Presented are new alternatives to the Bayer pattern for spatial subsampling in color imaging. One aspect relates to a new design paradigm for spatio-spectral sampling The proposed scheme offers the potential to significantly reduce hardware complexity in a wide variety of applications, while at the same time improving output color image quality. In some embodiments, a framework for CFA design in presented. In one embodiment the physical characteristics of the CFA are generated so that the spectral radii of luminance and chrominance channels are maximized. The physical characteristics of CFA design are constrained to require physically realizable CFA(s). Alternatively, certain physical characteristics can be emphasized to generate easier to manufacture CFA(s). By reinterpreting the interactions between the stimuli, display CFA, and CSF in terms of amplitude modulation, an alternative CFA coding scheme that modulates the chrominance signals to a higher frequency relative to common schemes is provided in some embodiments.