A Sensor that needs no Lens

[photoguy99]

Yeah something like that. Absent a lens each pixel calculates the convolution of the ambient light falling on the sensor with a sinc() or something that looks like a sinc() close enough to be a basis vector in the frequency domain or close.

By varying the properties of the gratings etc across the array you get different sinc()-like functions.

Apparently this is sufficient to effect a change of basis from a straight up luminance array (considered as a vector) to something pretty close to a similar 2d array (also considered a vector) in some frequency domain space - or close enough.

With real sinc() functions this is just Fourier analysis. These things are not quite sinc() but whatever. The ideas are the same, the details probably get a bit mucky.

I honestly don't really understand what it does with a lens included in the system. The blending of spatial and frequency domains makes my fragile model collapse.

 

[unpopular]

Again this will limit use of lenses which change the angle of incidence of the light.

That's kind of the weirdness. The sensor doesn't require a lens to function. Things like FOV and DOF though are confusing when you're accustom to these things being determined by optics.

 

[photoguy99]

If I'm thinking about it right DOF is infinite and the field of view is the angle over which the gratings give you any substantial input which I think means you can build it to be anything you like