In the context of: Samsung has recently been the subject of a lot of controversy regarding the cameras on its Galaxy line of smartphones. Recent tests with Moon images have shown that its hardware is doing extra work under the hood, which led to Samsung issuing a report to explain the situation.
Samsung recently celebrated the launch of its latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S23. One of the most touted features of the new devices is the massive 200MP camera on the S23 Ultra. The Ultra also supports digital zoom for zoom up to 100x, which Samsung has dubbed “Space Zoom”.
As we recently pointed out, Space Zoom isn’t as simple as Samsung’s Claims. Reddit user as “ibreakphotosDid some in-depth testing to prove that Samsung is doing extra work under the hood to improve detail on what can normally be grainy, low-quality images.
After days of controversy, Samsung released a blog post to explain What actually happens inside the camera once Space Zoom is activated.
According to Samsung, the Ultra camera uses multiple artificial intelligence (AI) models that allow users to get the best possible photo. The first is Super Resolution, which starts at 25x zoom. This feature takes 10 photos at once and combines them to “remove noise and enhance clarity and other details.”
Scene Optimizer is another AI used in this case. It detects if the camera is pointed at the moon, regardless of the phase. Samsung trained the system on thousands of images of the moon, so once it recognizes the familiar nocturnal object, it enhances the details (above). A third AI model automatically adjusts exposure to prevent drift caused by the moon’s high contrast against the night sky (below).
Finally, the phone uses automatic image stabilization through the “Zoom Lock” function to prevent blurring caused by motion. Samsung’s explanation for using AI seems more justified than the rumor that the phone’s AI applied an image of the moon over the original image.
The controversy surrounding Samsung cameras and the Space Zoom feature may be somewhat exaggerated – at least from the company’s point of view. Smartphone manufacturers are no strangers to using artificial intelligence in their cameras. In this case, Samsung’s system just allows users to get a great picture of the distant moon, a feat that seemed impossible a few years ago.
