Back to topic.
...... What are the manufacturers doing to increase full well capacity? Higher bit AD converters are needed as well.
The only practical way I know of increasing full well capacity is to increase the sensel size. One way is to decrease the inter sensel gap so that at the same pitch you have more area to capture photons. The current sensors are doing just that. But this is offset by ever increasing quest for more MP, hence smaller sensel pitch.
Of course if you decrease the sensor temparature, you decrease the thermal noise; as in astronomical sensors; and get better S:N ratios which translate to better DR. Currently only peltier cooling will do the trick, but it consumes power, so may not be practical in a battery operated device. Some Astronomy sensors have taken this path.
Higher bit A/D converters will give more gradation to the image, not more DR. They are slow and power hungry. We have to wait for advances in hardware to give us fast 16bit to 24bit A/D converters.
Coming back to this thread. In my view the future is in :
. Larger chips, using advanced stitching technology. So chips of 6x6 or 6x17 may be expected in near future.
. Faster electronics at lower power consumption. Longer interval between battery change.
. Active cooling to decrease thermal noise, there by increasing DR. So that higher bit A/D are justified.
. Faster A/D initially, followed by higher bit length later on.
Who achieves how many of the above remains to be seen.
