"The larger pixel size means that each pixel can collect physically more light. The more light per pixel, the better the signal to noise ratio for that pixel and so that pixel will more accurately detect the incoming light than a smaller pixel would."
I think this idea of bigger/fewer pixels leading directly, as in through the very basic physics of photon noise, to lower noise is wrong-headed. I couldn't care less what the signal-to-noise ratio of _pixels in my sensor_ is. What I care about is the SNR of pixels in the output image, whether that be an image displayed on a screen or the dots made by a printer. A camera with more pixels will have more of those pixels averaged together in each pixel of a given final output image, and it all comes out in the wash. This is not to say that all sensors are equal. Just that the amount of light collected by each pixel of the sensor isn't what matters. (Darren, I am ranting at petapixel, not you.) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
