Apple Patents A Light-Splitting iPhone Camera Sensor System
[Philip Lelyveld comment: This is the digital version of the 3 strip color process used to create color movies in the 1930s. I wonder if anyone in Hollywood will try to invalidate elements of this patent as obvious and pre-existing technology.]
Apple has secured a new patent (via AppleInsider) for a special three sensor camera designed for thin, wireless devices like the iPhone. The three sensors would each capture a separate color component, as divided by a special light-splitting cube that would divide up light entering the camera into red, green and blue (or other color set) wavelengths.
Why? Better resolution and lower noise since they don’t need special filters or algorithms to separate out the color information of a captured image on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Using this tech, Apple would potentially be able to boost the image quality of its mobile cameras, especially in video capture scenarios.
See the full story here: http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/24/apple-patents-a-light-splitting-iphone-camera-sensor-system/?ncid=tcdaily