The new color filter system, offered in a family of new patterns depending on applications and system architecture, are a departure from the widely used standard Bayer pattern—an arrangement of red, green and blue pixels—also created by Kodak.

While building on the Bayer pattern, the new technology adds a "fourth pixel, which has no pigment on top," said Michael DeLuca, market segment manager responsible for image sensor solutions at Eastman Kodak. Such "transparent" pixels—sensitive to all visible wavelengths—are designed to absorb light.

DeLuca claimed the invention is "the next milestone" in digital photography, likening its significance to ISO 400 color film introduced in the mid-1980's. The earlier innovation enabled consumers to take pictures in low light conditions.

The new color filter pattern approach, called "panchromatic pixels," allows "a [black and white] image to be detected with high sensitivity," according to Kodak. The remaining RGB pixels then collect color information, which is combined with the information from the panchromatic pixels to generate the final image.

"The technique is admirably simple: open the window to let in more light," said Tony Henning, editor of The Mobile Imaging Report. "It's almost inconceivable that nobody else thought of, or acted on this idea, until now."

In the age of mega-pixel warfare among camera vendors, image sensor companies have scrambled to pack more pixels into sensors. The move to higher resolution in the same form factor, however, requires smaller pixels with a reduced ability to gather light.

"Much of the effort to improve sensor sensitivity has been to boost the gain in the signal from the pixels. But this introduces noise [and] grain in the images," said Ed Lee, director of consumer services and digital photography trends service at InfoTrends. "So the trade-off has been sensitivity versus signal noise."

Noting that such a trade off is not new, many major manufacturers of CMOS image sensors "claim at least a degree of success in compensating for smaller pixel sizes and reduced light sensitivity," said Henning. Some reduce the number of transistors per pixel, leaving more room for the photodiode, or they reduce the size of metal layers to make more room for the photodiode, explained Henning. "Others reduce the distance between the photodiode and the microlenses above them."