Samsung phones are always packed with technologies that many of us have used but did not realize the presence of such technologies. For example, the camera API that was open for other apps to use, which is why pictures were taken using the Facebook Messenger app looks so much better compared to other apps. Or how Samsung’s camera algorithm improves itself over time.
We recently participated in a group interview with Joshua Sungdae Cho, VP and Head of Visual SW R&D at MX Business, to learn more about the cameras on the new Samsung Galaxy S22 series of smartphones. We have a few questions of our own as Samsung focuses on expanding the Galaxy ecosystem to more third-party apps.
As a quick mention, kudos to the translator too. Nothing was lost in translation and the answers were clear and concise. And thanks to the local team for setting this up too!
Innovation doesn’t stop and with the recent announcement of the Galaxy S22 series, there were many new enhancements to the cameras alone. From the hardware to the software and subsequently the post-processing of the pictures taken, everything is improved.
I won’t repeat all of the technicalities since in this case, a picture (or a video) is a much more effective way to show how much the camera improved. Just look at our Galaxy S21 Ultra versus Galaxy S22 Ultra here.
Expert RAW is now available on more phones (even more to come)
During our group interview, we do have a few questions regarding how the cameras of the Galaxy S22 works as it now has an improved NPU for better and faster computational photography.
Late last year, Samsung released the Expert RAW app and I absolutely love that app. It offers a different algorithm to post-process the photo, and that results in a better-looking picture compared to the usual camera app, but takes a much longer time to process.
Since Samsung is opening up the Expert RAW app to more Galaxy smartphones, I asked the question – how does Expert RAW differ itself from phone to phone?
The answer I got was its difference in terms of the NPU. NPU stands for “neural processing unit” and it is made specifically to handle anything related to AI or ML – and in this case, it handles the post-processing of photos. Obviously, a higher-end smartphone will have a much faster NPU compared to a mid-range smartphone and hence will result in different speeds that a photo is processed via Expert RAW.
In my mind, if each of the phones can take as long as they want to process the picture, then pictures from the mid-range smartphones could ultimately look as good as the highest-end flagship smartphone (if the algorithms are good enough).
However, we will have to wait for the Expert RAW to be available in other phones (like the upcoming Galaxy A73 maybe?) before we can make a comparison.
How does Expert RAW improve itself algorithmically?
This is quite a loaded question, which Joshua Sungdae Cho, VP and Head of Visual SW R&D at MX Business, answered brilliantly. In my mind, there are two ways for any sort of algorithm to improve – one is by self-improving algorithm by automatically looping the “learning” process, and another is to “teach” the computer by feeding it appropriate data.
Luckily, Samsung is using the latter “teaching” method but through the company’s own means and does not involve us users. While I do not have the specifics, it seems that Samsung uses photos from hired or contracted photographers to “teach” the computers how to process a desirable picture. Once the computer “learned” the algorithm, we users will receive the algorithm via a software update and we can use it.
I appreciate that Samsung is using this method to improve the Expert RAW algorithm as it protects our privacy. The “self-learning” can be done locally on our devices to improve much faster (if we know what we’re doing) but results in a privacy concern as the algorithm needs to go through all of our pictures – including private ones.
Will Samsung open up the camera API to more third-party apps?
This one is a fairly straightforward question. An API is like a socket for other apps to “plug” into and benefit from the other side of the connection. A few years ago, Samsung opened the camera API to Instagram and we can take beautiful pictures using the Instagram app directly.
Then, during the announcement of the Galaxy S22 series, Samsung announced that they’ve opened the API to Snapchat too. So that got me curious – will Samsung open up the algorithm to other apps too?
The answer I got is – definitely. In fact, Samsung is looking to open up even more of the camera’s API to third-party app developers, including modes like Night Mode and Scene Optimizer features, and many more. I guess we can only expect a better camera experience for our favorite apps soon.
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