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.

Sports broadcasting is evolving, bringing fans closer to the experience by moving cameras closer to the action. Samsung is driving this shift with the Galaxy camera system and its ability to operate at broadcast-level performance through the pairing of connectivity and mobility. Earlier this year, Galaxy flagship device was used to stream Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, where Samsung worked alongside Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) to embed Galaxy devices throughout the venue at one of the world’s largest sports stages. The result was a new layer of visual storytelling, capturing dynamic perspectives that complemented traditional broadcast coverage. These capabilities extended to the Galaxy Unpacked 2026, showcasing its ability to deliver professional-grade video capture and transmission.

Now, Samsung is helping lead this transformation within skateboarding competitions by embedding Galaxy S26 Ultra directly into key course features — including rails, ledges and gaps — across the entire SLS 2026 season, fully scaling the Galaxy POV (point of view) first introduced at the 2026 SLS Sydney stop.

“Mobile innovation is opening new possibilities for how sports are captured and experienced,” said Joshua Cho, Executive Vice President and Head of the Visual Solution Team, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “At Milano Cortina, we demonstrated how Galaxy technology can complement traditional broadcast systems. With Street League Skateboarding, we’re bringing that same approach directly into the course with our newest, most advanced device camera, and using mobile POV to capture skateboarding from entirely new perspectives.”

Embedded throughout the course, the devices provide skater-level perspectives, offering angles that traditional broadcast systems often cannot capture. This footage feeds directly into the live production workflow, enabling near-instant replay and offering viewers a fresh visual experience that reflects the intensity of the sport itself.

From speed to the precision of every landing, skateboarding is defined by details that are often lost from a distance. With mobile cameras placed directly inside the course, Samsung is reimagining how the sport is experienced, bringing fans closer to each mid-air movement, board flip and landing. These new perspectives offer deeper insight into technique, timing and control, while strengthening the connection between fans, the sport and the athlete.

Featuring Samsung’s most advanced mobile imaging system to date, Galaxy S26 Ultra is designed to perform in fast-moving, unpredictable environments, much like the athletes themselves. It delivers professional-grade camera performance and high-quality footage across a wide range of shooting conditions with enhanced stabilization, intelligent processing and the ability to maintain clarity in low-light or high-speed conditions. This allows it to operate alongside conventional cameras while maintaining clarity, stability and detail within spaces traditional broadcast cameras cannot easily access.

The placement of Galaxy S26 Ultra devices follows the rhythm and flow of each run, revealing the style, speed and precision of each trick from within the course itself. Galaxy features also extend the creative possibilities of production. Features such as Super Steady with horizontal lock stabilization help maintain smooth, level footage even during high-speed motion, while Instant Slow-Mo enables detailed replay of tricks as they happen. Together, these capabilities allow production teams to capture skateboarding with greater clarity, stability and proximity — showcasing the precision, style and technical skill behind every movement.

“Skateboarding is reaching more people than ever before, especially as the sport continues to grow on the global stage,” said Brett Clarke, Chief Revenue Officer at Thrill Sports, the parent company of Street League Skateboarding. “Collaborations like the one we have with Samsung help us evolve how the sport is shared with fans while staying true to the creativity and culture that define skateboarding.”

The debut of Galaxy S26 Ultra POV integration at the SLS DTLA Takeover signals where sports broadcasting is heading next. As the SLS Championship Tour continues, Samsung will continue exploring how mobile technology can evolve into versatile broadcast tools. Looking ahead to major global sporting events and the road to Los Angeles 2028, this shift suggests a future in which the boundary between smartphone camera and broadcast camera continues to disappear, bringing fans closer to the action.

