digital cameras comparison

The colored filters are arranged in a grid so that there are twice as many green filters as there are red or blue. This is because the human eye is twice as sensitive to green light. Filters are arranged in a pattern called the Bayer pattern - one row of red, green, red, green ( etc. ), and the next row of blue, green, blue, green ( etc ).

Since each photosite can only be covered with one coloured filter, computer processing is necessary to produce a full colored image. This is done by analyzing a certain pixel and its immediate neighbors and producing a composite colour from these calculations. For example, if a bright red pixel is surrounded by bright green and bright blue pixels, the bright red pixel must undeniably be white, because white is the combination of red, blue, and green. This process is called demosaicing.