Here's a comparison of the SX10 and my SX40. These were taken using settings as close as possible. The difference is quite dramatic IMHO. There's been no tweaking of either shot. I have since sold the SX10.
Not bad for what the DSLR crowd would call a micro dot sensor. It shows how sensor performance is improving especially as 2 MP of extra pixels have been squeezed in. The SX40 does seem very good at high ISO so the backlit cmos definitely shows its advantage over the CCD here. With some cameras it is not so obvious.
Here's a comparison of the SX10 and my SX40. These were taken using settings as close as possible. The difference is quite dramatic IMHO. There's been no tweaking of either shot. I have since sold the SX10.