Samsung has been leading the industry by introducing hardware (HW) and software (SW) that break the existing mold every year for the past 12 years since the unveiling of the first Galaxy S device in 2010. Some of the most game-changing so far include a large-screen smartphone with excellent immersion; a smartphone-stylus combination that enhanced productivity and creativity; and the world’s first dual-pixel camera technology. In addition, the Galaxy Note series, Galaxy tablet series and various wearable devices including Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Buds have contributed to the wider Galaxy ecosystem that has so transformed user’s lifestyles.

Ahead of the Galaxy Unpacked event set for February 10, Samsung Newsroom is providing a look back at the technological legacy of the Galaxy series. Read on to learn more about the 10 innovative Galaxy smartphone technologies that have set new standards and transformed the way we live our lives.

#1. 2010
The AMOLED Display: Bigger Is Better

One of the major benefits of a smartphone is that it allows users to enjoy content on a large screen with clear picture quality that sits right in the palm of their hand. Samsung kicked off the trend of the large screen era in the smartphone industry with the introduction of their AMOLED display. This display, developed using Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) technology, is characterized by its clear picture quality, self-luminescence and larger screen size.

The Samsung Galaxy S was the world’s first smartphone to be launched with a Super AMOLED display, an ultra-thin screen that consumes less power and provides crisper and more vivid picture quality. With the introduction of the Galaxy S in 2010, users’ interest became piqued in obtaining bigger screens — such as the 4- to 5-inch screens of the AMOLED display compared to the conventional 3-inches on other phones — on which to fully immerse themselves in their favorite content.

Samsung has continued to take its AMOLED technology to the next level by unveiling devices with more powerful and more advanced screens, such as the Galaxy S10, the world’s first mobile device with a High Dynamic Range10+ (HDR10+) supported Dynamic AMOLED display, and the Galaxy S21 series, which features a Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with an automatic refresh rate of up to 120Hz based on the content type. Samsung’s innovative technology has enabled silky-smooth scrolling and uninterrupted viewing experiences, even on larger screens.

#2. 2011
The Galaxy Note and S Pen: Adding Analog Touch to Digital Devices

As of 2011, it became no longer necessary to keep notebooks and writing instruments in our bags at all times. With the introduction of the Galaxy Note equipped with S Pen, it is now possible to save and share everything from memos to drawings right on our smartphone’s screen. At that time, the Galaxy Note was launched with an S Pen that supported 256 levels of pressure onto the device’s large screen. Since then, both the Note and the S Pen have become inseparable, and as the series has developed, both have evolved significantly.

For example, Samsung introduced Air Command for the Galaxy Note 3 to give users easy access to signature S Pen features when hovering their S Pen over the screen. The company also then incorporated Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology into the Galaxy Note 9 S Pen so that its stylus pen could also function as a remote control. For the Galaxy Note 10, the addition of Air Action features enabled users to remotely control their device when switching camera modes or zooming in or out, a marked change from previous models which only permitted users to take photos from a distance. In line with this innovative spirit, Samsung introduced the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered S Pen for the Galaxy Note 20 in order to provide users with a more delicate and sophisticated drawing experience, and as of last year, the innovative S Pen is now available on devices such as the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold3 to expand its compatibility.

#3. 2013
Samsung Knox: Your Trusted Mobile Bodyguard

We are now living in the era where most of our daily tasks and experiences can be undertaken all with a singular smartphone, meaning that the importance of security cannot be overemphasized. Samsung Knox has become a reliable shield for users concerned about information leakage or virus penetration.

Samsung Knox, installed on Galaxy devices since the Galaxy Note 3 in 2013, protects devices on a step-by-step basis from the chipset to the operating system (OS) and application level, while also blocking hacking and unauthorized access. In addition, thanks to its encrypted container space, a user’s personal and business data can be separated and managed safely.

In 2021, the company launched Samsung Knox Vault with the Galaxy S21 in order to thoroughly ensure the protection of ever-growing amounts of data. In addition to offering the industry’s highest level of security chipset (eSE, or embedded Secure Element) and a secure processor that prevents HW-level attacks, Samsung Knox Vault features a tamper-resistant security memory to protect a user’s various passwords and biometric information.

#4. 2014
Superb IP Rating: Ultimate Protection From Dust and Water

In the early 2010s, if you accidentally dropped your smartphone while using it in water, nothing but despair awaited you. To mitigate this, Samsung expanded the horizon of smartphone experiences by applying waterproof and dustproof functions to the Galaxy S5 for the first time in 2014.

