DxOMark Sensor is an objective scale designed to simplify comparison of digital camera RAW-sensor performance in typical, real-life photographic scenarios.
To build this scale, we have identified key areas of real-world photography that are as different from one another as possible, and yet taken together, generally describe the entire photo space. The three photographic scenarios and their corresponding metrics that we have selected are: landscape photography (maximum Dynamic Range); studio & portrait photography (Color Depth); and photojournalism & action photography (Low-Light ISO). The DxOMark Sensor score itself reports an overall Image Quality performance value that is computed from these three metrics, Color Depth, Dynamic Range, and Low-Light ISO.
All three metrics are extracted from the Image Quality database camera RAW-sensor data.
On the DxOMark Sensor scale, the higher the score, the better. (The scale is kept open, anticipating that sensor technology will continuously improve over time.)
The three scenarios and their associated metrics are described in detail in the following pages.
Note:
For all bar graph representations of the DxOMark Sensor scale and Metrics across the site, we utilize the minimum and the maximum value found for each metric from among all cameras tested. The value on the right indicates the actual maximum value for the considered metric, and the value reported on top of the bar is the actual value for the selected camera. The maximum (right) and minimum (left) bar ends are set to the actual measured values plus or minus 10% of the difference between actual maximum and minimum measured values for all cameras.
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The new "advanced compact" category that adds DSLR features (such as RAW output, manual operation, and interchangeable lenses) to classy, compact-style cameras, continues to be populated with new models—e.g., Canon Powershot G11 and S90, Olympus EP1 and EP2, Panasonic GF1, Leica X1, etc.
In this review we focus on the evolution of sensor characteristics and performance within this category, considering the Canon Powershot G11 and S90 and the Olympus E-P1 models in particular, and show how top models are catching up with entry-level DSLRs in terms of RAW image quality.
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