What the Galaxy S8/S8+ "Video enhancer" does and how to use it
One of the main points of interest with the new Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ is the gorgeous new display that adorns their facades. With an unusual aspect ratio of 18.5:9, the so-called "Infinity Display" maximizes the space available on both flagships, leaving very little in the way of bezels on the top and bottom. Samsung's new Super AMOLED panel has a native resolution of 1440 x 2960 (WQHD+), which results in an exceptional pixel density that makes images appear crisp and makes even the tiniest fonts eligible. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ are also HDR-certified, meaning they can reproduce a wider than normal gamut of colors when displaying HDR content.
This is cool and all, don't get us wrong, but the fact of the matter is that most video content that you will be consuming on your flashy new bezel-less S8 will be of the non-HDR variety. Or, in other words, plain ol' video. That's why Samsung has included a feature that's aimed at augmenting regular videos.
Enter "Video enhancer".
This video enhancement tool was first introduced with the Galaxy S7, and although it won't magically convert your 720p videos to 4K or anything like that, it can certainly add some pleasant oomph to otherwise bleak-looking videos by enhancing the colors.
You can enable the feature by following these steps:
- Go to "Settings"
- Tap on "Advanced features"
- Scroll down and select "Video enhancer"
There's a little preview window that will give you a general idea of what to expect from this feature, but we'd suggest that you experiment with it yourself. It works well in some situations, but may be a bit too much in others.
Unfortunately, the changes in color do not register on screenshots, so we had to take some photos instead. Do keep in mind that it's close to impossible to perfectly capture this effect on camera, and although we think the following comparison is sufficiently representative of what we saw with our eyes, it may look different to you when you see it in person:
The Galaxy S8+ we used was set to maximum brightness for the test. We left the brightness setting on auto initially, but then we noticed that the Video enhancer cranks it all the way up anyway. So, in order to account for this, we redid the test with brightness set to its highest value.
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