About Street League Skateboarding

Since its inception in 2010, Street League Skateboarding (SLS) has propelled street skateboarding from a collection of independent standalone events to a renowned global series. As pioneers of street skateboarding’s premium qualification system and competition format, SLS offers an amateur-to-professional pathway and creates thrilling live events across the globe. The SLS Championship Tour is recognized as the world’s premier professional street skateboarding competition. Events take place on custom-built, one-of-a-kind, SLS-certified plazas in major cities around the world, with the best in the sport competing for the highest stakes. For more information, visit StreetLeague.com.

BTS and ARMY have built a cultural movement that brings everyone together to celebrate self-expression and connection through music. This resulted in a global impact that fosters authentic shared experiences — values that resonate deeply with Samsung’s Galaxy brand philosophy. By harnessing the power of music and technology, Samsung and the ‘BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’’ are empowering people to capture special moments and share them with the world.

“Samsung believes that technology enriches everyday experiences,” said Stephanie Choi, EVP and Head of the Mobile Marketing Center, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through this collaboration, Galaxy will serve as a bridge connecting artists and the audience, enabling people to experience concert moments more meaningfully and preserve and share those memories for longer.”

Building on Galaxy’s vision of meaningful, connected experiences, Samsung is reimagining the traditional concert viewing experience by enabling the audience to emotionally engage with artists and their performances in more immersive ways. In particular, the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera captures memorable moments from live performances, allowing the audience around the world to relive and share the experience, bringing the energy and emotion of the concert into their everyday lives.

“Fans are at the heart of everything we do, shaping our music and journey together with us,” said Lee Jae-sang, CEO of HYBE. “Through this partnership with Samsung Electronics, we hope fans can experience concerts more vividly and create lasting memories.”

‘BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’’ will begin in Goyang, South Korea, and continue in major cities around the world through 2027. As part of the world tour, an exclusive BTS THE CITY ARIRANG SEOUL is taking place in Seoul from March 20 to April 19, including a range of Galaxy-powered immersive experiences to major landmarks across the city.

Fans can explore the Galaxy S26 series through interactive activities, including a stamp rally at Samsung’s Gangnam store and creating self-made stickers using the Galaxy AI-powered Creative Studio. Participants who complete the activities are eligible to receive prizes, including limited-edition ‘BTS THE CITY ARIRANG SEOUL’ merchandise.

Following Seoul, ‘BTS THE CITY’ will expand to other tour stops. Samsung will take part in the entire ’BTS THE CITY’ journey, driving innovation that encourages fans to express themselves, capture meaningful moments and expand everyday experiences with Galaxy.

Samsung Newsroom explored how Galaxy S26 Ultra’s AI features enhance travel moments while testing them on location in the city.

[Photo Assist]

Restore and Refine With a Single Prompt

When traveling, it’s easy to reach for the fork before snapping a photo. At a café in San Francisco, a cake had already been partially eaten — but with Galaxy S26 Ultra, even that missed moment was easily resolved.

By simply typing, “Make it look uneaten,” Photo Assist restored the cake to its original form.

Reimagine Any Scene After the Shot

Capturing the perfect shot while traveling isn’t always easy. Moments when the scenery, subject and timing align are rare.

Using Photo Assist, a photo of San Francisco’s streets was combined with an image of a passing tram, creating a seamless result — as if taken in a single moment.

Another notable feature is the ability to change the time of day. After uploading a daytime photo of San Francisco’s harbor and entering prompts such as “Make it look like sunset” or “Turn it into a night scene,” Galaxy AI adjusted the sky and lighting to recreate the scene at a different time of day.

[Creative Studio]

Turn Photos Into Artistic Creations

After capturing a scene of sea lions at Pier 39 — one of San Francisco’s iconic landmarks — the photo was imported into Creative Studio. Selecting the Oil painting style, Galaxy AI analyzed the image’s texture and colors, transforming it into an oil painting-style image.

The result is reimagined with a different aesthetic, making it feel like an entirely new piece.

Creative Studio on Galaxy S26 Ultra transforms travel photos into a range of styles, helping users preserve memories through fresh perspectives.

