Camera Chip

Inventor: Richard Merrill, Foveon

Why is it that snaps taken with a $500 digital camera often aren't as sharp as those from a $20 disposable? Because unlike the light-sensitive chemicals in ordinary analog film, each sensor on a digital chip saves only one-third of the color data it receives either red, green or blue, but not all three at once. With the new Foveon X3 technology, however, three sensors are stacked on top of one another, so that each pixel absorbs the full color spectrum. Result: a 3.5-megapixel camera using Foveon technology will produce images as clear as today's 7 MP models.

Availability: December 2002
To Learn More: foveon.com

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