An optical amplitude demodulator for demodulating signals received from a fiber optic link. The demodulator comprises a plurality of optical sensors for detecting optical output from the fiber optic link, whereby each of the optical sensors has a different detection threshold. Generally, the plurality of optical sensors produce a plurality of digital outputs corresponding to the optical output level detected. A priority encoder encodes the digital outputs into a multi-bit digital signal. Additionally, each of the plurality of optical sensors has an associated optical filter, whereby each of the filters has a different level of opaqueness. Each filter filters received optical output prior to detection by the associated optical sensor.