Do digital imaging sensors fade?

[Day Hiker]

I was just thinking about the light sensitivity of our digital imaging sensors. What sort of life span to they have? Are they essentially "forever" or do they get old and start to "fade?"

I'm reminded of thermal-sensitive materials that one sometimes finds on the ouside of ceramic cups and mugs. When a hot liquid is placed in the vessel a colorful design on the outside changes. This thermal sensitivity diminishes and disappears over time. Are our imaging sensors the same way?

Is there any published material on this potential phenomenon?

--
Regards,

Jim

'The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.' -- Dorothea Lange

 

[Petteri Sulonen]

I was just thinking about the light sensitivity of our digital
imaging sensors. What sort of life span to they have? Are they
essentially "forever" or do they get old and start to "fade?"

[snip]

I don't know. I've never seen any articles on this.

However, I surmise that "fading" is probably not a major problem.

(1) They're solid-state electronics, manufactured in much the same way with much the same technology as microchips. While chips do deteriorate over time, the timescales we're talking about are long enough that they invariably die of technological obsolescence before physically failing: we're talking tens of years.

(2) Space probes use CCD sensors. The Voyager probes kept sending images for decades after launch -- and they're under conditions which are inherently hostile towards electronics (cosmic radiation and such).

I think that one thing that could fade are the dyes in the color filter arrays. This would cause hue shifting. I haven't heard anyone mention this. If it was a major issue, I think we'd be seeing it by now.

Petteri
--
[ http://www.prime-junta.tk ]

 

[Brian]

I would say yes.

My camera has developed several hot pixels over the years that weren't there when I bought it. They only show up on exposures longer than 1 sec so it is no bother, but I am guess that if hot pixels can appear over time, other deterioration is probably taking place.

I was just thinking about the light sensitivity of our digital
imaging sensors. What sort of life span to they have? Are they
essentially "forever" or do they get old and start to "fade?"

I'm reminded of thermal-sensitive materials that one sometimes
finds on the ouside of ceramic cups and mugs. When a hot liquid is
placed in the vessel a colorful design on the outside changes. This
thermal sensitivity diminishes and disappears over time. Are our
imaging sensors the same way?

Is there any published material on this potential phenomenon?

--
Regards,

Jim

'The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without
a camera.' -- Dorothea Lange

--
Brian

• C-7OO, and some other stuff

 

[hmac]

I would say yes.

My camera has developed several hot pixels over the years that
weren't there when I bought it. They only show up on exposures
longer than 1 sec so it is no bother, but I am guess that if hot
pixels can appear over time, other deterioration is probably taking
place.

Yes, hot pixels will develop over time as photosites on the sensor progressively malfunction with increasing numbers of on-off cycles.

--
H McCollister

 

[Evil Eggplant]

Like all semiconductor devices utilizing a P/N junction, the photodiodes (photosites) will eventually become leaky, and they will become less sensitive over time.

The "dark current" introduced by the increase of leakage of an aged photosite will not contribute noticably to the overall noise.

The photodiodes will lose some sensitivity over time, this will not be a problem as the A/D converters will compensate by opening up the aperture a bit or increasing exposure slightly. We're talking the smallest fraction of a stop.

As for hot/dead pixels, when you consider the number of pixels in a sensor, then count the duds, it becomes obvious that (even factoring the mfg. mapping out the duds) quality is very, very high. Those pixels that eventually become "hot" or "stuck" probably do so due to a "birth defect", something typically called "random component failure" in the industry.

It is unlikely that pixels will "burn out" from normal useage.

It is likely that the sensor and electronics will be the last thing to fail. Expect the moving parts in the camera to fail long before the sensor and electronics do.

Regards

I was just thinking about the light sensitivity of our digital
imaging sensors. What sort of life span to they have? Are they
essentially "forever" or do they get old and start to "fade?"

I'm reminded of thermal-sensitive materials that one sometimes
finds on the ouside of ceramic cups and mugs. When a hot liquid is
placed in the vessel a colorful design on the outside changes. This
thermal sensitivity diminishes and disappears over time. Are our
imaging sensors the same way?

Is there any published material on this potential phenomenon?

--
Regards,

Jim

'The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without
a camera.' -- Dorothea Lange

--
rich
'beware the eggplant'
c-7oo, d-51O, DSC-F7O7, 3OOD
'Trying, the first step to failure'- Homer Simpson
http://www.iceninephotography.com

 

[Day Hiker]

The photodiodes will lose some sensitivity over time, this will not
be a problem as the A/D converters will compensate by opening up
the aperture a bit or increasing exposure slightly. We're talking
the smallest fraction of a stop.

In theory then, the ISO settings within the camera will become a little less accurate with age, correct? Auto-exposure should be no problem as you hinted, but setting exposure manually with an external meter reading could throw things off, right?

Oh well, I guess I can live with a 1/30 stop error as my camera ages.

