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Friday, December 16, 2016

New Canon Patent - RGBW 12 Image Sensor




The Japanese photography blog, Egami reported another new Canon patent for an RGBW 12 sensor array. Canon has been busy working on different designs, including curved image sensors.

New Patent Details  

  • Release date 2016.12.8
  • Application date 2015.4.15
  • RGBW 12 array
  • Generate resolution data and color data, synthesize resolution data and color data, upconvert, process with mosaic processing (Bayer conversion), demosaic order

Below is the Google translation of the article from Japanese. You can review the new Canon US Patent by clicking on the link below.

US 20160309130 A1

  • Apparatus, system, and signal processing method for image pickup using resolution data and color data

"The color array adopted by major manufacturers such as Nikon, Canon, Sony, Panasonic, Olympus, Ricoh, Pentax, etc. is basically Bayer.

Using a special color array image pickup device as is, Fujifilm it will have X-Trans CMOS of. The X-Trans array increased the proportion of G pixels and increased the resolution efficiency.

Resolution efficiency of 100% of the imaging element is Foveon It is. By the way, I feel somewhat uncomfortable in the medium introducing sd Quattro as about 40 million pixels and sd Quattro H as about 50 million pixels. Each output Jpeg seems to be about 20 million pixels and about 25 million pixels, but since Foveon's resolution efficiency is twice that of Bayer, it is such a notation.
There are also many other 3MOS and RGBE arrays, clear bid CMOS sensor and so on.

Canon of the patent application is of RGBW12 sequence consisting of a total of 16 pixels of 4 pixels and 12 W pixel of RGGB imaging element is. It seems that the proportion of W (G) pixels per unit area is larger than Bayer and X-Trans, and high brightness resolution seems to be obtained.

X-Trans and Canon of the patent application will be to the low color resolution than Bayer, but the human eye is so high reaction to the luminance resolution than the color, it would not be a big problem. Foveon (Merrill generation) is a 100% resolution efficiency of both brightness and color resolution, but it does not have good high sensitivity performance. Canon patent application appears to only have a special array of existing CMOS sensor, high sensitivity performance is also a good idea.

Pictures finally obtained are affected not only by the color arrangement but also by lens performance and image processing. Special image pickup device because the camera using some may feel a bit uncomfortable blurring, image processing is where I hope to improve as long as the cause. Canon seems patent application is supposed to complex image processing, it is what you want to expect a high degree of perfection picture."

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