or maybe I should ask, are we all ready to throw out our new 'digital' cameras when this new upgrade hits.. â??Quantum Filmâ?? threatens to replace CMOS/CCD image sensors "Just as photographic film was mostly replaced by silicon image chips, now the new â??Quantum Flmâ?? threats to replace the conventional image sensors in digital cameras. Made from materials similar to conventional filmâ??a polymer with embedded particlesâ?? instead of silver grains like photographic film the embedded particles are quantum dots. Quantum film can image scenes with more pixel resolution, according to their inventors, InVisage Inc., offering four-times better sensitivity for ultra-high resolution sensors that are cheaper to manufacture." "..paint quantum film atop a low-cost wafer that has the electrode array for super- dense high-pixel-count images, but without any of the expensive photodetectors that make up the bulk of conventional digital camera sensors. â??Our quantum film replaces the silicon used for image capture, but what we have really created here is a new semiconductor material,â?? said Jess Lee, InVisage president and CEO. â??Our quantum film even looks like photographic filmâ??an opaque black material that we deposit right on the top layer of our image chip. With a tiny smartphone 3-megapixel sensor, we could make that a 12-megapixel sensor, or we could quadruple its sensitivity and ISO. Thatâ??s the net benefit here" from: http://frankglencairn.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/quantum-film-threatens-to-replace- cmosccd-image-sensors/ karl
