# Megapixel Photon-Counting Color Imaging using Quanta Image Sensor

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1903.09036 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1903.09036/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 21 Mar 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Passive Inter-Photon Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.00059/) (2021)
- [Streaming quanta sensors for online, high-performance imaging and vision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.00859/) (2024)
- [An Effective Image Restorer: Denoising and Luminance Adjustment for Low-photon-count Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.15715/) (2021)
- [PhotonSplat: 3D Scene Reconstruction and Colorization from SPAD Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.21680/) (2025)
- [Accurate Simulation Pipeline for Passive Single-Photon Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.12850/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Quanta Image Sensor (QIS) is a single-photon detector designed for extremely low light imaging conditions. Majority of the existing QIS prototypes are monochrome based on single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD). Passive color imaging has not been demonstrated with single-photon detectors due to the intrinsic difficulty of shrinking the pixel size and increasing the spatial resolution while maintaining acceptable intra-pixel cross-talk. In this paper, we present image reconstruction of the first color QIS with a resolution of 1024 × 1024 pixels, supporting both single-bit and multi-bit photon counting capability. Our color image reconstruction is enabled by a customized joint demosaicing-denoising algorithm, leveraging truncated Poisson statistics and variance stabilizing transforms. Experimental results of the new sensor and algorithm demonstrate superior color imaging performance for very low-light conditions with a mean exposure of as low as a few photons per pixel in both real and simulated images.