Don said 'ISO setting control', and the ISO control does affect the conversion gain on cameras that have dual conversion gain, though not in a linear not standardised manner. Agreed that ISO is not conversion gain and that ISO setting isn't ISO.
Don said 'ISO setting control', and the ISO control does affect the conversion gain on cameras that have dual conversion gain, though not in a linear not standardised manner. Agreed that ISO is not conversion gain and that ISO setting isn't ISO.
Don said 'ISO setting control'
He did. I'm trying to make a point that it isn't ISO, to avoid confusion.
@DonaldB has written:but doesn't the iso setting control the amount/level of electrical charge the capacitors can hold ? i'm most interested.
Only if you have a sensor with dual-conversion gain. Here the capacitance of the capacitor can be changed. In a CMOS active-pixel sensor the charge capacity of that capacitor is limited by the maximum voltage swing of the read transistor in the pixel. If the capacitor is larger it can hold a greater amount of charge before reaching the limiting voltage, since V=Q/C.
Bob ,wouldnt the iso control operate the same as the electronic shutter ? because its using a timer to control the charging capacitor ?
@bobn2 has written: @DonaldB has written:but doesn't the iso setting control the amount/level of electrical charge the capacitors can hold ? i'm most interested.
Only if you have a sensor with dual-conversion gain. Here the capacitance of the capacitor can be changed. In a CMOS active-pixel sensor the charge capacity of that capacitor is limited by the maximum voltage swing of the read transistor in the pixel. If the capacitor is larger it can hold a greater amount of charge before reaching the limiting voltage, since V=Q/C.
Bob ,wouldnt the iso control operate the same as the electronic shutter ? because its using a timer to control the charging capacitor ?
Currently, ISO control doesn't use a timer.
@DonaldB has written:My theory is this. the recording medium in film was crystals (not important what they are made of) and they were exposed to light from a lens even a pin hole with no lens. now a digital sensor is a different recording device and myself and Jim have concluded that the recording medium for digital sensor is the capacitors that store the electrical energy from the photodiodes.
Both media depend on the photoelectric effect. In film the photoelectrons freed migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the grain. Collected there they cause a chemical reduction site (because free electrons are reducing agents) which can act as a catalyst for a chemical reducing agent, which reduces the silver halide crystal to silver. In 'digital' the freed electrons migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the pixel where they accumulate a charge, which can be measured by the sensor and camera electronics. The ISO control has no effect on the magnitude of that charge.
@DonaldB has written: @bobn2 has written: @DonaldB has written:but doesn't the iso setting control the amount/level of electrical charge the capacitors can hold ? i'm most interested.
Only if you have a sensor with dual-conversion gain. Here the capacitance of the capacitor can be changed. In a CMOS active-pixel sensor the charge capacity of that capacitor is limited by the maximum voltage swing of the read transistor in the pixel. If the capacitor is larger it can hold a greater amount of charge before reaching the limiting voltage, since V=Q/C.
Bob ,wouldnt the iso control operate the same as the electronic shutter ? because its using a timer to control the charging capacitor ?
Currently, ISO control doesn't use a timer.
but it cant use anything else at pixel level (would be to complicated), just a simple transitor triggered to stop the charge to the capacitor ?
That's wrong.
ISO "implementation" is a multi-stage chain, might even involve raw converter. In current consumer cameras it may involve pixel control, one or two variable gain amplifiers, ADC, multiplication in camera, multiplication in raw converter. In the current experimental implementations there are even more stages present, and architecture in some of those is quite different.
@IliahBorg has written: @DonaldB has written: @bobn2 has written: @DonaldB has written:but doesn't the iso setting control the amount/level of electrical charge the capacitors can hold ? i'm most interested.
Only if you have a sensor with dual-conversion gain. Here the capacitance of the capacitor can be changed. In a CMOS active-pixel sensor the charge capacity of that capacitor is limited by the maximum voltage swing of the read transistor in the pixel. If the capacitor is larger it can hold a greater amount of charge before reaching the limiting voltage, since V=Q/C.
Bob ,wouldnt the iso control operate the same as the electronic shutter ? because its using a timer to control the charging capacitor ?
Currently, ISO control doesn't use a timer.
but it cant use anything else at pixel level (would be to complicated), just a simple transitor triggered to stop the charge to the capacitor ?
It switches on/off an extra "capacitor" before the exposure starts.
@DonaldB has written:my argument is that iso is part of the exposure process because its controls the amount of energy reaching those capacitors (recording medium) ,
That is not even close to being true.
Think of it this way.
For a given scene and lighting you set manual mode with f/8, 1/200s, ISO 100
After reviewing the image in camera you feel the image is still too dark but you cannot open the aperture or slow the shutter because your DOF and/or blur constraints will be messed up.
The only other option, assuming more light cannot be added to the scene, is raise ISO. You now set ISO 200 and the image looks good.
Both the ISO 100 and ISO 200 shots will have received the same exposure* (energy, to use your word) and so ISO had no affect at all on the exposure* (energy reaching the recording medium, to use your words).
