Have any digital cameras used an RGBW sensor, and what are the trade-offs?
Asked 1/25/2014
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I’ve read about non-Bayer sensor designs and wondered whether any interchangeable-lens or mainstream digital cameras have used an RGBW color filter array, where some pixels are unfiltered (“white”) instead of red, green, or blue. In theory, the clear pixels would collect more light and could improve luminance noise performance, but at the cost of reduced color resolution. Have camera makers tried this approach in practice, and if so, why hasn’t it become common in photographic cameras?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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"Are there digital cameras with a RGBW sensor?"
Answering this: No.
"Did any form exploited this path in the past?"
Answering this: Yes.
There were some tryouts from Sony but they reverted back to the classical RGB design due of 'image quality issues'.
Also Nikon filled a patent for this.
But the oldest research on the area is from Kodak. They even produced a sensor with this technology but it was intended for "non-camera devices such as mobile phones and automotive vehicles"
As a bottom line: There were enough tryouts in this area but it seems that the idea, although promising, still has some caveats for a photographic camera.
Originally by user952. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user952
12y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Mainstream photographic cameras have generally not used RGBW sensors. Based on the community answers, companies have explored the idea: Kodak researched and built such sensors for non-camera uses like mobile and automotive devices, Sony reportedly tried it and returned to standard RGB designs because of image-quality issues, and Nikon has filed patents.
The appeal is real: clear (white) pixels can gather more light, which can help luminance signal and potentially reduce noise. The trade-off is that those pixels don’t directly capture color, so reconstructing accurate color becomes harder and can reduce color resolution or introduce image-quality compromises.
That seems to be the key reason RGBW hasn’t become common in dedicated cameras: the gains in light capture have not outweighed the color and processing drawbacks for general photographic use.
Related but different: Fujifilm’s X-Trans sensor is a non-Bayer pattern used in cameras like the X-Pro1, but it is still an RGB design, not RGBW. Its goal is different—reducing moiré and reliance on an anti-aliasing filter—rather than adding clear pixels for extra luminance capture.
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