Over the years, Samsung‘s ‘Ultra‘ smartphones with the “Space Zoom” feature have gained a reputation for capturing highly detailed photos of the Moon. However, Samsung is under fire for faking moon shots.
It’s hard to say exactly what “fake” means in this situation, but it seems to have to do with how much Samsung phones use artificial intelligence and computer processing to enhance photos of the Moon.
A Reddit user took a picture of the Moon with a Galaxy S series smartphone and noticed that the camera was adding extra details that were not actually there. They showed the difference between the original blurry photo and the enhanced photo.
Well everyone on the internet is allowed to have their opinions, but Samsung has responded to the allegations and said that it is the “Scene Optimiser” feature behind the ‘fake’ detailed moon shots.
Here’s how the Galaxy S23 Ultra clicks moon shots
Samsung’s Galaxy S series smartphones have a feature called “Scene Optimiser” in their camera app that helps take better pictures of the Moon. So, when you zoom in to 25x or more, the “Super Resolution” combines over 10 images to make the photo clearer and reduce noise. It also adjusts the exposure to prevent the Moon from looking too bright in a dark sky. Lastly, it uses a “Zoom Lock” feature that stabilises the image to avoid blur by combining optical and digital stabilisation.
To find and recognise the Moon, the camera app uses an “AI deep learning model” created by analysing images of different shapes and phases of the Moon as seen from Earth. This helps the camera identify and capture clear pictures of the Moon.
The controversy around Samsung’s Moon photography process is the use of an “AI detail enhancement engine,” which Samsung says reduces noise and enhances the details further.
Input Mag published an article in 2021 about the “fake detailed moon photos” the Galaxy S21 Ultra took. Samsung then too had said the same thing, that no image overlaying or texture effects are applied during photography, but they use AI to detect the Moon and reduce blur and noise for a detail-enhanced image.
Samsung’s explanation may not be an answer for many, and if you are among those, you can turn off the “Scene Optimiser,” which should give you blob-looking moon pictures.
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