The Digital Photography Blog: all you need to know about digital cameras and photography
The Foveon x530 from Polaroid has a 4.5 megapixel Foveon sensor chip (called the X3).
'This week Foveon will enter the mainstream market with a new camera priced at $399 that will be manufactured in China and marketed as the Polaroid x530 with Foveon technology.
The Foveon sensor chip, called the X3, is made using an industry standard semiconductor manufacturing process and has received good reviews for color fidelity and resolution. The chip is composed of millions of photo-detectors, each capable of capturing red, blue and green light. In contrast, most of today's digital cameras use a chip with individual color filters that correspond to each photoreceptor. Although the Foveon technology is generally thought to have advantages over the three-chip approach in image quality, cost, lower power consumption and adaptability to new photo and video applications, it has not been widely adopted. The challenge has been to compete with an older, more entrenched technology that is falling in cost.' (from the NY Times - see link below)
There is more info on the Foveon x530 at:
- ">NY Times - Foveon x530
- Photography Blog - New Foveon Compact from Polaroid
- Foveon Site
- DP Review - Foveon x530
Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, February 11, 2004 – Foveon Inc., a technology leader in high-quality digital image capture products, announced today that a new Polaroid brand digital camera will incorporate the 4.5 megapixel Foveon X3 direct image sensor. The camera is the world’s first point-and-shoot digital camera to incorporate X3 technology. Foveon X3 direct image sensors are the only image sensors that directly capture color in three layers, just like color film. This results in richer colors, warmer tones, and sharper images than are available through traditional image sensors.
First introduced in 2002, the X3 image sensor has only been available in a professional class digital camera. Now with the introduction of the Polaroid x530, consumers are able to enjoy the many benefits of X3 technology in an affordable full-featured point-and-shoot digital camera. The Polaroid x530 is scheduled to ship to retailers in June 2004 with a suggested retail price of $399.
The Foveon technology enables the Polaroid x530 digital camera to produce superb 8” x 10” images – the largest print size that most consumers will print. The camera takes advantage of several key features of the X3 direct image sensor including X3F raw file format image capture, video clip capture at VGA resolution, and Foveon’s recently introduced X3 Fill Light software. The X3 Fill Light software tool digitally simulates the photographic method of "dodging and burning" adding extra light to shadow regions, while preserving highlight detail. It is a powerful method for simultaneously adjusting overexposed and underexposed areas of a digital image with a single simple control.
Foveon has received numerous technical awards and recognition including: Popular Science’s Best of What’s New Award, Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of the year, the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) award and the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Award. The Polaroid brand x530 digital camera is made by World Wide License Ltd under exclusive license by Polaroid and distributed in the United States through Uniden America Corporation. Information about the Polaroid x530 digital camera can be found at www.polaroid-digital.com.
About Foveon and X3 Direct Image Sensors
Since its establishment in 1997, Foveon has focused on the development of image capture technologies and products for digital cameras. The company's X3 direct image sensors are the only image sensors that directly capture red, green, and blue light at every point in an image. The design of the X3 direct image sensor leverages the natural color separation property of silicon. When silicon is exposed to light, blue light is absorbed near the surface, green light is absorbed deeper, and red light is absorbed deepest within the silicon. In Foveon X3 direct image sensors, pixels are placed at these corresponding depths in the silicon to detect the red, green, and blue light that has been absorbed. This stacked-pixel design ensures that all of the color is captured at every point in an image.
In contrast, the traditional CCD and CMOS image sensors used in today’s digital cameras capture only one color per pixel location and must mathematically interpolate the two colors not detected. This interpolation process results in false colors, reduced color resolution and color artifacts.
Foveon X3 technology is highly scalable for a wide range of cameras including digital still/video cameras, PDAs, cell phones, security cameras and scientific cameras.