The Galaxy S24’s camera technology: a closer look

Mobile photography is hot – everybody wants a piece of the action! Today’s flagships are stunning in terms of photo delivery – they’re acting more and more like dedicated cameras, and today’s mid-rangers are catching up with yesteryear’s flagships.

There’s something for everyone. If you need a 1-inch sensor in your phone and you’re keen on Far East handsets, there’s the Oppo Find X7 Ultra, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, or the vivo X100 Pro.

If you’re a fan of Cupertino, there’s nothing better than the iPhone 15 Pro Max right now.

If you’re on Android, but don’t care for phones from Chinese brands, you’re looking at the Google Pixel 8 Pro… or at the Galaxy S24 series.

All of these cameras get AI assistance, but the Galaxy S24 goes a step further – this handset was presented as an AI phone!

Let’s take a closer look at Samsung’s ProVisual Engine and what it does.

Motion Photo

Capturing break-dancers was a nightmare for smartphones until recently. Nowadays, things have changed and phones are capable of burst-shots. What’s more, they choose the best frame out of the burst.

Samsung’s Motion Photo captures a short span of motion in action and compiles it into a single moving image (In cases where the environment has insufficient light, Motion Photo may be automatically disabled and Night Mode will be activated instead. By tapping the moon symbol at the bottom of the display, the user can turn off Night Mode and revert to Motion Photo again).

In the Editor app, Galaxy S24 users can select any given frame from the Motion Photo file to save as a standalone image. Thanks to automatic AI upscaling, the selected frame can be saved as a high-resolution image made up of 12MP for richer detail. Motion Photo also provides Super HDR capabilities.

Motion Photo has another useful feature: it can deliver long exposure-like images. From the Gallery app, users can compress the whole three-second Motion Photo together to create a single Long Exposure image. This lets you capture, for example, the spectacular movement and color of an overhead firework display all in one photo.

Instant Slow-mo (and how it works)

Many moments in life are suited for slow-motion footage. Even if videos that are already captured on “regular” speed can be converted into slow-motion clips. On the Galaxy S24, this is done through intelligent AI Frame Rate Conversion (AI FRC) technology.

The Galaxy S24 series can transform HD 24fps to UHD 60fps videos into slow-mo epics. FHD 240fps to UHD 120fps slow-mo videos can go further still with super slow motion. By generating new intermediate frames of movement based on the video that is already there, Instant Slow-mo delivers impressive results. Starting in late March, Instant Slow-mo will expand to support 480×480 24fps videos, allowing users to create social media-friendly video content with ease.

Here’s what the AI Frame Rate Conversion (FRC) technology does:

1. First, AI FRC takes every two frames from the video as it was originally recorded and uses a deep learning model to analyze and extract motion information.
2. Extracting this information establishes the differences between frames and helps AI FRC interpolate intermediate frames that give the video slower motion.
3. This process is carried out twice – in both square dimension and reverse dimension – to boost the accuracy of the new, additional frames that have been generated.
4. Then, two fusion processes are carried out: Fusion Map and Residual. Fusion Map detects and extracts 2D outlines to help detect motion differences between frames, while Residual adds extra corrections and post-edits to minute details for enhanced accuracy. This allows the feature to create accurate intermediate frames extremely quickly.
5. When this is completed, the outputs of these two processes are fused one last time to render the final, AI-generated intermediate frames that give the video both fluid slow motion and meticulous detail.

Natural Density filters

Natural Density (ND) filters, typically used with professional cameras to manage light exposure, reduce noise, or extend exposure times, are a staple for enhancing photo quality. The Galaxy 24 series elevates this concept by incorporating 10 distinct ND filters directly into its camera system, eliminating the need for external attachments.

This built-in feature allows for a greater degree of creative freedom and control for the user. By blending multiple frames together and assessing movement within the scene, ND-filtered images capture a single, static picture that vividly conveys the dynamic motion of subjects like waves or waterfalls, offering a lifelike snapshot of movement.