Originally Posted by Watcher
BTW Amfibius, I have yet to see your proof on your statement "sensor gathers more light. This theoretically increases dynamic range" in the other post.
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*groan* you are really tiresome aren't you. I thought that something like this would be evident to most people who have followed the digital imaging scene for a while. Do you really NOT know, or are you deliberately being obtuse? While I'm at it, would you like me to explain why the grass is green or why tyres need air before they work as well?
Well, here you go. CMOS/CCD engineers are always trying to improve the light gathering ability of each individual pixel. This is because they know that if you gather less light, the signal needs to be amplified more, the sensor is more at risk of becoming oversaturated (and then spill electrons into neighbouring pixels). All things being equal (apart from the sensor size), a sensor with a larger pixel pitch will allow more precise measurement of light levels, especially in extreme circumstances. More precise measurement = increased dynamic range.
The engineers try to get around this by increasing the sensor size (Canon), or moving the transistors around each pixel (20D), or stacking the sensors on top of each other (Foveon), or rearranging the grid (Fuji), and so on.