From the Galaxy S7 in 2017 onwards, IP68,¹ the highest waterproof and dustproof rating, has been applied to Galaxy devices in order to strengthen their performance. The IP68 rating is given to devices after testing in fresh water at a depth of 1.5m for 30 minutes. Galaxy users are now able to use their smartphones with peace of mind thanks to strong waterproof and dustproof technologies.

#5. 2015
Samsung Pay: A Mobile Wallet in Your Pocket

It is no exaggeration to say that, after 2015, the trend of going ‘wallet-less’ saw a surge in increase. At this time, Samsung introduced Samsung Pay, a mobile payment service that replaces the cash and credit cards in a user’s wallet. Since this service was first introduced on the Galaxy S6 in 2015, it has established itself as a core representational service of the Galaxy smartphone.

When using public transportation, as well as when out shopping, users need just touch their smartphone instead of having to get out their wallet to pay. These days, leaving the house without a wallet has become a normal habit.

#6. 2016
Advanced Camera Technology: The World’s First Dual Pixel Sensor

Smartphone camera technologies are advancing day by day, to the extent at which if you have a smartphone, you’re able to capture pictures and videos comparable to that of professionals.

In 2016, Samsung raised the smartphone camera function to a new level by installing the industry’s first dual pixel in the Galaxy S7. At that time, the dual pixel was an image sensor only seen in high-end digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras. By increasing the amount of light received by both the front and rear cameras, the Galaxy S7 was able to focus quickly and accurately, as well as take optimal photos in dark environments.

Samsung then combined an Ultra-Wide angle lens and intelligent SW in the Galaxy S10 to help users take even sharper pictures. The Galaxy S20 features a remarkable four quad cameras, raising the level of camera functionality once again. In particular, the optical zoom performance has been greatly improved; Galaxy S20 Ultra users can harness the Space Zoom function to zoom in up to 100 times, allowing them to take clear pictures of the night sky.

#7. 2018
One UI: Making My Own Galaxy

One UI is an interface that supports the unique user experience of Samsung Galaxy, and was first introduced in November 2018.

By dividing the viewing area and the touching area, the layout of One UI allows users to comfortably perform all operations with just one hand, and all necessary essential functions are included concisely on-screen so that everyone and anyone is able to use it easily. One UI is also characterized by a unified user experience as it has been applied consistently to devices across the Galaxy ecosystem, including smartphones, tablets and wearables.

One UI 4, updated last year, harnesses a completely different color palette with which to decorate a device’s home screen, icons, notifications and wallpapers in your own style. In addition, One UI 4 features strengthened security features, such as allowing users to easily select what to share and what to keep private in order to keep up with users who increasingly value their individuality and their privacy.

#8. 2019
Galaxy Z Series: The Dawn of the Era of Foldable Smartphones

In 2019, Samsung pioneered the field of foldable smartphones by unveiling the world’s first Galaxy Z Fold, equipped with a 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display.

Samsung’s newly developed hinge technology makes it possible to open and close the smartphone as smoothly as one opens a book, and offers users secure, long-lasting flexibility that passed a test to withstand 200,000 folds. In 2020, the company’s foldable lineup was expanding to include the Galaxy Z Flip, which features a compact design as the screen unfolds vertically.

Samsung not only pioneered a new form factor, but also new usability options through such functions as Flex mode, which allows for more usage scenarios by fixing the hinge at a specific angle, and Multi-Active Window, which can open and run apps at the same time with applications optimized for the foldable screen for a split screen view.

Last year, Samsung expanded their foldable lineup with the Galaxy Z Fold3, which saw the inclusion of an S Pen and waterproof and dustproof technology, and the colorful, pastel-toned Galaxy Z Flip3 Bespoke Edition, leading the era of foldable popularization.

#9. 2021
An AI-Powered Eraser: Removing Unwanted Objects From Photos

As part of Samsung’s mission to expand the application of innovative AI technologies to all smartphones, the company introduced the Object Eraser feature that lets you remove any unwanted objects in your photos with just a touch.

The Object Eraser function, first introduced in the Galaxy S21 in 2021, is a photo editing tool that harnesses artificial intelligence. Simply by touching the object you want to remove from a photo and tapping the ‘object erase’ button, the object is deleted without the need for a separate editing program. Currently, this function is available on smartphones with One UI 3.1 or higher, such as the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Fold3.

Samsung first applied its AI-powered interface, Bixby, to the Galaxy S8 in 2017, and now users can control their major Galaxy devices using only their voice. In addition, Samsung has been incorporating AI technologies into its device OS, battery and camera in order to improve performance and convenience.

