Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Since the Galaxy S20 series, Samsung has been promoting the moon detection feature that uses scene recognition technology. This feature allows users to adjust the contrast of their photos and use AI to enhance the resolution of their pictures, revealing more details. However, ever since the release of the Galaxy S21, rumors have been circulating that the moon detection feature on the S21 is "fake." Some users have claimed that the S21 produces details that shouldn't exist in the moon's surface.
This controversy has persisted without any evidence until a Reddit user conducted an experiment a few days ago. The user downloaded a moon photo and reduced its size to 170x170 pixels, then applied a Gaussian blur effect. Finally, the user enlarged the image to full screen, turned off the lights, and took a photo with their Galaxy phone. The resulting image showed details that were not visible in the blurred original image.
After a few days of speculation, Samsung finally released an official statement explaining the technology behind the moon detection feature. In addition to adjusting the contrast and sharpening of photos, the phone's AI does indeed use a high-resolution moon photo as a reference to correct the image. The AI considers various factors such as the moon phase, lighting conditions, and weather to enhance the photo. Samsung's AI can also determine whether the object being photographed is the moon or not. If the AI determines that it is not the moon, it will not apply any enhancements. This may explain why the rumors persisted for so long without any confirmation.
Samsung
But does it really matter? Modern smartphones rely heavily on AI processing to enhance images, and features like beauty filters or Google's Magic Eraser all have the ability to create something out of nothing. Samsung's "beautifying" of moon photos is essentially the same thing. However, there is a crucial difference here - users are aware that beauty filters or erasers create fake effects, while the issue with Samsung's fake moon is that the moon's photographic capability is often used as a benchmark for high-magnification night photography. If details are added to the moon using AI post-processing, phone manufacturers should have made it clear to customers from the outset that this is due to the AI system's capabilities, rather than the hardware itself.
That being said, as long as the functionality is clearly explained, it doesn't change anything. Regardless of the AI method used for post-processing, this is still a capability that the phone possesses. Most users probably don't really care if their moon photos are the result of some kind of post-processing, as long as they look good. However, if you use the highest magnification of a Galaxy S to take pictures of other objects at night, you won't get the same level of clarity as the moon.