Scott Wingo Business: Panasonic explains how its color splitter sensor works in a vividly detailed video

You'd be forgiven if you weren't entirely on the same page with Panasonic regarding its micro color splitter sensor: it's a big break from the traditional Bayer filter approach on digital cameras, and the deluge of text doesn't do much to simplify the concept. Much to our relief, DigInfo TV has grilled Panasonic in a video that provides a more easily digestible (if still deep) interpretation. As the technology's creator says, it's all about the math. To let in so much light through the splitters requires processing the light in four mixed colors, and that processing requires studying the light's behavior in 3D. Panasonic's new method (Babinet-BPM) makes that feasible by finishing tasks 325 times faster than usual, all while chewing up just a 16th of the memory. The company isn't much closer to having production examples, but it's clarifying that future development will be specialized -- it wants to fine-tune the splitter behavior for everything from smartphone cameras through to security systems. Catch the full outline after the break.

Filed under: Cameras