Pixel shifting refers to various technical methods, either to diminish damage to displays by preventing "burn in" of static images or to enhance resolution of displays, projectors, and digital imaging devices. The term is often used synonymously with the more specific term pixel shift.

Purposes

Avoid burn-in

See Pixel shifting avoids burn-in explained in detail for both analogue and digital screens.

Enhance character display resolution on terminals

Computer terminals such as the HP 2645A used a half-shift algorithm to move pixel positions by half a screen pixel in order to support the generation of multiple complex character sets.

Increase projection resolution

Pixel shifting has been implemented in video projectors to expand the native

1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen ve ...

resolution to produce an effectively 4K image on the screen. An exemplary implementation by the electronics corporation JVC is referred to as "e-shift".

Increase capture and/or tonal resolution

Pixel shifting by movement of one or more sensors is a technique to increase resolution and/or colour rendering of image capturing devices. : The image at right displays the visible gain both in detail and in colour resolution produced by the

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16-shot pixel shift mode, which results in a 240 Mpixel image, as compared to a single shot with the standard sensor resolution of 61 Mpixel. The crops taken from each image display the coat of arms at exactly the same size, albeit with different pixel counts.

One or more separate color channel sensors

Some

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and digital microscopes employ separate color channel sensors (usually RGB = red, green, blue) sensors. * Pixel shifting may be implemented for one or more of these sensors by moving such a sensor by a fraction of a pixel (or even a whole pixel value) in both x- and y-direction. * For example, early high-definition camcorders used a 3CCD sensor block of 960 × 540 pixels each. Shifting the red and blue sensors (but not the green sensor) by 0.5 pixel in both vertical and horizontal directions permitted the recovery of a 1920 × 1080 luminance signal.

One multi colour channel sensor

Currently most consumer imaging devices (cameras, camcorders, smartphones) employ a single multi colour channel sensor, on which the RGB (red, green, blue) pixels are usually arranged in a

Bayer pattern A Bayer filter mosaic is a color filter array (CFA) for arranging RGB color filters on a square grid of photosensors. Its particular arrangement of color filters is used in most single-chip digital image sensors used in digital cameras, cam ...

. Thus any mode of pixel shifting movement either by fractional or by whole pixel values, whether to obtain a more detailed image or to improve tonal resolution, must necessarily engage the whole sensor. * More detailed information is to be obtained on page

Pixel shift Pixel shift is a method in digital cameras for producing a super resolution image. The method works by taking several images, after each such capture moving ("shifting") the sensor to a new position. In digital colour cameras that employ pixel s ...

Other implementations

* *

Related features

* The first stabilization mechanism for a still-camera sensor was implemented in 2003 by

Minolta was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It made the first integrated aut ...

as a new feature of the camera model

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. The purpose of this implementation was to counter-act camera shake only. The first consumer still-camera that utilised sensor movement to enhance detail and/or tonal resolution was the Pentax K-3 II, released in 2015 by

Pentax is a brand name used primarily by the Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company Ricoh for DSLR cameras, lenses, sport optics (including binoculars and rifle scopes), and CCTV optics. The Pentax brand is also used by Hoya Corporatio ...

. * Also see Image stabilization, section 'Sensor-shift'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pixel Shifting Display technology Television technology Imaging