Samsung Accused of Deceiving Users with Moon Photos on Galaxy S23 Ultra
Social media users have been accusing Samsung of lying about the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s ability to take photos of the moon. The issue has sparked a lot of controversy, but it all seems to have started when the first modern smartphone with a periscope zoom camera launched in 2019, managing to wow everyone with surprisingly clear photos of the moon.
Huawei P30 Pro Under Scrutiny
The Huawei P30 Pro was considered one of the best phone cameras in 2019, but things went south when a Weibo user “tricked” the P30 Pro into taking a photo of a blurry blob which the smartphone took for the moon. Huawei’s flagship managed to turn the blurry image of the moon into a far clearer photo of the moon.
New Conspiracy Surrounding Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra
Today, the Galaxy S23 Ultra has become the center of an intriguing conspiracy theory around “fake moon shots” yet again. The first Reddit user with a handle ibreakphotos conducted his own investigation, and it displayed an original blurry image of the moon, and what the Galaxy S23 Ultra made out of it. The right image looked less like the original than the other image on the right, which galaxy S23 Ultra captured when moved beyond 25x zoom. The left image was the same blurry image used in the Reddit experiment.
Is Samsung Using AI to Take Better Moon Photos?
The debate around “fake moon shots” has led to accusations that Samsung is deceiving users with the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s moon photo capabilities. Samsung, however, has confirmed that it uses AI to improve moon photos, something known as the “Lunar detection engine.”
The Lunar detection engine was created with the AI learning the different stages and shapes of the moon, from full moon to new, as perceived by people on the planet. It uses an AI deep learning model to detect the moon and identify the area it occupies (square box) in the relevant image. Once the AI model completes learning, it can detect the area occupied by the moon, even in images that were not used in the training.
Therefore, Samsung’s “Lunar detection engine” is trained with different images of the moon, and in different moon phases in order to enhance your original photos once you go past the 25-30x zoom mark. As a result, the moon photos you take with your Galaxy flagship are indeed altered to look clearer and better with the power of AI.
The Galaxy camera provides clear pictures of the moon traversing several steps, using different AI technologies in the process. The scene optimizer technology automatically detects the scene shot, and if the focus is right, it adjusts the configuration values to improve the resolution of the image after. Also, the Zoom Lock feature ensures a clear preview by correcting the effect of an unsteady grasp. You just have to press the shutter button after the moon is framed in a desirable composition and location. The Galaxy camera takes multiple shots.
