Samsung may finally fix image processing with the Galaxy S24 line. What could that mean for your photos?
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Everyone has probably heard about the so-called "Samsung look" for photos. What is referred to as the Samsung look is basically a sharper, and more vivid and saturated photo than what's the reality. Some people dig this overly colorful look, but others prefer to stick with the natural look. Well, according to recent rumors and leaks, Samsung may decide to go for a more realistic look with the Galaxy S24 line. Let's talk about what this (if it ends up happening) could mean for your photos.
Samsung's flagship phones in recent years are beasts: sporting the latest chipsets and exciting features, these phones are a joy to wield. However, they have a rather peculiar look to the photos they take, and most photos are instantly recognizable as being shot with a Galaxy phone.
Of course, as we mentioned you might like this, and many people do. It's pretty and if you happen to want these colors exaggerated, it's great! But, if you want the grass to look like natural grass and your jacket to look like... well, the jacket you bought, then you'd be happy to learn about this new rumor and how this can help.
Rumors about the S24 series: realistic processing? How can it help with photos?
The rumor has been corroborated by several reputable leakers, including the accurate tipster IceUniverse. This could mean that we might actually see more realistic photo processing on the S24 Ultra. Samsung does the same vivid-like processing to some level on all of the S23 Ultra cameras, and we can see it even more noticeably on the ultra-wide and sometimes, portrait shots. Of course, there's always the possibility that Samsung can tame it with software (and therefore keep the distinct Galaxy look). But let's see what could happen if it decides to go the more realistic way.
The more realistic processing may tame those just a tiny bit - they may still look lively and colorful, but more true to life. This can also help with skin tones - sometimes those tend to appear pinker or yellower than reality on Galaxies. Below, a comparison shot taken from our Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Pixel 8 Pro review. By the way, we're just using the Pixel as reference so you can see the difference in color representation, by no means do we think the Pixel is perfect (no phone camera is perfect yet!).
Samsung has tamed the color saturation a bit when you compare the S23 and the S22 Ultra, though (look at the grass and jacket color):
There are plenty of scenarios you'd like to take a more realistic photo. If you happen to be outdoors a lot and like taking photos in nature and of nature, a more natural green and blue can help you achieve more inspiring photos. Also, the need for truthfulness to real colors applies when you're taking photos of colorful buildings (see the blue graffiti below, it looks like it's almost neon on the Galaxy shot), pets (we want our pet to look just like it does, don't we?) and people.
Samsung sees color vivid and lively (way more vivid and livelier than reality)
Samsung's flagship phones in recent years are beasts: sporting the latest chipsets and exciting features, these phones are a joy to wield. However, they have a rather peculiar look to the photos they take, and most photos are instantly recognizable as being shot with a Galaxy phone.
Let's quickly address what the thing is. Color saturation basically means how colorful something is. If you remove all saturation from an image, it turns into grayscale. The more saturation you put, the more vivid the colors are. Sharpening, on the other hand, enhances the definition of edges in an image. And Samsung is known to turn it up a notch when it comes to those two settings.
Let's see what we mean. Below, we have several shots taken with the S23 Ultra. You can see that those were taken during the winter, and although you were not there to check how the grass really looked, you can probably imagine that such bright green grass is hard to find during the winter:
Of course, as we mentioned you might like this, and many people do. It's pretty and if you happen to want these colors exaggerated, it's great! But, if you want the grass to look like natural grass and your jacket to look like... well, the jacket you bought, then you'd be happy to learn about this new rumor and how this can help.
Rumors about the S24 series: realistic processing? How can it help with photos?
The rumor has been corroborated by several reputable leakers, including the accurate tipster IceUniverse. This could mean that we might actually see more realistic photo processing on the S24 Ultra. Samsung does the same vivid-like processing to some level on all of the S23 Ultra cameras, and we can see it even more noticeably on the ultra-wide and sometimes, portrait shots. Of course, there's always the possibility that Samsung can tame it with software (and therefore keep the distinct Galaxy look). But let's see what could happen if it decides to go the more realistic way.
First off, Samsung is already great with details and the S23 Ultra's cameras capture beautiful night shots. Zoom is reliable and actually - looks good, and the portrait mode is to die for in terms of subject separation and natural-looking bokeh. The saturation is sometimes excessive mainly when we're talking about nature photos or photos taken in nature. That green on the grass and the candy-blue sky may not be a look for you.
The more realistic processing may tame those just a tiny bit - they may still look lively and colorful, but more true to life. This can also help with skin tones - sometimes those tend to appear pinker or yellower than reality on Galaxies. Below, a comparison shot taken from our Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Pixel 8 Pro review. By the way, we're just using the Pixel as reference so you can see the difference in color representation, by no means do we think the Pixel is perfect (no phone camera is perfect yet!).
Samsung has tamed the color saturation a bit when you compare the S23 and the S22 Ultra, though (look at the grass and jacket color):
But there's still room for improvement (as with anything in life, just saying!). Actually, no phone currently has photos that line up with everyone's taste, but Samsung is in a great position to elevate its photos more with realistic colors, while still keeping the rich details and beautiful dynamics it already has going for it.
You might find interesting:
There are plenty of scenarios you'd like to take a more realistic photo. If you happen to be outdoors a lot and like taking photos in nature and of nature, a more natural green and blue can help you achieve more inspiring photos. Also, the need for truthfulness to real colors applies when you're taking photos of colorful buildings (see the blue graffiti below, it looks like it's almost neon on the Galaxy shot), pets (we want our pet to look just like it does, don't we?) and people.
All in all, as we already mentioned, it's not 100% certain Samsung will do this, as this is still a rumor at this point. We're close now to seeing the S24 series unveiled, probably in January, and we can't wait to know what Samsung has in store for us!
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