Foveon unveils X3 DSLR

Foveon today announced the release of its 14.1 megapixel X3 DSLR image sensor, the highest resolution X3 sensor available, according to the company. The new sensor -- which provides a 40 percent increase in pixel count over the previous X3 DSLR sensor and will ship in the Sigma SD14 camera -- incorporates design as well as process enhancements that improve performance at long exposures and high ISO speeds. Foveon claims that its proprietary X3 technology is the only image sensor technology that stacks red, green and blue pixels vertically, increasing the information density of the recorded image while simultaneously eliminating the color sampling artifacts found with other image sensors.

The new X3 sensor features 14.1 million pixels into a 3-dimensional array of 2652 x 1768 x 3 pixels with an active image area measuring 20.69 x 13.79mm. Users can read the sensor out at speeds up to five frames per second. Sigma also plans to launch the DP1, a new compact camera that leverages the Foveon DSLR sensor to offer the same performance in a small and user-friendly form factor.

by MacNN Staff