Conventional image sensor technology diagram     FOVEON X3® direct image sensor technology diagram   A conventional image sensor features color filters applied to a single layer of pixel sensors in a tiled mosaic pattern.       The FOVEON X3® direct image sensor comprises three layers of pixel sensors embedded in silicon.   The filters let only one wavelength of light - R(red), G (green), or B(blue) - pass through to any given pixel location. The pixel location records only that one color,so the other information at that site is lost.       Silicon absorbs different colors, or wavelengths, of light at different depth, so each layer captures a different color among R(red), G(green) and B(blue). Full color is directly captured at each pixel location.   As a result, conventional mosaic image sensors capture only 25% of the R(red) 25% of the B (blue), and 50% of the G(green) light.       Only the FOVEON X3® image sensor captures 100% of the R(red), G(green), and B (blue) light at every pixel location. Conventional image sensors let only one wavelength of light - red, green or blue - pass through to any given pixel, allowing it to record only one color. As a result, two-thirds of the color at each pixel is blocked out. To compensate, the missing color is estimated through a complicated process of color interpolation, leading to color errors, color artifacts and loss of image detail. FOVEON X3® image sensor captures all three colors at every pixel location, ensuring the capture of full, complete color. It efficiently reproduces color more accurately, and offers sharper resolution, pixel for pixel, than any conventional image sensor. Copyright 1999-2007 SIGMA Corporation All Rights Reserved.