Sensitive sensor

Eastman Kodak has introduced a new type of image sensor that will help make dark, blurry digital photos a thing of the past.

When the new sensor is built into a camera, users will realize a 2x to 4x increase in sensitivity (from one to two photographic stops), which will improve performance when taking pictures under low light and reduce motion blur when imaging moving subjects.

The new design advances an existing Kodak technology that has become a standard in digital imaging. Today, the design of almost all colour image sensors is based on the 'Bayer Pattern', an arrangement of red, green, and blue pixels that was first developed by Kodak Scientist Dr Bryce Bayer in 1976.

In this design, half of the pixels on the sensor are used to collect green light, with the remaining pixels split evenly between sensitivity to red and blue light. After exposure, software reconstructs a full colour signal for each pixel in the final image.