Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra promises some innovative AI camera advantages over the Galaxy S23 … [+]
The highly anticipated launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series is just days away. However, last-minute leaks continue to emerge, and a new report reveals strong behind-the-scenes upgrades to the Galaxy S24 Ultra that explain expected changes to Samsung’s camera hardware.
Update January 14 below: article originally published January 13.
According to an unverified but authentic appearance retail training document shared by X user Harshit JoshiSamsung’s upcoming flagship camera will eclipse the current Galaxy S23 Ultra when taking zoom photos, despite the expected “downgrade” in zoom lens specs.
In this year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung is According to reports replacing the S23 Ultra’s 10x telephoto camera with a higher-resolution but lower-magnification 5x version. This has led to concerns about the newer model’s ability to capture long-range zoom shots without quality degradation.
However, in a section titled “Space Zoom”, the document promises “excellent zoom quality at all ranges” and “visual quality” zooms at 2x, 3x, 5x and, most importantly, 10x magnification. Samsung’s trademark Space Zoom long-range digital zoom is also carried over to the Galaxy S24 Ultra at up to 100x magnifications.
This suggests that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will not suffer any loss of image quality in the transition from 10x to 5x optical zoom. According to the report, this is achieved by using a much higher resolution sensor in the new 5x camera that is enhanced by improved image processing techniques.
Samsung teases new AI zoom capabilities for Galaxy S24 series cameras.
In addition, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is expected to be activated multi-frame processing at all zoom levels, not just 20x and above, as is the case with the S23 Ultra. This will result in reduced noise and improved detail throughout the zoom range, further enhanced by new AI-powered ‘super-resolution’ algorithms.
Despite these advances, Samsung will still have its work cut out for it to convince potential buyers that this perceived downgrade from 10x telephoto to 5x will result in better photos. Everything will be revealed in the official Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17th.
Update: January 14
However, more details have emerged revealing Samsung’s much-anticipated ‘Galaxy AI’ features destined for the Galaxy S24 series.
Leaked promo images taken from Android titles display a photo editing interface where a complex object is selected, resized and repositioned in the image with just a few taps.
In this example, it is a person riding a bicycle at the top of a ramp, with a blue sky with clouds as the background. The user can move and rotate the biker, placing it higher in the sky, giving the appearance of a much higher jump than the end of the ramp. The rider is also zoomed in to give the impression of being closer to the camera. The unnamed software automatically fills in any gaps left in the image using genetic artificial intelligence to create a seamless background.
The UI revealed in the leaked image seems to show the real-world implementation of the rather fanciful Generative Edit features featured in Samsung’s official teaser video released a few days ago.
It remains to be seen how well Samsung’s ‘Generative Edit’ tools will fare against Google’s recently launched tools Magic Editor, but a crucial difference could be in pricing. According to the report, Samsung promises that Galaxy AI features will be “free until at least 2025 on supported Galaxy devices,” suggesting that use beyond that date may be subject to a paid subscription. Google doesn’t charge for Magic Editor, but locks some Google Photos features behind its Google One subscription.
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