Samsung Explains Why Galaxy S24 Portraits Look So Incredibly Real

Samsung has explained how the recently unveiled Galaxy S24 series. which was announced at the Galaxy Unpacked event on January 17, manages to capture more natural-looking portraits.

The Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra boast an impressive array of awe-inspiring features that make a difference in everyday life.

For instance, it sports brighter screens, offers longer battery life and houses an impressive camera setup that largely comprises the same cameras as last year. Still, the Galaxy S24 captures more natural-looking portraits.

Galaxy S24's portrait mode

In a blog post on its Community Forum website, Samsung's engineers have explained how the Galaxy S24 series takes better portrait shots. Apparently, the Galaxy S24 series phones use improved AI algorithms coupled with better processing power to detect the subjects within the photos and increase the depth effect.

Aside from this, the Galaxy S24 phones are capable of applying a blur effect on the things that are in front of the main subject. As a result, they can capture DSLR camera-like images.

It is worth noting that the blur effect was initially applied only to the objects that are behind the subject. In a sample image shared by Samsung, we see that the food placed in front of the subject and the background in the image are both blurred.

A separate sample image shows 2 women in the front are blurred and the focus is on the subjects in the back. The images look more natural due to this dual-blur effect. A teaser dubbed "Zoom with Galaxy AI" implies the Galaxy S24 can capture better long-distance shots.

Portrait video mode

The Korean smartphone giant says it has improved the quality of portrait videos. "The S24 Ultra's portrait video mode uses two cameras and an improved AI Model to provide the same effect as if the video was shot using a lens with a shallow depth of field, even on a smartphone," the company noted.

To recap, Samsung increased the resolution of portrait videos to 4K and the frame rate to 30fps in 2023. This year's Galaxy S24 Ultra features a dual camera setup to measure the distance between the subject and the background, simplifying the process of applying a natural-looking blur effect.

Moreover, the company has improved the stabilisation quality and AI model. For shooting convenience, the S24 series now has Continuous Zoom, which supports 1X to 3X. The Galaxy S24 series trio has improved VDIS, which delivers stable shooting results.

The S24 series supports FHD/UHD 30fps shooting as well. Aside from the blur effect, it provides Color Point, which lets you apply backgrounds other than people in black and white. There's a BigCircle effect and a Glitch effect for adding artificial noise to the background.

Despite these major improvements, a new report claims Samsung chairman Lee Jae-Yong believes the Galaxy smartphones are more disappointing than iPhones.