A-DIGITAL-EYE (21ST CENTURY DIGITAL CAMERAS, PHOTO PRINTERS, PAPERS, CAMCORDERS, IMAGING SOFTWARE, DIGITAL EQUIPMENT, REVIEWS AND MORE!)
Foveon has issued a Press Release regarding the use of their image sensor in the first Point and Shoot Style Camera. The Polaroid X530 will use the Foveon X3 4.5 megapixel image sensor which directly captures colors in three layers within in each pixel. The camera will produce X3 RAW files and will be capable of capturing VGA resolution Video at 30 frames per second. The X3 RAW Files will be able to take advantage of Foveon's recent X3 Fill Light Software which has demonstrated to us in using the Sigma SD10 camera that also uses a larger DSLR version of the Foveon X3 chip to be quite a fantastic editing tool to dramatically bring out both shadows and highlights in pictures. The Polaroid X530 will feature a 3X optical zoom lens made by Ricoh, it will have a fairly large 2.0 inch LCD screen, and it will use SD format memory cards. The new Polaroid X530 will ship in June, 2004 at a price of $399. Right now there is very little information on this very interesting development for the Polaroid name and for Foveon although we found some specifications, see the image below. We will bring you as many details about this new camera just as soon as we can from PMA 2004 however this is all that is being released at this time. There is more news and further details to come regarding this camera, we promise. Here is the full Press Release.
NEW POLAROID X530 POINT-AND-SHOOT DIGITAL CAMERA USES FOVEON X3 DIRECT IMAGE SENSOR
Anticipated arrival of consumer camera with advanced technology due in 2004
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, February 11, 2004 – Foveon Inc., a technology leader in high-quality digital image capture products, announced today that a new Polaroid brand digital camera will incorporate the 4.5 megapixel Foveon X3 direct image sensor. The camera is the world’s first point-and-shoot digital camera to incorporate X3 technology. Foveon X3 direct image sensors are the only image sensors that directly capture color in three layers, just like color film. This results in richer colors, warmer tones, and sharper images than are available through traditional image sensors. First introduced in 2002, the X3 image sensor has only been available in a professional class digital camera.
Now with the introduction of the Polaroid x530, consumers are able to enjoy the many benefits of X3 technology in an affordable full-featured point-and-shoot digital camera. The Polaroid x530 is scheduled to ship to retailers in June 2004 with a suggested retail price of $399.
The Foveon technology enables the Polaroid
x530 digital camera to produce superb 8” x 10” images
– the
largest print size that most consumers will print. The camera
takes advantage of several key features of the X3
direct image sensor including X3 raw file format image capture,
video clip capture at VGA resolution, and
Foveon’s recently introduced X3 Fill Light software. The
X3 Fill Light software tool digitally simulates the photographic
method of "dodging and burning" adding extra light
to shadow regions, while preserving highlight detail. It is a
powerful method for simultaneously adjusting overexposed and
underexposed areas of a digital image with a single simple control.
Foveon has received numerous technical
awards and recognition including: Popular Science’s Best
of What’s
New Award, Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of the year,
the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) award and the
Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Award. The Polaroid
brand x530 digital camera is made by World Wide License Ltd under
exclusive license by Polaroid and distributed in the United States
through Uniden America Corporation. Information about the Polaroid
x530 digital camera can be
found at www.polaroid-digital.com.
About Foveon and X3 Direct Image Sensors
Since its establishment in 1997, Foveon has focused on the development
of image capture technologies and
products for digital cameras. The company's X3 direct image sensors
are the only image sensors that directly
capture red, green, and blue light at every point in an image.
The design of the X3 direct image sensor
leverages the natural color separation property of silicon. When
silicon is exposed to light, blue light is
absorbed near the surface, green light is absorbed deeper, and
red light is absorbed deepest within the silicon.
In Foveon X3 direct image sensors, pixels are placed at these
corresponding depths in the silicon to detect the
red, green, and blue light that has been absorbed. This stacked-pixel
design ensures that all of the color is
captured at every point in an image.
In contrast, the traditional CCD and
CMOS image sensors used in today’s digital cameras capture
only one
color per pixel location and must mathematically interpolate
the two colors not detected. This interpolation
process results in false colors, reduced color resolution and
color artifacts.
Foveon X3 technology is highly scalable
for a wide range of cameras including digital still/video cameras,
PDAs, cell phones, security cameras and scientific cameras.