--
Regards,

Jim

'The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.' -- Dorothea Lange

 

[Evil Eggplant]

James

I doubt you would notice the difference. The differences are very, very slight.

The photodiodes will lose some sensitivity over time, this will not
be a problem as the A/D converters will compensate by opening up
the aperture a bit or increasing exposure slightly. We're talking
the smallest fraction of a stop.

In theory then, the ISO settings within the camera will become a
little less accurate with age, correct? Auto-exposure should be no
problem as you hinted, but setting exposure manually with an
external meter reading could throw things off, right?

Oh well, I guess I can live with a 1/30 stop error as my camera ages.

--
Regards,

Jim

'The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without
a camera.' -- Dorothea Lange

--
rich
'beware the eggplant'
c-7oo, d-51O, DSC-F7O7, 3OOD
'Trying, the first step to failure'- Homer Simpson
http://www.iceninephotography.com

 

[Joseph S Wisniewski]

I was just thinking about the light sensitivity of our digital
imaging sensors. What sort of life span to they have? Are they
essentially "forever" or do they get old and start to "fade?"

There's been a lot of people in this thread talking about the inorganic (semiconductor) aspects of this issue. The big problem is two organic components, the color filter array and the microlenses in front of the sensor. The color filter array is the greatest problem, and sensor manufacturers caution you to limit the light exposure of the sensor because the filters will fade and discolor over time.

I'm reminded of thermal-sensitive materials that one sometimes
finds on the ouside of ceramic cups and mugs. When a hot liquid is
placed in the vessel a colorful design on the outside changes. This
thermal sensitivity diminishes and disappears over time. Are our
imaging sensors the same way?

Yup, Exactly.

Is there any published material on this potential phenomenon?

Not really. I've been looking.

--
A cyberstalker told me not to post anymore...
So I'm posting even more!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com

 

[Day Hiker]

I doubt you would notice the difference. The differences are very,
very slight.

Oh well, I guess I can live with a 1/30 stop error as my camera ages.

I forgot to include the smiley face after that remark. I'm really not worried about my camera aging. I'm more worried about my own age.



Tell me, just how evil can an eggplant be?

--
Regards,

Jim

'The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.' -- Dorothea Lange

 

[Day Hiker]

Is there any published material on this potential phenomenon?

Not really. I've been looking.

I think many techies would like to know. Thanks, Joe.

--
Regards,

Jim

'The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.' -- Dorothea Lange

 

[stephenmelvin]

I've also wondered about "burn-in." Old video cameras frequently suffered from this. Do I need to worry about photos with the sun in them? Haven't noticed anything yet, but it is a concern of mine. It'll probably start happening as soon as the warranty runs out.

Or will my dSLR be obsolete before that becomes a problem?

It occurs to me that a dSLR's sensors will last longer because they aren't constantly being exposed to light, as on digicams.

I was just thinking about the light sensitivity of our digital
imaging sensors. What sort of life span to they have? Are they
essentially "forever" or do they get old and start to "fade?"

There's been a lot of people in this thread talking about the
inorganic (semiconductor) aspects of this issue. The big problem is
two organic components, the color filter array and the microlenses
in front of the sensor. The color filter array is the greatest
problem, and sensor manufacturers caution you to limit the light
exposure of the sensor because the filters will fade and discolor
over time.

I'm reminded of thermal-sensitive materials that one sometimes
finds on the ouside of ceramic cups and mugs. When a hot liquid is
placed in the vessel a colorful design on the outside changes. This
thermal sensitivity diminishes and disappears over time. Are our
imaging sensors the same way?

Yup, Exactly.

Is there any published material on this potential phenomenon?

Not really. I've been looking.

--
A cyberstalker told me not to post anymore...
So I'm posting even more!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com

 

[Joseph S Wisniewski]

I've also wondered about "burn-in." Old video cameras frequently
suffered from this. Do I need to worry about photos with the sun in
them?

I woulnd't worry, unless you radically overexposed the picture. 1/100 sec of full sun shouldn't bother a sensor.

All the folks who have told of how they sun damaged their cameras (and there have been many) have been shooting point and shoot or prosumer digicams, not DSLRs.

Haven't noticed anything yet, but it is a concern of mine.
It'll probably start happening as soon as the warranty runs out.

Or will my dSLR be obsolete before that becomes a problem?

Judging by the brisk trade (and still pretty good prices) commanded by original Nikon D1 and Canon 30D DLSRs, I'd say "obsolete" isn't really a factor.

It occurs to me that a dSLR's sensors will last longer because they
aren't constantly being exposed to light, as on digicams.

I'd tend to agree.

--
A cyberstalker told me not to post anymore...
So I'm posting even more!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com

 

[Joseph S Wisniewski]

James

Tell me, just how evil can an eggplant be?

Well, if there can be an "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", I guess an eggplant gone bad can be pretty formidable.

And, I've seen pictures of the evil that eggplant can do....

--
A cyberstalker told me not to post anymore...
So I'm posting even more!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com