Bayer filter

The basics of the X-Trans sensor filter

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Many digital cameras use the Bayer filter as a means of capturing colour information at the photosite level. Bayer filters have colour filters which repeat in 2×2 pattern. Some companies, like Fuji use a different type of filter, in Fuji’s case the X-Trans filter. The X-Trans filter appeared in 2012 with the debut of the Fuji X-Pro1.

The problem with regularly repeating patterns of coloured pixels is that they can result in moiré patterns when the photograph contains fine details. This is normally avoided by adding an optical low-pass filter in front of the sensor. This has the affect of applying a controlled blur on the image, so sharp edges and abrupt colour changes and tonal transitions won’t cause problems. This process makes the moiré patterns disappear, but at the expense of some image sharpness. In many modern cameras the sensor resolution often outstrips the resolving power of lenses, so the lens itself acts as a low-pass filter, and so the LP filter has been dispensed with.

Bayer (left) versus X-Trans colour filter arrays

C-Trans uses a more complex array of colour filters. Rather than the 2×2 RGBG Bayer pattern, the X-Trans colour filter uses a larger 6×6 array, comprised of differing 3×3 patterns. Each pattern has 55% green, 22.5% blue and 22.5% red light sensitive photosite elements. The main reason for this pattern was to eliminate the need for a low-pass filter, because this patterning reduces moiré. This theoretically strikes a balance between the presence of moiré patterns, and image sharpness.

The X-Trans filter provides a for better colour production, boosts sharpness, and reduces colour noise at high ISO. On the other hand, more processing power is needed to process the images. Some people say it even has a more pleasing “film-like” grain.

CharacteristicX-TransBayer
Pattern6×6 allows for more organic colour reproduction.2×2 results in more false-colour artifacts.
MoiréPattern makes images less susceptible to moiré.Bayer filters contribute to moiré.
Optical filterNo low-pass filer = higher resolution.Low-pass filter compromises image sharpness.
ProcessingMore complex to process.Less complex to process.
Pros and Cons between X-Trans and Bayer filters.

Further reading:

The Bayer filter

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Without the colour filters in a camera sensor, the images acquired would be monochromatic. The most common colour filter used by many camera is the Bayer filter array. The pattern was introduced by Bryce Bayer of Eastman Kodak Company in a 1975 patent (No.3,971,065). The raw output of the Bayer array is called a Bayer pattern image. The most common arrangement of colour filters in Bayer uses a mosaic of the RGBG quartet, where every 2×2 pixel square is composed of a Red and Green pixel on the top row, and a Green and Blue pixel on the bottom row. This means that not every pixel is sampled as Red-Green-Blue, but rather one colour for each photosite. The image below shows how the Bayer mosaic is decomposed.

bayer-array
Decomposing the Bayer colour filter.

But why are there more green filters? This is largely because human vision is more sensitive to colour green, so the ratio is 50% green, 25% red and 25% blue. So in a sensor with 4000×6000 pixels, 12,000 would be green, and red and blur would have 6,000 each. The green channels are used to gather luminance information. The Red and Blue channels each have half the sampling resolution of the luminance detail captured by the green channel. However human vision is much more sensitive to luminance resolution than it is to colour information so this is usually not an issue. An example of what a “raw” Bayer pattern image would look like is shown below.

bayer-testout
Actual image (left) versus raw Bayer pattern image (right)

So how do we get pixels that are full RGB? To obtain a full-color image, a demosaicing algorithm has to be applied to interpolate a set of red, green, and blue values for each pixel. These algorithms make use of the surrounding pixels of the corresponding colors to estimate the values for a particular pixel. The simplest form of algorithm averages the surrounding pixels to derive the missing data. The exact algorithm used depends on the camera manufacturer.

Of course Bayer is not the only filter pattern. Fuji created its own version, the X-Trans colour filter array which uses a larger 6×6 pattern of red, green, and blue.

How do camera sensors work?

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So we have described photosites, but how does a camera sensor actually work? What sort of magic happens inside a digital camera? When the shutter button is pressed, and the sensor exposed to light, the light passes through the lens, and then through a series of filters, a microlens array, and a colour filter, before being deposited in the photosite. A photodiode then converts the light into an electrical signal produced into a quantifiable digital value.

Cross-section of a sensor.

The uppermost layer of a sensor typically contains certain filters. One of these is the infrared (IR) filter. Light contains both ultraviolet and infrared parts, and most sensors are very sensitive to infrared radiation. Hence the IR filter is used to eliminate the IR radiation. Other filters include anti-aliasing (AA) filters which blur the lines between repeating patterns in order to avoid wavy lines (moiré).

Next come the microlenses. One would assume that photosites are butted up against one another, but in reality that’s not the case. Camera sensors have a “microlens” above each photosite to concentrate the amount of light gathered.

Photosites by themselves have a problem distinguishing colour.  To capture colour, a filter has to be placed over each photosite, to capture only specific colours. A red filter allows only red light to enter the photosite, a green filter only green, and a blue filter only blue. Therefore, each photosite contributes information about one of the three colours that, together, comprise the complete colour system of a photograph (RGB).

sensor-colour1
Filtering light using colour filters, in this case showing a Bayer filter.

The most common type of colour filter array is called a Bayer filter. The array in a Bayer filter consists of a repetitive pattern of 2×2 squares comprised of a red, blue, and two green filters. The Bayer filter has more green than red or blue because human vision is more sensitive to green light.

A basic diagram of the overall process looks something like this:

Light photons enter the aperture, and a portion are allowed through the shutter. The camera sensor (photosites) then absorbs the light photons producing an electrical signal which may be amplified by the ISO amplifier before it is turned into the pixels of a digital image.