Technology
Samsung Space Zoom Camera Technology (Moon Shot)
Story created in Dec. 2022 | Samsung ships the best camera phones in the industry, and the latest beast is Galaxy S23 Ultra. Thanks to the innovative Telephoto camera sensor and software optimization, it’s now possible to capture images of the Moon, with just a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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Today, we discuss how your Samsung phone’s Space Zoom photography feature works. Regardless, hardware is the key factor to introduce a huge zooming/magnification range, but, well-optimized software significantly improves the overall experience. That’s what Samsung does, others not.
Way back in 2019, Samsung introduced AI technology to the mobile camera when it launched the Galaxy S10 series. The company developed a Scene Optimizer feature that helps AI to recognize the subject and provide you with the best photography experiences regardless of time and place.
Specifically for Moon photography, Samsung Galaxy S21 series debuted even better optimization with artificial intelligence. Galaxy flagships starting the Galaxy S21 series recognize Moon as the target using learned data, multi-frame synthesis, and deep learning-based AI technology at the time of the shooting.
In addition, a detail improvement engine feature has also been applied, which makes the picture clearer. If you don’t want to capture photos using AI technology, you can do it by just disabling the Scene Optimizer from the camera viewfinder.
Data learning process for Moon recognition engine
Samsung developers created the Moon recognition engine by learning various shapes of the Moon from full to crescent, based on images that people actually see with their eyes on Earth. It uses an AI deep learning model to show the presence and absence of the moon in the image and the area (square box) as a result.
Moreover, the pre-trained AI models can detect lunar areas even if other lunar images that have not been used for training are inserted. However, the Moon can’t be normally recognized if it is covered by a cloud or something else (non-lunar planets).
Brightness control process
Well, AI enhances photography of the Moon, but better results require powerful hardware part as well. As it’s difficult to detect a small Moon in regular AI photography, the Moon’s photography is possible from 25x zoom or higher.
As soon as your Galaxy phone’s camera recognizes the Moon in the high-magnification zoom, the brightness of the screen is controlled to be dark so that the Moon can be seen clearly on the camera viewfinder, alongside maintaining optimal brightness.
If you shoot the Moon in the early evening, the sky around that is not the color of the sky you see with your eyes, but it is shot as a black sky. The tech behind this function is that when the Moon is recognized, it changes the focus to infinity to keep the moon in focus.
Shake control
Starting the Galaxy S20 series, Samsung shipped the Ultra variants (S20 Ultra/S21 Ultra/S22 Ultra) with the capability of magnification up to 100x. When the user shoots the Moon with 100x zoom/magnification, it looks greatly magnified, but it is not easy to shoot because the screen shakes due to shake of hands.
For this, Samsung created a functionality called Zoom Lock that reduces shaking when the Moon is identified so it can be stably captured on your Galaxy phone’s screen without a tripod. Zoom Lock unites OIS and VDIS technology in order to maximize image stabilization to radically surpass shaking.
If you touch the screen at high magnification or shine the Moon without moving for more than 1.5 seconds to lock, the zoom map border (in the upper right of the screen) changes from white to yellow, and the Moon no longer shakes, making it easy to shoot.
Tips to take Moon shots in 100x zoom:
- After rotating the Galaxy in landscape mode, hold the phone with both hands.
- Check the position of the Moon through the zoom map and adjust it to the center of the screen.
- When the zoom map border changes to yellow, press the capture button to picture the Moon.
Learning process of lunar detail improvement engine
Once the Moon is visible at the proper brightness, your Galaxy Camera completes a bright and clear moon picture through several steps when you press the capture button. At first, the application double-checks whether the Moon detail improvement engine is required or not.
Second, the camera captures multiple photos and synthesizes them into a single shot that is bright and noise-reduced via Multi-frame Processing. Due to the long distance and lack of light in the environment, it was not enough to give the best image even after compositing multiple shots.
To overcome this, the Galaxy Camera uses a deep learning-based AI detail enhancement engine (Detail Enhancement technology) at the final stage to effectively remove noise and maximize the details of the Moon to complete a bright and clear picture.
Moon filming process
Samsung’s stock Camera application utilizes various AI technologies, which are detailed above, to provide clear Moon photos through various processes. Once focussed, AI automatically realizes the scene being shot and uses scene optimization technology to adjust settings for Moon quality.
To make Moon photography stable and easier, the Zoom Lock function, an image stabilization function, is used to provide clear moon photos on the preview screen. Once the Moon is positioned within the screen in the desired composition, press the shooting button to start shooting.
At this time, the Galaxy Camera combines multiple photos into a single photo to remove noise. As result, a bright and clear moon picture is completed by applying detail improvement technology that brings out the details of the moon pattern.
Update – March 12.
Samsung itself revealed that multiple processing techniques work before the Galaxy phone produces a crispy image of the Moon. Meanwhile, there’s a thread posted on Reddit that makes the shooting technology controversial, which shouldn’t be there.
