Samsung Addresses 'Moongate,' Says Galaxy S23 Ultra's Pics Of Moon Aren't Fake

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra made the headlines when it was released for its impressive camera capabilities, all supported by a 200-megapixel sensor and a custom Snapdragon processor. But last week, a Reddit user's claims about S23 Ultra's famous Moon shots raised some important questions.

The S23 Ultra's space zoom features lets users zoom in click pictures of the Moon that show our natural satellite in staggering detail. According to the Reddit user, Samsung's space zoom feature is "fake" and applies details that don't exist when seen through the camera.

Not the best photographer, but here's a picture I clicked:

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Samsung explains

Samsung has now responded to these claims, saying that these images of the Moon clicked on S23 Ultra aren't fake at all. "Samsung is committed to delivering best-in-class photo experiences in any condition. When a user takes a photo of the Moon, the AI-based scene optimization technology recognises the Moon as the main object and takes multiple shots for multi-frame composition, after which AI enhances the details of the image quality and colors. It does not apply any image overlaying to the photo. Users can deactivate the AI-based Scene Optimizer, which will disable automatic detail enhancements to the photo taken by the user," a Samsung spokesperson told Indiatimes.

The images in question rely on the camera's artificial intelligence capabilities, Samsung says. Essentially, when a user attempts to click the Moon on the Samsung S23 Ultra, the AI scene optimisation takes over.

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As part of this, the camera initially registers the Moon as focal object, then takes multiple images for multi-frame composition. Then, further AI enhancement takes place in terms of quality and colours.

Also read: Samsung To Make All New Galaxy S23 Smartphones In India For Domestic Sale

This, Samsung claims, is very different from using an image overlay process that the Reddit user accused it of doing. In addition, Samsung says that the feature that enables this AI enhancement may be turned off if the user really wants to keep the original image. This feature is called "Scene Optimiser" and may be turned off from the camera settings, although I'm not sure why anyone would want to do that in the Moon scenario, and after dark in general.

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Also read: Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Vs Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Which One Should You Pick?

When I used the feature myself (read our review of the Samsung S23 Ultra here), wobbly shots of the Moon got converted into beautiful clear images that showed the craters in unreal detail. So, it's good to know that no false promises are being made in the name of AI.

What do you think about this Samsung fiasco? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.