Page 2 of SIGMA SD9 by SIGMA Corporation of America

see all of the light digital photos have never looked quite as good as those taken on film until now only the sigma sd9 digital single-lens reflex camera makes this major breakthrough using foveon® x3tm technology with over 10.2 million pixel sensors for more accurate efficient color digital reproduction and sharper resolution pixel for pixel than any conventional ccd or cmos image sensor provides so you can capture more of your vision in a truer light go ahead get more creative the sigma sd9 puts the advantage of higher technology right in your hands foveon® x3tm image sensor brings new vision to digital imaging the foveon® x3tm image sensor is the heart of the first and only full-color capture system for digital cameras the x3 image sensor uses three silicon-embedded layers of pixel sensors stacked to take advantage of silicon s ability to absorb red green and blue light at different respective depths a foveon x3 image sensor can thereby capture full color and detail at each and every pixel location the results are a revelation better color detail fewer color artifacts and three times the image sharpness compared to that delivered by more conventional image sensors ® tm other image sensors are no match for the sd9 s true full color capture system unlike the sigma sd9 other digital cameras image quality is inherently compromised conventional image sensors use a single layer of pixel sensors which are organized in a three-color checkerboard mosaic each pixel location has one pixel sensor and captures just one color component red or green or blue regardless of pixel count mosaic-based image sensors capture only one-third of the information that foveon® x3tm full-color image sensors capture per pixel location and rely on complicated time and energy consuming processing to interpolate the two thirds of all the information they miss at each pixel this leads to color artifacts loss of image detail and other disadvantages foveon® x3tm image sensor technology diagram foveon® x3tm image sensor conceptual diagram the foveon® x3tm image sensor comprises three layers of pixel sensors embedded in silicon silicon absorbs different colors or wavelengths of light at different depth so each layer captures a different color among r g and b the stack of three layers creates a fullcolor pixel only the foveon® x3tm image sensor captures r g and b light at every pixel location conventional image sensor technology diagram data lens sigma macro 50mm f2.8 ex aperture f 22 shutter 1/60 iso speed 100 exposure mode manual focus mode manual raw file format hi 1,512 x 2,268 foveon inc founded in california in 1997 foveon inc is world renowned for image sensors user interfaces and image/digital processing technology a conventional image sensor features color filters applied to a single layer of pixel sensors in a tiled mosaic pattern the filters let only one wavelength of light red green or blue pass through to any given pixel location the pixel location records only that one color,so the other imformation at that site is lost as a result conventional mosaic image sensors capture only 25 of the r red 25 of the b blue and 50 of the g green light.

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