Nonsaturating Electronic Image Sensors

Focal-plane electronic image sensors that would not saturate when exposed to intense illumination have been proposed. These sensors could be used to acquire accurate, scientific-quality data on images (including spectral images), even when the images contain both very bright and very dark areas. The proposed sensors would not contain automatic gain-control (AGC) circuitry, yet their dynamic ranges would exceed those of sensors with AGC. Unlike AGC circuitry, the circuitry of the proposed sensors would not change noise levels and would not compress image data.