BATH, MAINE. – Bryce Bayer, inventor of the digital camera filter that bears his name, died on Nov. 13, 2012 at the age of 83 in Bath, Maine. The cause of his death was not reported.
Bayer invented the filter in 1975 while working at Eastman Kodak. Today, the Bayer filter is part of nearly every digital color camera and scanner. The device allows a single sensor or imager to capture information in full color. The filter is comprised of very small red, blue and green color filter elements arranged in a discrete array over the sensor. Special algorithms are used to allow the image processor to determine what segment is seeing each of the three primary colors. This information is then used to create a full color image.
Bayer was granted a patent on his filter technology in 1976. He spent a large portion of his career at Eastman Kodak, working in digital image technology before retiring from that company in the mid 1990s. He was the 2009 recipient of the Royal Photographic Society’s Progress Award.