#10. 2021
Galaxy for the Planet: For a Sustainable Future

Samsung is fully committed to minimizing the environmental impact of its products throughout the entire lifecycle of its smartphones, from the design to the production stage through to their usage and disposal, in order to ensure that Galaxy smartphones contribute to greater environmental sustainability. Under the sustainability vision of its Mobile eXperience (MX) Business, “Galaxy for the Planet,” Samsung is consistently working to achieve a circular economy by reusing and recycling resources in order to build a better Galaxy ecosystem.

One such effort towards sustainability is a reduction of plastic usage in smartphone packaging. The percentage of plastics used in the Galaxy S21 packaging accounts for a mere 4 percent of the total weight, cutting down the waste generated per packaging unit by 49 percent as compared with that of the Galaxy S7. In addition, the Galaxy S21 packaging contains only 58 percent of the paper used in that of the Galaxy S7, helping save some 44,802 trees a year. Samsung plans to exclude plastic materials in its product packaging and apply recycled materials to all of its products in the MX division by 2025.

The products set to be unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked 2022 are drawing attention thanks to the revelation that they have been designed using eco-conscious materials recycled from marine waste. Samsung has succeeded in transforming discarded fishing nets, a major contributor to marine pollution, into a material with which to produce smart devices, and the company plans to apply this material to all its products in the future.

¹ IP (Degree of Ingress Protection, IP Code) is a product-related protection technology standard established by the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and is applied to various IT products and industrial devices. IP68 is the highest rating for dust and water resistance. Ip68 has a waterproof function that can withstand 1.5m of clear water for 30 minutes, but it is recommended that the device be washed off immediately after contact with water and then dried.

“We are extremely proud to announce that the new HDR10+ GAMING standard will be adopted by Samsung’s 2022 Neo QLED line up with the Q70 TV series and above and gaming monitors, allowing users to enjoy a game-changing experience through cutting-edge visuals and richer, life-like images,” said Seokwoo Yong, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D Team, Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to invest in users’ viewing experiences as technology continues to advance and provide enhanced new features and capabilities.”

Advanced HDR Technology Maintains the Artistic Intent of Game Developers

This new standard, developed by HDR10+ Technologies, LLC, gives game developers the tools they need to provide gamers with a compelling and consistent HDR gaming experience without the need for manual calibration across a variety of display technologies for various input sources, including consoles, PCs and more.

Samsung’s 2022 TV and gaming monitor lineup will support the HDR10+ GAMING standard by allowing automated HDR calibration that provides stunning picture quality to meet game developers’ demand. This translates into one of the most responsive and accurate gaming experiences available to date.

By removing the need for manual settings when games are loaded, something previously only possible with movie and television content, the game engine automatically optimizes video game content in real-time. This feature ensures details in the dark shadows and preserves the brightest highlights so that gamers can see and react to everything on the screen. It also configures the display to “true reference mode”, providing better color, also without the need for gamers to spend additional time with game settings.

Several gaming companies, including Saber Interactive, are expected to showcase their HDR10+ GAMING titles during the upcoming CES 2022.

“We are very excited to help usher in a new era of video game picture quality. By adopting HDR10+ GAMING, gamers of all ages will enjoy cutting-edge visuals for the best overall gaming experience,” said Todd Hollenshead, Head of Publishing at Saber Interactive. “The HDR10+ GAMING standard is genuinely raising the bar, and we are proud to be at the forefront of bringing it to market with games like Redout 2, the fastest 8K anti-gravity racer ever made, and with Pinball FX, the king of digital pinball, brought to life in a brand-new way.”

Game Mechanic Studios is also showcasing their HDR10+ GAMING title “Happy Trails and the Kidnapped Princess”, which will be available in 2022.

HDR10+ Continues To Expand With Industry Support and Adoption for Premium HDR Experiences

HDR10+ brings superior picture quality by optimizing brightness and contrast scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame, with more accurate color expression.

Introduced four years ago, HDR10+ has built robust support across the industry, with 128 partners and over 4,000 supported devices, including TVs, projectors, smartphones and tablets from more than 28 manufacturers. HDR10+’s metadata also offers flexible reference tone and mapping curve definition for content creators, allowing them to deliver more impactful images exactly as they intended them to be seen.

In addition, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series, RTX 20 Series and GTX 16 Series GPUs will support the HDR10+ GAMING standard with drivers scheduled for release in 2022.

“NVIDIA GeForce gamers can enjoy a brighter, more vivid and consistent HDR gaming experience on their monitors or TVs from the support of the new HDR10+ GAMING standard,” said Vijay Sharma, Director of Product Management at NVIDIA.