Samsung provides a smart search app called Quick Search for PCs and laptops. This feature allows you to quickly find files, folders, documents, images, etc. stored on your PC or laptop. Here you can check the features of Quick Search 3.0 for Samsung Galaxy Book.
Through the Quick Search app, you can easily find what you want on your Galaxy Book. In addition to file name search, you can operate different search methods, such as document content, scene or object, or text search within images.
Samsung Quick Search 3.0 Menu
There are four options in the Menu of the Samsung Quick Search app. You can check the complete details below.
Search
You can search for files by file name, document content, images, and text within image objects, and if there is a search history, a list of search terms and recently opened files in the app is displayed.
Furthermore, Search options can be set in the pop-up that appears by clicking the icon on the right side of the search window, and advanced search allows you to further refine your search.
Timeline
The Timeline option shows the most recently played, added, or modified files by date. When choosing a file, you can check the thumbnail and set the tag in the preview window.
In addition, recently executed files in Windows Explorer and files in folders being tracked in Quick Search are displayed in order of the most recently modified date and time.
The ‘Filter Options’ at the top right of the Timeline allow you can check the date and file type of the files indicated on the Timeline as a calendar. Select/deselect the file type to change the files shown on the timeline or you can pin an option to the top of the timeline to display it by selecting the ‘Stock’ button.
Tags
The Tag option adds a tag to each file and manages files by tag without moving files. You can add up to 30 tags per file and write up to 50 characters. Furthermore, when selecting a file from the Tags group, you can examine the thumbnails and set tags, or add or edit tags, in the preview window.
Settings
Through the Settings option of Quick Search, you can add folders to exclude when searching, add index folders and delete search history for faster and more efficient searches, add folders being tracked by the app to display over time and delete, and set the corresponding file extension to be tracked. You can set various items to use Quick Find etc.
Here’s how to fix fall detection notification issue on Galaxy Watch
Google has entered the serious game of distributing artificial intelligence features, with the announcement of a lot of features at its developers’ conference on May 10. Besides Bard, Google AI features that are available for early testing can be grabbed on your Samsung Galaxy too. Here’s how:
Google AI Labs Features – How to sign up on Samsung Galaxy
- Head to labs.withgoogle.com on your Galaxy smartphone or Galaxy Book.
- Find the AI projects you’re interested in and hit either Learn more or Join waitlist.
- Note: All of these projects are under a waitlist system with no promises about whether you’ll be accepted.
- Sign in when prompted and follow the steps for each Ai project.
Google Search with AI
At the I/O 2023, the company revealed that it will be bringing the biggest change to search in history. With AI integration, the Search may abandon that conventional 10-blue link placement and show the most preferable results using Generative AI capabilities.
Duet AI
Workspace is harnessing the power of generative AI to unlock new ways of working so people can create, connect and grow together. Moreover, Google confirms that you’ll see a steady drumbeat of launches for these new experiences across Docs, Gmail, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat.
Project Tailwind
According to Google, Tailwind is your AI-first notebook, grounded in the information you choose and trust. Tailwind is an experiment, and currently available in the US only. Samsung Galaxy users in the country can join the waitlist to try it for themselves.
MusicLM
Unlike the above three AI tools, MusicLM is available in more countries than the US only. The company has opened MusicLM to groups of testers. As the name suggests, MusicLM is an intelligent experimental tool to create generative music on commands.
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In the smartphone market, Samsung and Apple are the top priorities that are unquestionably reliable and powerful. With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, Apple’s iPhone 14 faced tough competition, while the 2024 Samsung Galaxy flagships could beat iPhone 15 in one key area.
Both Galaxy and iPhone flagships equip premium display panels, whereas the software and chipset installation is completely different. While Apple has its own Bionic chipset designing team, Samsung makes its own Exynos along with collaborating with Qualcomm for products like Snapdragon for Galaxy.
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Apple released the iPhone 14 Pro Max last year, bringing the most powerful smartphone chipset to the market. However, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy swiftly defeated the most premium iPhone with faster GPU performance than the A16 Bionic.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has 50% faster GPU
This year, Apple will introduce the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which will debut the next-gen A-series processor, based on the 3nm process. Meanwhile, reports say that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 offers a GPU that is 50% faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
If the leak is true, the fine-tuned “Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy” will have an even faster GPU than the vanilla variant. As the 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy outperformed A16 Bionic, the S24 Ultra with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy would leave the A17 and iPhone 15 Pro Max in the dust.
Compared to iOS, high-spec gaming is more popular on Android smartphones, as Apple is pushing gaming content lately. This may save the iPhone maker from being criticized for GPU performance over the 2024 flagships powered by Qualcomm’s third-gen Snapdragon chip.
The US chip designer may unveil the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 at the end of this year, while Chinese phone makers will start introducing their production sometime in December. The real iPhone 15 competitor will be the Galaxy S24, which Samsung may reveal by February 2024.