Backside Illumination Coming...

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oh...k?

Really?

It's pretty exciting stuff to me...

One option is to offer more pixels without degrading how well each pixel works, yielding more detailed photographs. Another option is better image quality with the same number of pixels, something that's useful when taking photos or videos in dim indoor light.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com …97-264.html#ixzz1Hzg9eW9t

Nothing really new. Canon already uses it in some compacts (e.g. the IXUS 300HS).

AFAIK no DSLR sensor uses this yet, but I also don't know if it can actually be applied to them.

Would be awesome if this was put to use in DSLRs, but it's still difficult/expensive at the moment.

I worked at a digital camera manufacturer in the 90's that specialized in scientific use cameras. We offered BSI sensor cameras, but a 512x512 B/W ran for like $30,000-$100,000 or more depending on options.

The issue is the precision of the thinning process.
At the scale shown in the graphic, the silicon wafer would be some 10-20 feet high and need to be thinned precisely so there was enough silicon left to collect/store electrons, but still be close enough to the electronics etching to "bucket" the electrons into discrete pixels.

Not too surprising that it's initially in use for compacts and cell phones. The sensors are so small that if you damage several sensors in the thinning process, you still have an acceptable yield per wafer. Try that with large sensors and a few minute errors could ruin every chip on the wafer.

The sensitivity gain is awesome ... which is why this technique IS so important. Looking forward to a day when this would be common for DSLR.

THe problem with blacklit is that it seems raise the base ISO. A lot of compacts with backlit sensors have a base ISO of 200 or 160 vs 100 or 80. That seems like trading a stop of base ISO for a stop of high ISO - which is not what I want to do.

Kechar wrote in post #12115437
Really?

It's pretty exciting stuff to me...

It just isn't news anymore, that's all. Sony started doing this in 2008:

http://www.sony.net …200806/08-069E/index.html

tkbslc wrote in post #12125227
It just isn't news anymore, that's all. Sony started doing this in 2008:

http://www.sony.net …200806/08-069E/index.html

exactly exmor R sensors...

Only about a stop of difference anywho....But still good stuff if they can atleast use it for 1/1.63" cameras as well....so far just small sensored cameras!
My XZ-1 with one stop higher useable ISO would be....just...AWESOME!!​!

one stop higher base ISO, too, though. Like I said above, I still want a superclean ISO 80 like on my s90.

Eh...I gots a built in 3 stop ND filter...No biggy!

Make it a 4-5 stop and we are good to go! or even 2 different ones....one 3 stop and one 6 stop...too good to be true...

The XZ-1 has a super clean ISO100 after you push the NR to 25 on CS5...

I meant if you backlit it, it would have a 1 stop worse base ISO.

oh...yea....i guess i enjoy my ISO100....its very clean...Well hell who am i kinding its the only clean ISO on a compact

Backside Illumination

I that where the sun shines out of your ass?

YES.