For more information on Samsung’s upcoming 2022 product portfolio and features, please visit www.samsung.com.

Not only do movie theaters provide lifelike pictures and visuals in ultra-high resolution, but they also control the amount of ambient light in the room in order to highlight the scene shown on the screen. Given that these theaters are built specially to provide such conditions, the at-home experience is never quite the same given that it is harder to control the amount of light in a room depending on the time of day.

But what if we were able to replicate the picture quality at home the way a content creator intended it to be seen? How can we bring the movie theater experience home?

The answer lies within Samsung Electronics’ 2021 Neo QLED TVs, which come with the latest HDR10+ Adaptive standard. Not only do the TVs provide premium viewing experiences, but they are also able to optimize the picture quality regardless of any reflection, luminance and interference brought about by the indoor lighting condition. Samsung Newsroom has pulled the curtains back to find out what HDR10+ Adaptive is and just how it works.

True-to-Life Picture Quality for Impactful Viewing

Unlike movie theaters, the at-home TV viewing environment can change from moment to moment depending on the change of day to night, lighting, interference and the reflection of light.

HDR10+ is the latest advanced High Dynamic Range technology, which Samsung has been incorporating into their UHD and above TVs since 2017 and is also featured in the 2021 Neo QLED TVs. It intelligently adapts your TV to optimally display UHD content the way it was meant to be seen with all the true-to-life highlight and shadow details. HDR10+ uses dynamic tone mapping to enhance the color and contrast and directs the screen to accurately display high dynamic range content on a scene-by-scene or even on a frame-by-frame basis.

HDR10+ is a royalty-free, open standard, accessible to any device maker to adopt and certify their own compatible devices using HDR10+ metadata syntax. This means that Samsung has been able to build complete control over on-screen picture quality into their TV lineup for true-to-life viewing experiences. HDR10+’s metadata also offers flexible reference tone and mapping curve definition for content creators, such as film producers and engineers, allowing them to deliver more impactful images exactly as they intend them to be seen.

AI Analysis for Optimum Experiences Even in Home Lighting Conditions

Samsung’s 2021 TV lineup also supports HDR10+ Adaptive, a technology that improves the HDR10+ viewing experience in users’ homes regardless of the lighting conditions. Samsung’s 2021 TVs come with the HDR10+ Adaptive standard which supports Filmmaker Mode¹ and adapts to brighter rooms so that customers can enjoy true cinematic experiences when viewing HDR10+ movies and television programs in various environments at home.

On the 2021 Neo QLED TVs, HDR10+ Adaptive harnesses its AI engine to analyze the viewing environment, including the lighting, brightness and even reflections using the sensors equipped on the TV. The results are then incorporated into the dynamic metadata, and then through four further steps, the brightness and contrast of a scene are optimized. HDR standards are typically designed with a dark room in mind, similar to that of a movie theater. However, with HDR10+ Adaptive, viewers are guaranteed to see the original creators’ intent regardless of the lighting condition or the time of the day.

Youngwook Son, an engineer at the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics, has been spearheading the development of the feature with his team. “HDR10+ is a premium feature that is geared to optimize the TV’s picture quality by fine-tuning the scene while preserving the original creator’s creative direction. HDR10+ Adaptive takes this one step further by allowing the TV to optimize the picture based on the surrounding lighting conditions, finally allowing TVs to provide a similar viewing experience to those found in dark environments, such as movie theaters.”

HDR10+ Marks Its Two-Year Anniversary with 120 Partners and Over 2,000 HDR10+ Content

The HDR10+ standard was introduced 2 years ago and now has 120 related partners. HDR10+ has robust support across the industry, with several thousand different products from multiple manufacturers offering HDR10+ supported devices. Currently, over 3,100 different TVs and projectors from more than 20 manufacturers support HDR10+. Furthermore, devices including smartphones, tablets and Blu-ray players also support the standard.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Rakuten TV, Megogo, Watcha, Paramount+, YouTube and others have helped make accessible thousands of hours of premium content, delivering a wide array of viewing choices to certified HDMI devices, including the Paramount+ Original Series “The Stand” and Universal’s iconic Back to the Future Trilogy. There are now over 2,000 pieces of content available to users that support the HDR10+.

HDR10+ is the only dynamic HDR technology supported on YouTube, which provides content creators and viewers alike with the unique opportunity to have the access to enhanced, premium HDR content right at their fingertips. With the rise of vertical video production and consumption, the standard gives content creators a unique opportunity to film and view user-generated content across any HDR10+ device.