* exposure - amount of light striking the sensor per unit area while the shutter is open
** optimal exposure - the maximum exposure* within dof and motion blur requirements without clipping important highlights.
*** under exposed - more exposure* could have been added with the DOF and blur constraints still being met without clipping important highlights.
electronic shutter how does that control light exposure ?
@bobn2 has written: @DonaldB has written:My theory is this. the recording medium in film was crystals (not important what they are made of) and they were exposed to light from a lens even a pin hole with no lens. now a digital sensor is a different recording device and myself and Jim have concluded that the recording medium for digital sensor is the capacitors that store the electrical energy from the photodiodes.
Both media depend on the photoelectric effect. In film the photoelectrons freed migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the grain. Collected there they cause a chemical reduction site (because free electrons are reducing agents) which can act as a catalyst for a chemical reducing agent, which reduces the silver halide crystal to silver. In 'digital' the freed electrons migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the pixel where they accumulate a charge, which can be measured by the sensor and camera electronics. The ISO control has no effect on the magnitude of that charge.
ISO settings influence the brightness after exposure - sometimes as analog amplification before the ADC, as in your example, or in the digital domain after the ADC (ISO implementation varies). At no time does ISO itself contribute to exposure.
but it cant use anything else at pixel level (would be to complicated), just a simple transitor triggered to stop the charge to the capacitor ?
In the case of dual conversion gain it's an extra capacitor and a transistor that switches it in or out of circuit. Stopping the flow of charge to the capacitor would reduce photoelectron count, which is exactly the wrong thing to do.
electronic shutter how does that control light exposure ?
By the shutter speed I set or the camera sets to satisfy its meter.
Are there any sentences in my post you quoted that you think are not accurate?
Bob ,wouldnt the iso control operate the same as the electronic shutter ? because its using a timer to control the charging capacitor ?
It doesn't work like that. Were it to it would be reducing the number of photoelectrons measured, which would result in the same effect as a smaller exposure - exactly what you don't want. The pixel circuitry contains an additional capacitor (the native 'capacitor' is the combined capacitance of the floating diffusion and source follower gate) and a transistor that can switch that capacitor in or out of circuit.
electronic shutter how does that control light exposure ?
It controls the time over which the sensor accepts light, as opposed to the time over which it is exposed to light. So, with a slight technicality it isn't quite controlling 'exposure time', rather 'integration time' - but it doesn't lead to conceptual problems if it's thought of as 'exposure time'.
@bobn2 has written: @DonaldB has written:My theory is this. the recording medium in film was crystals (not important what they are made of) and they were exposed to light from a lens even a pin hole with no lens. now a digital sensor is a different recording device and myself and Jim have concluded that the recording medium for digital sensor is the capacitors that store the electrical energy from the photodiodes.
Both media depend on the photoelectric effect. In film the photoelectrons freed migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the grain. Collected there they cause a chemical reduction site (because free electrons are reducing agents) which can act as a catalyst for a chemical reducing agent, which reduces the silver halide crystal to silver. In 'digital' the freed electrons migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the pixel where they accumulate a charge, which can be measured by the sensor and camera electronics. The ISO control has no effect on the magnitude of that charge.
Boy, this thread has sure shifted away from the simple issue of whether "exposure" is how dark or light an image looks.
But in any case, different cameras have different implementations of ISO. It seems as if people are suggesting that all cameras do things the same way. That's clearly not the case.
@DonaldB has written:electronic shutter how does that control light exposure ?
It controls the time over which the sensor accepts light, as opposed to the time over which it is exposed to light. So, with a slight technicality it isn't quite controlling 'exposure time', rather 'integration time' - but it doesn't lead to conceptual problems if it's thought of as 'exposure time'.
thats all i needed to win, on a slight technicality 😜😁
@DonaldB has written: @bobn2 has written: @DonaldB has written:My theory is this. the recording medium in film was crystals (not important what they are made of) and they were exposed to light from a lens even a pin hole with no lens. now a digital sensor is a different recording device and myself and Jim have concluded that the recording medium for digital sensor is the capacitors that store the electrical energy from the photodiodes.
Both media depend on the photoelectric effect. In film the photoelectrons freed migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the grain. Collected there they cause a chemical reduction site (because free electrons are reducing agents) which can act as a catalyst for a chemical reducing agent, which reduces the silver halide crystal to silver. In 'digital' the freed electrons migrate to the lowest electrical potential part of the pixel where they accumulate a charge, which can be measured by the sensor and camera electronics. The ISO control has no effect on the magnitude of that charge.
Boy, this thread has sure shifted away from the simple issue of whether "exposure" is how dark or light an image looks.
But in any case, different cameras have different implementations of ISO. It seems as if people are suggesting that all cameras do things the same way. That's clearly not the case.
i disagree , post a schematic that shows different. only extended iso is controlled digitally.
only extended iso is controlled digitally
Sorry, just not factual.