In response, Samsung asked a simple question — can anyone create Hollywood-style videos on a Galaxy mobile phone? The answer is the Cinematic Look-Up Table (Cine LUT) feature on the Galaxy S26 series. While the APV codec provides the foundation for cinema-quality video, Cine LUT brings a distinct color style to the footage.

Cine LUT makes professional-level color grading — once reserved for experts — accessible to anyone. Samsung collaborated with internal teams and external specialists to bring the feature to life. The Mobile eXperience (MX) Business led final camera implementation, Samsung Research developed core video processing technologies and U5K Imageworks — a colorist studio behind globally recognized productions — helped shape its visual aesthetic.

Following the introduction of the APV codec, which delivers a visually lossless level of image quality, Samsung Newsroom spoke with three key developers behind Cine LUT — Sugon Baek of the Camera Image Quality R&D Group at the MX Business, Bomi Kim of the Reality Media Lab at Samsung Research and Taesik Eom, CEO of U5K Imageworks — to hear the story of its creation.

Q. What is a LUT? What sets Cine LUT on the Galaxy S26 series apart?

Baek: A LUT is essentially a “map” that transforms one set of colors into a desired look. Unlike conventional filters that simply overlay color, Cine LUT reinterprets Samsung Log¹ footage to deliver the depth and look of professional filmmaking.

Kim: It’s optimized for Log video. By leveraging its wide gradation,² the feature precisely reconstructs color and brightness to preserve subtle tonal details often lost with conventional filters for richer, more natural depth.

Q. What led to the development of Cine LUT?

Kim: While Galaxy devices supported Log video for high-quality capture, color grading remained challenging for users. We aimed to make professional-looking results accessible without advanced editing skills.

Baek: We wanted to create an experience that lets users preview cinematic footage at the moment of capture, then apply a LUT and share the video with a single tap in the Gallery.

Q. How did the collaboration with U5K Imageworks begin? How was Cine LUT developed?

Eom: Our collaboration began two years ago with Rec. 709 LUT advisory work for Samsung Log video, where we refined strong colors into more natural tones — an experience that led to Cine LUT. For this project, we developed multiple versions across three intensity levels — neutral, soft and strong — and tested them in diverse scenes, ultimately selecting four core styles.

Kim: Building on U5K’s color direction, we validated the concepts against quantitative criteria to ensure consistent performance in different environments, refining them through testing until creative intent and technical quality aligned.

Q. What challenges did you face during development?

Kim: We needed a large dataset to validate performance across diverse conditions. Testing in real-world environments — from natural and indoor lighting to day and night — and close collaboration were key to capturing the nuances of color.

Baek: Maintaining consistent, undistorted color in different environments was challenging. Through continuous testing, we developed a LUT that balances subjective preference with objective quality.

Q. What was the key consideration in creating looks optimized for mobile phones?

Eom: Ensuring reliable performance in real-world conditions was key. Since lighting, exposure and white balance constantly vary, we focused on creating looks that remain natural in any situation.

Kim: Quality was our top priority. We analyzed each frame and validated performance using tools like color charts, gray balance and vector scopes.

Q. Why were these four styles chosen for the Galaxy S26 series?

Baek: We analyzed the visual language of popular film genres and identified four representative styles. From the high-contrast Blockbuster to the fresh Coming-of-age, warm Romance and moody Thriller, each color palette was designed to give everyday scenes an instant cinematic look.

Q. Which Cine LUT styles do you recommend for different situations?

Eom: There’s no fixed answer — it depends on the situation. Blockbuster suits high-contrast environments like outdoor and urban scenes; Coming-of-age fits soft, trendy settings like cafes or vlogs; Romance adds warmth to character-driven scenes; and Thriller creates a more striking impression.

Q. What stood out to you in user feedback?

Baek: We expected it might be seen as just another video effect, but the response exceeded expectations. Users quickly recognized that combining Log shooting with Cine LUTs expands creative possibilities beyond simple filters. We’re also seeing more users choose styles based on the scene, with high-quality videos widely shared on social media — and even inspiring new ways to create content.

Q. What are your plans for the future?

Baek: We aim to further establish the Galaxy S26 series as a professional-grade camera. We hope to see more content that resonates with both creators and viewers and will continue to set new standards in video creation.

Kim: As the world changes rapidly, our goal is to identify next-generation technologies. Through close collaboration with business divisions, we will work to bring them into products and deliver innovative experiences to users around the world.

