Peterfiore Loc: Where DR goes south

The most beautiful tones I ever achieved was when, years ago, I shot 8x10 b&w and made contact prints. Super creamy tones.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

Please remember that I am talking about the the recording of an image with high density sensors, leaving display capabilities for another conversation. It is my contention that if a high density sensor can record more 'subject' detail then it can also record more tone detail. After all both are dependent on light. Edge contrast will record subject detail but that is still light values as is tone

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

Thank you, that is a well done post.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Not true really, as I've explained. Sensors themselves vary in three fundamental ways. One is amp noise. Let's leave that out for now.. Second is dynamic range. That is the range of light values the sensor can deal with. That deals with extremes and doesn't directly affect smooth tonal gradation. In any case that has no direct bearing on photosites size or density.

Next we have color depth. That is the size of the color space that the sensor can record-- deeper greens, reds, blues. That is clearly important and does have a direct impact on tonal gradation, but it has nothing to do with photosite density.

As to noise, which does have a bearing on tonal gradation at higher ISOs. That depends a lot on photosite size, so arguably you get better tonal gradations with less densely pa ked sensors with larger photosites

In an absolute sense, a higher MP sensor records more data, so it records more tonal values for a given area of the image, yes, but practically, as long as the pixels themselves can't be seen, it doesn't matter because any transitions between individual pixels is also invisible. Pixel density in that case only matters when the image is so large or so highly cropped that individual pixels become visible, at which point yes, higher-density sensors become more able to show smooth tonal gradations. But otherwise the quality of the sensor is much more important than the density of its photosites, and arguably a less densely packed sensor is superior for its better noise capabilities.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

I appreciate your responses, they have helped me understand a few things. Plus you have confirmed my basic thought, "in an absolute sense" while explaining why in practical use it isn't a factor.
Thank you