Rochester Scientists Receive Technology Emmy Awards for Color-Sensing Tech

Two Rochester researchers are being recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with Technology Emmy Awards for developing the single-chip color camera widely used to produce television programs and movies.

In 1974, Peter Dillon and Albert Brault, then at Kodak Research Labs (KRL), developed a prototype color video camcorder. Instead of the conventional design using a large color prism and three CCD (charge coupled device) sensors, Dillon came up with the idea of fabricating a color filter mosaic over the individual pixels of a single CCD. Brault then perfected a process for coating organic color dyes through photoresist windows during wafer fabrication.

To determine the optimum color pattern, Dillon consulted KRL mathematician Bryce Bayer, who invented the checkerboard arrangement now known as the “Bayer Pattern.” These concepts made capturing color digital images inexpensive.

Dillon and Brault’s inventions include coating a mosaic of color filters over the light sensitive pixels on an image sensor and developing demosaicing algorithms to generate color video images. The technology is also used to create color photos and video clips in a broad range of products, including smartphone cameras, drones, and medical imaging devices.

Robert Seidel, chair of technology and engineering achievement of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, said Dillon and Brault revolutionized the way television is viewed.

“The single-chip color sensors and video cameras pioneered by Peter Dillon and Albert Brault decades ago have materially affected today’s television viewing experience,” Seidel said.