A high sensitivity, single chip, low light level imaging device is provided. The imaging device of the present invention utilizes sparse color sampling, to maximize the luminance information gathered. In particular, color information is gathered by a small proportion of the pixels included in an image sensor, while the remaining pixels operate at full spectrum sensitivity. The present invention allows the correct hue of objects to be determined, while providing high sensitivity to available luminance information in a scene. The imaging device can include a global near infrared blocking filter that can be selectively placed in the optical path of the device. In addition or alternatively, opaque pixels may be included in the image sensor to correct for errors caused by charge diffusion.