Optical Spatial Frequency Filtering of Image Sensors ?

I think the different understandings are due to an issue of semantics.  One of microlenses' main jobs is to collect light on top of a sensel and focus it on its active area, making up for initially rather poor fill factors (obviously FF is not as material an issue with back illuminated sensors).

In imaging, sensor manufacturers often refer to Absolute Quantum Efficiency as the percentage of photons arriving on top of the sensor that get turned into electrons after passing through the AA, IR, microlens, CFA if present and whatever other filter is on top of the sensing silicon, like so



So by this definition, microlenses play a big part in 'effective' 'absolute' QE.  Without them it could be reduced by 1-FF.