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Olivier · 01-06-2008, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by Olivier

I wonder which of the Pentax and Kodak patents was submitted first. Does anybody know?

Answering my own question...

Here is what I found:

The earliest Kodak patent of the new pattern I could find (but I did not search for very long) is 20070024931, which was filed on July 28, 2005. The Pentax patent is 20050280727 and was filed on June 16, 2005. This is a bit more than a month earlier. Moreover, the Pentax patent seems to be based on Japanese patent P2004-179642 from June 17, 2004. So to me it looks like Pentax was first.

However, the two patents are really quite different, so they should both be valid. In the Kodak patent every other detector is panchromatic (i.e. does not have a filter) while in the Pentax patent only one in 4 detectors does not have a filter. For reference, here are the Bayer pattern and the most likely new Kodak pattern:

Another key difference is that Pentax groups 4 detectors together under the same micro-lens to get RGBY values for the same pixel (and to allow the elimination of the anti-aliasing filter) while Kodak uses a single detector per pixel. In fact, while the Kodak pattern allows high sensitivity, anti-aliasing is likely to be quite a challenge. My guess is that we will see the Kodak pattern first in cell phones and similar devices where the sensor out-resolves the lens and sensitivity is key.

01-06-2008, 04:13 PM	#12
Olivier New Member Location: Portland, OR Gallery Photos: 0 Posts: 19	Originally Posted by Olivier I wonder which of the Pentax and Kodak patents was submitted first. Does anybody know? Answering my own question... Here is what I found: The earliest Kodak patent of the new pattern I could find (but I did not search for very long) is 20070024931, which was filed on July 28, 2005. The Pentax patent is 20050280727 and was filed on June 16, 2005. This is a bit more than a month earlier. Moreover, the Pentax patent seems to be based on Japanese patent P2004-179642 from June 17, 2004. So to me it looks like Pentax was first. However, the two patents are really quite different, so they should both be valid. In the Kodak patent every other detector is panchromatic (i.e. does not have a filter) while in the Pentax patent only one in 4 detectors does not have a filter. For reference, here are the Bayer pattern and the most likely new Kodak pattern: Another key difference is that Pentax groups 4 detectors together under the same micro-lens to get RGBY values for the same pixel (and to allow the elimination of the anti-aliasing filter) while Kodak uses a single detector per pixel. In fact, while the Kodak pattern allows high sensitivity, anti-aliasing is likely to be quite a challenge. My guess is that we will see the Kodak pattern first in cell phones and similar devices where the sensor out-resolves the lens and sensitivity is key.