[ajross]

That's the point though: the quantization absolutely introduces errors, but there were there to begin with. You're comparing the computed result of my "cheap camera" not with its competitor's sensor output but with the hypothetical focal plane of the competitor's lens. And that's wrong, because the competitor has pixels too.

The error you get out is of the order of the sampling error you put in. That's true of all lenses.

[proudfoot]

I'm saying with the same sensor, the competition will have better data compared to you, since the rays are striking where they should be.

Information is lost when a ray strikes somewhere it shouldn't. Things get blurred and cannot be recovered. You can't fix this with software.