Create Custom Stickers With Ease

Custom stickers were also created using a photo of sea lions. After launching Creative Studio, selecting an image and choosing a style, tapping “Generate” produced a character sticker that captured the sea lions’ distinctive features.

Users can generate images repeatedly until they achieve the desired result, then choose from seven themes — such as “A slice of Life,” “School days” or “Today’s vibe” — to save the sticker as a themed set.

These stickers can be used not only to decorate photos, but also across text-based apps including messaging and notes.

With Creative Studio, users can transform everyday photos into personalized content, sharing memories in new ways — whether among friends and family or on social media.

Capturing moments in San Francisco with Galaxy S26 Ultra and enhancing them with Galaxy AI made travel memories richer than ever. From shooting and editing to sharing, the entire process comes together seamlessly in a single device.

Samsung Newsroom experienced the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s camera firsthand after Galaxy Unpacked 2026 in San Francisco, showcasing the city’s diverse scenery and unique atmosphere.

Sharp Detail at Any Distance

Pier 39, one of San Francisco’s most iconic landmarks, offers sweeping ocean views. With Galaxy S26 Ultra, even Alcatraz Island across the bay — typically seen clearly only up close by boat — appears crisp and detailed.

Galaxy S26 Ultra features a 200MP wide-angle camera and a 50MP telephoto camera with 10x optical zoom. The 200MP camera delivers exceptional detail, especially when images are enlarged. The wider F1.4 aperture captures more light than its predecessor, producing richer textures and finer detail. Even when zooming in or cropping, details remain sharp.

The camera also excels at video recording. When filming the sea lions at Pier 39 in 8K, even distant landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge remain clear and detailed when zoomed in.

Stable Video in Motion

Galaxy S26 Ultra is the first Galaxy device to support the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec, a professional-grade format that preserves detail even after multiple edits.

When filming in crowded areas or on the move, Super Steady keeps footage stable. The new horizontal lock option maintains a level frame in motion-heavy situations.

To test the feature, Galaxy S26 Ultra was panned side to side at a nearby theme park. With the horizontal lock option on, the footage maintains a stable horizon. Compared with footage shot under the same conditions with the feature off, the difference is clear.

With Galaxy S26 Ultra, users can record stable video without camera shake — from travel vlogs to activities like running or cycling.

Clear, Vivid Nights

As the sun sets, San Francisco’s streets take on a different atmosphere. With Galaxy S26 Ultra’s enhanced Nightography, the city’s iconic cable cars appear in motion at night.

A wider aperture and improved ProVisual Engine reduce noise in low light while preserving the mood of nighttime scenes. Moving cable cars and the night sky appear natural, reflecting the city’s after-dark atmosphere. Its nighttime charm — different from its daytime appeal — is rendered in vivid detail.

From the ocean and lively streets to the city at night, Galaxy S26 Ultra showcases San Francisco in stunning detail, creating vivid, lasting travel memories.

In part two of this series, Samsung Newsroom will explore the AI features of Galaxy S26 Ultra that extend the experience beyond capture to make everyday moments even more meaningful.

On February 26, Samsung Electronics hosted the #PlayGalaxy Cup: PUBG Mobile Global Open in San Francisco, marking the kickoff of the 2026 #PlayGalaxy Cup annual league. The event drew strong interest from mobile esports fans worldwide and signaled the start of a new global competitive season.

The #PlayGalaxy Cup is a global tournament league highlighting the gaming performance of Galaxy devices. In 2026, the tournament expands into a yearlong global esports league in collaboration with PUBG Mobile — shifting from standalone events to a full-season format.

The Global Open served as a showcase match celebrating the league’s launch. Sunny, CouRage, NiceWigg and Octane of North American gaming organization 100 Thieves competed alongside OfflineTV members TinaKitten, Yvonnie, Foolish and Masayoshi. They were joined by eight members of TeamGalaxy  — a global roster of influencers — forming a 16-player lineup of creators and competitors.

