We have spent a few years seeing how manufacturers remodel their camera applications, including new algorithms to improve the final quality of our photographs. About this, there is a somewhat controversial topic involving Samsung and its “moon mode”, which incorporates the most well-known phones in the mobile galaxy.
It all started on Reddit, where a user posted a thread demonstrating why the images obtained from our satellite with phones from the Korean firm, they are totally false. Nobody took the user part of the reason, but Samsung has spoken and now we know how the processing trick works.
Samsung appears to explain the controversy
For its part, the Korean manufacturer wanted to give its version of the facts, demonstrating in an official publication how the processing of their smartphones makes it possible to take clear images of the natural satellite. The technical explanation We find it interesting and it shows that the photos are not fake, although they are not one hundred percent true either.
Reddit user tried to replicate (without the same success) samsung technique, which uses a blurred image of the moon as a base and combines it with different techniques of an advanced processing model. As confirmed by the brand, this mode that adds AI can be deactivated.
More specifically, when we use a Samsung mobile and point it at the night sky, the camera recognizes the moon and mix up to 10 photos with magnifications of up to 25 times, allowing the “original photography” with digital zoom to become more sharp. This technology is called as super resolution, and adds to another technique used by the mobiles of this brand.
The other technique in question refers to the artificial intelligence skills that are activated when we enable the “optimal shot” mode. Finally, and thanks to these two modes, a good quality lunar photograph is achieved. Obviously, these implementations are necessary because the optics of the phones are not capable of capturing the moon naturally.
This is how Samsung’s Artificial Intelligence learned to recognize the moon
In the same publication, Samsung offers its Korean users all the information of the learning process of your AI model. And so we know how he has learned to recognize the star that we see every night in the sky.
First, the model had to learn to distinguish the moon in its different phases, from the full moon to the growing one. She was trained by providing her with various photographs that exemplified all the cases.
The next problem to solve was the moonshine. When we are going to photograph this star, a lot of digital zoom is necessary that makes us lose quality, but it is accompanied by the intense brightness that also makes it difficult to take. Therefore, the brightness of the screen decreases, allowing the user to see the moon correctly.
Then Samsung technology changes the focus to infinity to keep it in focus. It does not stop here and it is that when we apply a 100x zoom, the user’s pulse makes it extremely difficult to capture. Therefore, Samsung applies its mode Zoom Lockwhich avoids having to use a tripod so that the moon comes out centered and without movement.
Once we press the shutter button, our Galaxy mobile will determine if necessary whether or not to implement this detail enhancement engine. That is, not all moon photos pass through the “AI filter.” And in turn, it denies the accusations coming from Reddit, because although the images are improved by different methods, they are real.
This is a clear example of how the cameras of our phones improve step by step. They obviously have their limitations, but the software improvements They alleviate part of these problems, making it possible to capture images that we had never imagined from the palm of our hand.
In Xataka Android | All Samsung Galaxy that will receive the most professional photography application from Samsung
Cover image | Pepu Ricca with Midjourney