Just as grain size in silver halide film ultimately limits the amount of detail you can see in a photograph, the background noise produced by the sensor does much the same in digital imaging.

ECONOMIST: A die-hard analog photographer goes digital

Cells are lined up like ants and passed one by one through a tiny fluid channel one-fourth the width of a human hair, and a digital camera sensor chip captures images of the cells as they pass over an array of nanoscale holes.

FORBES: The $10 Microscope

Cells are lined up like ants and passed one-by-one through a tiny fluid channel one-fourth the width of a human hair, and a digital camera sensor chip captures images of the cells as they pass over an array of nanoscale holes.

FORBES: Magazine Article