From the beginning, Light has touted their technology in general and the L16 in particular as a “DSLR killer.” You can see this (and hear some deeper details about their technology) in Dave Etchells’ interview with Light’s CEO and CTO from a few years back here.
Imaging Resource examined the L16 images and came to a different conclusion:
The camera doesn’t seem to be able to accurately gauge depth at a level commensurate with subject detail, and therefore seems to “guess” when it’s not sure. The guesswork comes across as smearing, often in bands. It appears in certain areas during obvious depth transition, but other times for no apparent reason.
Still a liong way before compact cameras or smartphones can match or even beat “real” system cameras.