Born from close collaboration, Cine LUT on the Galaxy S26 series transforms everyday moments into cinematic visuals. Beyond its technical achievements, the feature marks an important step toward making video creation more accessible — lowering barriers once reserved for professionals and enabling anyone to express themselves.

Heesub Han, a commercial and documentary director, shot a series of short films on Galaxy S26 Ultra using the APV codec and Samsung Log. Explore the videos below to discover the possibilities of Cine LUT through the making-of and short films.

1. A technique that uses a logarithmic curve to expand detail in darker areas. While camera sensors capture brightness uniformly, the human eye is more sensitive to changes in shadows. Log helps footage better reflect natural perception. ︎
2. The smoothness and precision of tonal transitions in an image — how it shifts between light and dark. ︎

Samsung Electronics has independently developed the APV (Advanced Professional Video) codec, a technology designed to enable high-quality video editing and has released it as open source. The codec made its debut on Galaxy S26 Ultra launched in March, setting a new benchmark for mobile video creation. By preserving image quality while minimizing loss throughout the editing process, APV enables more precise, professional-grade video production.

Samsung Newsroom sat down with developers from the Visual Solution Team of Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics to hear the story behind APV, from technical challenges faced in development to the thinking that shaped it.

Q. What led to the development of the APV codec?

Yoo: Conventional video codecs experience some data loss during the compression process required to reduce file size. In particular, as the repeated editing process tends to result in noticeable degradation in image quality, a new codec has been developed to fundamentally address these limitations.

To this end, we proposed a collaboration with Samsung Research. Samsung Research took the lead in standardizing APV, and then MX business worked closely over the past three years to ensure its support as part of the Android standard.

Q. What is the APV codec, and what are its key advantages?

Yoo: APV is a video codec that has been formally standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It is optimized for editing, preserving as much data as possible while delivering excellent compression efficiency relative to image quality. At the same quality level, it can reduce file size by more than 10 percent compared to similar codecs.

Min: It also delivers refined color reproduction based on the YUV 4:2:2 and achieves visually lossless level of image quality, while maintaining minimal degradation even after multiple rounds of editing.

Q. Why did you choose to release APV as open source?

Yoo: We chose to develop APV as open source to encourage wider adoption and to build an ecosystem through standardization — ultimately bringing the technology and its benefits to more users. No matter how advanced a technology is, if it isn’t widely used, it becomes obsolete.

Q. What were the key priorities in implementing APV codec on a mobile device?

Min: Moving from standardization to commercialization was a challenge on a completely different level. To enable real-time processing of UHD and 8K video within the constraints of mobile devices, efforts were focused on thermal management and system-level optimization. With APV, UHD 30fps footage can reach up to 6GB per minute, so we partnered with Samsung Electronics’ Memory Business to ensure data storage stability. As a result of validating the latest Samsung portable SSD models across all recording resolutions on Galaxy S26 Ultra over more than nine test cycles, stable data transfer performance was secured even under high-load conditions.

Yoo: Building the APV ecosystem also required close collaboration with a wide range of partners. We worked closely not only with chipset manufacturers, but also with companies developing editing tools and video players.

Q. How does it feel to see the APV codec debut on Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Yoo: As more expert-level users such as YouTubers and influencers emerge, we wanted to lower the barriers to entry for video production, which has traditionally required access to professional equipment. Galaxy S26 Ultra comes with four built-in cinematic LUTs (Look-Up Tables), and we hope this allows more users to easily create film-like visuals right from their hands.

Min: What stands out most to me is developing a dedicated pro kit for Galaxy S26 Ultra in collaboration with a camera accessory specialist. Despite the tight timeline leading up to the Galaxy Unpacked where the product was unveiled, we were able to refine the overall quality, which makes it especially meaningful. It laid the foundation for Galaxy to be utilized in professional video production workflow.

Q. As a developer from the Visual Solution Team, what are your plans going forward?

Yoo: We plan to continue advancing the codec so that both users and creators can find even greater value in Galaxy-based video editing. Through APV, we look forward to the day when Galaxy S26 Ultra is even used in film production environments.

Min: Our goal is to make it easier for everyday users to create professional, cinematic content. We’ll also continue collaborating with partners to expand the APV ecosystem.

With the APV codec, Galaxy S26 Ultra moves beyond incremental innovation. It lowers barriers to entry while raising the bar for what mobile video production can be. An era has arrived where a single Galaxy device can take users from shooting to editing to sharing at a professional level. And at the intersection of Galaxy S26 Ultra’s technology and creators’ imagination, the possibilities are wide open.