Foveon acquired by Sigma

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Foveon acquired by Sigma
By Mike Tomkins
(Monday, November 10, 2008 - 21:31 EST)

Japan's Sigma Corp. has today announced its acquisition of sensor developer Foveon Inc., the company behind the X3 image sensors featured in all Sigma digital cameras.

Foveon first announced its development of the X3 CMOS image sensor at the Photo Marketing Association tradeshow in the spring of 2002. While other color image sensors are capable of recording only one color at each pixel location - usually red, green and blue pixels in a Bayer pattern - the X3 image sensor is capable of capturing all three colors for every pixel.

From day one when its X3-based SD9 digital SLR was announced alongside the new sensor technology, Sigma has seen the value of Foveon's X3 imager. The company has adopted X3 sensors for all of its SD-series single lens reflex and DP-series compact fixed lens digital cameras. Unfortunately for Foveon, other consumer digital camera manufacturers haven't reacted with similar enthusiasm. With the exception of the briefly available Polaroid-branded X530 digital camera from Hong Kong's World Wide Licenses Ltd., Sigma's digital cameras have remained the only option for consumers seeking full-color imaging. Beyond these products, Foveon has had some success with sales of X3 sensors for use in industrial cameras. The company has also looked into producing X3 image sensors for use in cell phones, but to date this hasn't panned out.

Even if Foveon hasn't succeeded in persuading the bulk of the digicam market to move away from color-filtered monochrome sensors, Sigma has certainly built up a loyal following for its X3-based digicams over the years since the SD9 hit the market - and doubtless, sold quite a few Sigma-mount lenses as a side effect. Not surprisingly, the company's support of its imaging partner hasn't shown any signs of waning, with Sigma recently having previewed its upcoming Foveon X3-based SD15 and DP2 digital cameras at the Photokina tradeshow in Germany.

Today's announcement enables that partership to continue in the future, despite both turbulent financial markets and Foveon's difficulties in promoting its X3 technology to the wider imaging market. Fans of full-color imaging will doubtless be pleased to see the close relationship between Sigma and Foveon continuing into the future!

Original Source Press Release:

Sigma Corporation Acquires Three-layer Image Sensor Developer Foveon, Inc.

Kawasaki, Japan, November 11th, 2008 - Sigma Corporation (Location: Kawasaki, Japan) has acquired 100% of the stock of the company that developed the original three-layer image sensor, Foveon Inc. Foveon will continue its sensor development operations in San Jose, CA, USA.

Foveon made history when it developed and patented the world's first three-layer image capture technology, placing a stack of RGB pixels in each pixel location. As a result, Foveon sensors detect all three primary colors in every pixel location, producing images that are sharper and have significantly reduced image artifacts compared to competing image sensor technologies.

Since Sigma first worked with Foveon in 2000, both companies have enjoyed a cooperative working relationship directed toward developing highly-efficient DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras and compact digital cameras which take the best advantage of the X3 sensor technology. Sigma Corporation has employed Foveon's technology in its entire digital camera line, producing images which are acclaimed by both amateur and professional photographers all over the world for their high resolution and for their three-dimensional look. Both the latest DLSR, the SD14, and the compact DP1 camera - which packs the full spec of a DSLR into a compact camera - have met with similar acclaim. Two additional Sigma camera products based on Foveon's image sensor technology have been announced for 2009.

The acquisition of Foveon will not only enhance the development of new types of image sensors for high quality digital cameras, but will also create a synergistic effect with Sigma's camera and lens business by improving the integration between the camera and sensor. This will result in camera products which will uniquely meet the widely ranging functional and image quality needs of demanding photographers.

As the digital camera market continues to expand, Foveon and Sigma will continuously evolve and improve the X3 sensor technology, thus expanding the company's photography-related business. In addition, Sigma remains firmly committed to preserving and nurturing the culture of photography.

More information
More information about Sigma Corporation can be found at www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english
More information about Foveon, Inc. can be found at www.foveon.com.

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