Players competed using the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, demonstrating that immersive, high-performance esports gameplay on a mobile device. Cheers erupted throughout each round, reflecting the excitement inside the venue.

Streamer Ludwig hosted the event, bringing live interviews and onstage commentary throughout the competition. Between matches, he engaged in spontaneous conversations with players and interacted with fans in real time, adding to the festival atmosphere.

The #PlayGalaxy Cup: PUBG Mobile Global Open was livestreamed on Ludwig’s YouTube channel, drawing 16.77 million views and broad attention from the gaming community. The broadcast was also streamed on Samsung’s YouTube channel and co-streamed by creators including Ashtax and Wynnsanity. The hybrid format — engaging both on-site spectators and online viewers — underscored the league’s vision of a globally accessible mobile esports competition.

Fans at the event rooted for their favorite teams. A large screen at center stage displayed smooth, immersive gameplay on Galaxy S26 Ultra and a dedicated experience zone allowed visitors to test the device’s gaming performance.

Following the tournament, #PlayGalaxy Cup moves into its full annual league schedule. Beginning in May, regional qualifiers will be held across Europe, Southeast Asia and Oceania, North America, India and South America. Additional details will be shared through each region’s host streamer channels, and all matches will be livestreamed globally. Top teams will advance to the World Final at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, Germany — one of the world’s largest gaming events — to compete for the championship.

“The Global Open marked a milestone with the launch of the inaugural 2026 #PlayGalaxy Cup league,” said David Moon, Head of Influencer Marketing, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “We look forward to continuing this journey with gaming fans around the world.”

Samsung Electronics today announced that Galaxy S26 Ultra won Best in Show at the Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO Awards) during Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026 held in Barcelona, Spain. The Global Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) holds the GLOMO Awards annually during MWC to recognize outstanding innovations in the mobile industry. The Best in Show category celebrates consumer-focused products that set a benchmark for technology. One of the industry’s highest honors, Best in Show devices are known as the “gold standard” across the digital landscape as judged by more than 200 world-leading independent analysts, journalists and industry veterans.

Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Best in Show

At the March 4 awards ceremony, Galaxy S26 Ultra won Best in Show for its seamless blend of advanced hardware and intuitive, proactive One UI 8.5 software. Galaxy AI delivers adaptive, context-aware intelligence that simplifies everyday tasks while safeguarding security and privacy. Together, these advancements bring to life the most intuitive mobile AI designed to anticipate users’ needs.  

Galaxy S26 Ultra also introduced the world’s first built-in Privacy Display, a breakthrough in display engineering, that gives users a more private but vibrant viewing experience. Inside, a customized chipset powers faster Galaxy AI, setting a new standard for effortless mobile experiences on Galaxy S26 Ultra.

“This year’s competition was exceptionally strong,” said Shaun Collins, Chair of the Judges for MWC Best in Show 2026. “We look for technology that is not only innovative and compelling, but that genuinely moves the industry forward. The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra stood out for pushing the boundaries of mobile technology while delivering meaningful, real-world impact. In particular, its privacy innovation addresses one of the most important needs of today’s digital lifestyle — security, personal space and trust.”

The MWC Best in Show judging panel said that among more than 3,000 exhibitors, the Galaxy S26 Ultra stood out for making forward-looking innovation possible now. “While many technologies showcased at MWC highlight the future,” the panel said, “this is a product consumers can experience today.”

“We are honored that the Galaxy S26 Ultra has been recognized as ‘Best in Show’ at this year’s GLOMO Awards,” said Stephanie Choi, EVP and Head of Mobile Marketing Center, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “The Galaxy S26 Ultra is an agentic AI phone that signifies Samsung’s ongoing commitment to push our industry forward, and this distinction is especially meaningful given the extraordinary innovation showcased at MWC.”

For more information about the Galaxy S26 Ultra, please visit: Samsungmobilepress.com and Samsung.com.