combinations of white, red, and blue that can be converted to standard color values via special algorithms. Their claim is that the new technology would double the color sensitivity of image sensors. (See Panasonic’s chart above.)

According to itworld.com, Panasonic currently has no timeline for commercializing the new technology.  However, they say that it can work with the most common CCD and CMOS sensors and can be manufactured using existing production techniques.

In this sample image from Panasonic, the left photo shows a CCD sensor using the conventional method. The photo on the right shows an image taken with the same CCD sensor but using the micro color splitter.
In this sample image from Panasonic, the left photo shows a CCD sensor using the conventional method. The photo on the right shows an image taken with the same CCD sensor but using the micro color splitter. Image used with permission by copyright holder
Richard Grech
As a father of young triplets, Richard Grech has his hands full. But, as a photography enthusiast and one of Digital Trends'…
Fujifilm’s successor to the wildly popular X100V has just landed
fujifilm unveils x100v successor x100vi

FUJIFILM X100VI Promotional Video/ FUJIFILM

Fujifilm has finally unveiled the successor to its super-popular X100V camera.

Read more
How to download Instagram photos for free
Instagram app running on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5.

Instagram is amazing, and many of us use it as a record of our lives — uploading the best bits of our trips, adventures, and notable moments. But sometimes you can lose the original files of those moments, leaving the Instagram copy as the only available one . While you may be happy to leave it up there, it's a lot more convenient to have another version of it downloaded onto your phone or computer. While downloading directly from Instagram can be tricky, there are ways around it. Here are a few easy ways to download Instagram photos.

Read more
Astronaut captures stunning images of a snowy Grand Canyon
A snow-covered Grand Canyon seen from space.

In the final days of his six-month stint aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen took some time out of his science work to snap some striking photos of a snow-covered Grand Canyon.

The images were captured from the station in recent days as it orbited Earth at an altitude of around 250 miles.

Read more