Foveon's revolutionary X3 sensor

Would this new chip revolutionise ccd-astronomy also? It uses fulll colour
layered sensor array!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02021101foveonx3.asp

Julius

"Szaki" wrote in message
news:IrbXb.28902$jk2.68722@attbi_s53...
Would this new chip revolutionise ccd-astronomy also? It uses fulll colour
layered sensor array!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02021101foveonx3.asp

Julius


If so, it is taking its time. The article is dated Feb 2002

Robin

i reckon it will one day ...its a much nicer idea than the coloured mosaic
filter ccd we have at the mo .. and more convenient than a separate ccd's
for each colour ... the reviews i've read hint at noise not being great ...
but its early days .. plenty of development to go ... hopefully ..


"Szaki" wrote in message
news:IrbXb.28902$jk2.68722@attbi_s53...
Would this new chip revolutionise ccd-astronomy also? It uses fulll colour
layered sensor array!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02021101foveonx3.asp

Julius

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 21:36:40 GMT, "Szaki" wrote:

Would this new chip revolutionise ccd-astronomy also? It uses fulll colour
layered sensor array!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02021101foveonx3.asp

Julius

Maybe - the technique mimics the triple layer colour film. However
the way the eye perceives colour a lower resolution colour image
proves satisfactory when combined with a sharp luminance [B&W] file.

This is how colour TV, camcorders and nowadays most digital still
cameras work eg sharp luminance + blurred colour. Starlight Xpress,
using Sony CMYG CCDs,have used this technique for a decade or more.
Nowadays their latest Sony CCD use RGBG with excellent results as
shown at Astrofest. Recording monochromatic nebulae always present
problems for most recording devises.

Incidently the mosaic of 4 colours eg red, green, blue, green - the
green filters provide most of the luminance info. Sony have recently
swapped one green filter for a cyan filter. This has little effect on
the luminance file but should improve the colour file.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robin Leadbeater"
"Szaki" wrote in message
news:IrbXb.28902$jk2.68722@attbi_s53...
Would this new chip revolutionise ccd-astronomy also? It uses fulll
colour
layered sensor array!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02021101foveonx3.asp

Julius


If so, it is taking its time. The article is dated Feb 2002

Robin

The first camera based on was only just released. Quote from Computer
Shopper a few months back:

"A relatively new approach to the colour problem is the X3 sensor from
Foveon. This uses a three-layer sensor which allows light of different
colours to penetrate the sensor to different depths. You can think of it as
stacking three conventional sensors on top of each other, using one for red,
one for green and one for blue. The result is a sensor that has a true
colour resolution equal to the number of pixels it claims to have and whose
colour quality is far superior to the Bayer filter and doesn't show any of
its colour patterning characteristic. Currently the only camera to use an
X3 sensor is the Sigma SD10 which, at around £1000, is best considered a
professional's camera."



mikej

Also the Sigma SD9 3.5 MegPixel camera, same as the SD10. It takes super
photos. Body is around $950.

JS

"mike.james" wrote in message
...

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robin Leadbeater"
"Szaki" wrote in message
news:IrbXb.28902$jk2.68722@attbi_s53...
Would this new chip revolutionise ccd-astronomy also? It uses fulll
colour
layered sensor array!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02021101foveonx3.asp

Julius


If so, it is taking its time. The article is dated Feb 2002

Robin

The first camera based on was only just released. Quote from Computer
Shopper a few months back:

"A relatively new approach to the colour problem is the X3 sensor from
Foveon. This uses a three-layer sensor which allows light of different
colours to penetrate the sensor to different depths. You can think of it
as
stacking three conventional sensors on top of each other, using one for
red,
one for green and one for blue. The result is a sensor that has a true
colour resolution equal to the number of pixels it claims to have and
whose
colour quality is far superior to the Bayer filter and doesn't show any of
its colour patterning characteristic. Currently the only camera to use an
X3 sensor is the Sigma SD10 which, at around £1000, is best considered a
professional's camera."



mikej

In message , mike.james
writes

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robin Leadbeater"
"Szaki" wrote in message
news:IrbXb.28902$jk2.68722@attbi_s53...
Would this new chip revolutionise ccd-astronomy also? It uses fulll
colour
layered sensor array!
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02021101foveonx3.asp

Julius


If so, it is taking its time. The article is dated Feb 2002

Robin

The first camera based on was only just released. Quote from Computer
Shopper a few months back:

"A relatively new approach to the colour problem is the X3 sensor from
Foveon. This uses a three-layer sensor which allows light of different
colours to penetrate the sensor to different depths. You can think of it as
stacking three conventional sensors on top of each other, using one for red,
one for green and one for blue. The result is a sensor that has a true
colour resolution equal to the number of pixels it claims to have and whose
colour quality is far superior to the Bayer filter and doesn't show any of
its colour patterning characteristic. Currently the only camera to use an
X3 sensor is the Sigma SD10 which, at around £1000, is best considered a
professional's camera."

Foveon is being massively hyped up in a vain attempt to gain market
share. A bit like betamax vs VHS Foveon is a technically elegant
solution that provides a marginal improvement that no-one is willing to
pay for.

Sigma's Foveon based camera has been around for about a year now. It
causes endless religious wars on rec.photo.digital.

Almost everything you see on the web as JPEGs has been chroma subsampled
in a way that is not all that unlike what Bayer does to an image.
Mammalian colour vision is not all that good at fine detail.

Regards,
--
Martin Brown

mike.james wrote

Quote from Computer
Shopper a few months back:

snip

Currently the only camera to use an
X3 sensor is the Sigma SD10 which, at around £1000, is best considered a
professional's camera."

This shows little more than the author's ignorance of camera technology.
The Sigmas are right at the bottom of any list of DSLRs because of poor
image quality and the proprietary lens mount. They don't even make the
grade as "amateur" cameras. Nikon and Canon both announced new top-end
DSLRs, using Bayer filtered sensors, because these still produce
superior results.

--
Hil