Increasing competition and asymptotic image quality improvements in point-and-shoot digital cameras has led to two late-blooming but profitable markets: the affordable digital SLR and inexpensive camera modules. In this talk I will describe this new digital camera landscape and how the color imaging conference has helped this industry evolve. The talk will focus on recent advances in Foveon's X3 sensor technology and new image processing concepts that have helped point the technology into the evolving digital camera market. I will discuss simulation work that we undertake at Foveon to help with the design of sensors and image processing algorithms including the theory of how silicon can be used for color separation, sensor noise modeling, and a hyperspectral imaging model. Lastly, the advantages and importance of color resolution will be addressed.