Characterization of digital image noise properties based on RAW data

In this paper, image noise characterization based on digital camera RAW data is studied and three different imaging technologies are compared. The three digital cameras used are Canon EOS D30 with CMOS sensor, Nikon D70 with CCD sensor and Sigma SD10 with Foveon X3 Pro 10M CMOS sensor. Due to different imaging sensor constructions, these cameras have rather different noise characteristics. The applicability of different analysis methods to these different sensor types is also studied. Digital image has several different noise sources. Separating these from each other, if possible, helps to improve image quality by reducing or even eliminating some noise components.