“There are numerous technologies involved in creating the perfect scenes for the ultimate viewing experience,” noted Younghun Choi, EVP and Head of R&D Team, Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “HDR10+ Adaptive is one of the core technologies that enable us to enjoy the pristine picture quality that we enjoy watching today. Samsung will continue to invest and upgrade users’ viewing experiences in line with the latest technological advancements and trends in the home entertainment industry.”

¹ Filmmaker Mode is a viewing mode, which allows viewers to enjoy movies and TV shows the way the filmmakers intended them to be seen. Various Hollywood directors, including Christopher Nolan and James Cameron, are known to have advocated for the feature in August 2019.

(From left to right) Youngwook Sohn, Guiwon Seo, Martin Junseob Kim, Beomjoon Seo and Seonseok Kim of the Picture Quality Solution Lab of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business

To create the fully immersive picture quality of Samsung’s 2020 QLED 8K TVs, a variety of technologies came together. The 2020 QLED 8K TVs provides users with the best resolution in the industry thanks to 100% color volume, which can recreate around 1 billion different colors on-screen for a natural screen experience, anti-reflection 2.0 technology, which eliminates the effect of bright light conditions on the screen quality, and AI upscaling technology that enhances lower-resolution content into 8K picture quality.

Samsung’s 2020 QLED 8K TVs also feature HDR(High Dynamic Range)10+, an enhanced version of HDR10 that leverages dynamic metadata to maximize the contrast between each and every scene’s black level and peak brightness on a display. HDR10+ performs a key role in delivering users their best display experiences yet by optimizing brightness and contrast for each scene. Along with innovating users’ viewing experience, Samsung’s HDR10+ has also been setting new standards across the home entertainment industry at large.

Samsung Newsroom interviewed the developers at the Picture Quality Solution Lab of Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Business to learn more about the game-changing HDR10+ technology and how it brings out hidden details on QLED 8K.

Enhancing Display Immersion with Vivid Details

In 2017, Samsung introduced its HDR10+ technology to bring more vivid TV watching experiences to viewers. The reason why HDR10+ has become a key element in ultra-high-resolution video is because of its rich contrast range and wide color gamut. “Previously, we followed the SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) standard that is characterized by a low brightness level of 100 nits and a narrow color gamut,” noted Seonseok Kim. “But when HDR10 was introduced, with its high brightness levels and wide color gamut of over 1,000 nits, we were able to offer brightness and color ranges to users that previously unimagined.”

Each content producer offers content with differing encoding methods, brightness and color settings. The resulting picture quality that viewers see can be different depending on the analysis methods done by HDR technologies. HDR10+ is unique as it breaks down the video into ‘scenes’ while processing the file. “The previous technology, HDR10, applied a singular contrast range curve to an entire video, but HDR10+ analyzes the average brightness, maximum brightness and accumulated data distribution by scene to apply different contrast range curves where appropriate,” highlighted Beomjoon Kim.

For example, when portraying a scene including an airplane flying across a heavily sunlit sky, contrast range is, of course, important but so is the gradation of the scene – gradation being the stages of change as a shot moves between light and dark. When gradation is poorly executed, the signal around the object in a scene can end up bound, meaning that details are blurred or excluded. “A good gradation of such a scene would present viewers with accurate representations of the sky and clouds as well as the airplane,” noted Guiwon Seo. “All characteristics in a video need to be analyzed to successfully achieve this. Our technology will automatically adjust the HDR curve when there is a high amount of gradation signal distribution to ensure these signals are not mixing with other specific gradation features.”

The image on the right, good gradation has been applied to bring out all of the scene’s details, even on the background clouds

Developing Algorithms for All Kinds of Display

Viewers can experience different picture qualities when watching the same video, depending on how bright their displays are. When posed the question of ‘what is the most difficult task in developing HDR technologies’, Martin Junseob Kim responded saying that it was ensuring that different TV products, with different brightness settings, could provide the same display experiences.

It is no small task to maximize the display effects of a video with the same analyzed video characteristics on TVs with various brightness settings. Nevertheless, the Picture Quality Solution Lab’s developers were able to overcome this challenge by developing a proprietary adaptable HDR processing algorithm, a process that took numerous discussions and much trial-and-error.

Development Fueled by Collaboration

Viewers need more than just a good quality TV to fully enjoy a piece of content with high quality detailing. To provide the most immersive TV watching experience possible, Samsung understands that collaboration with the home entertainment market at large, including content creators and streaming services, is necessary. This is why Samsung has been focusing on establishing the industry-wide standard specification for HDR10+.

“Samsung established HDR10+ Technologies, LLC, along with 20th Century Fox and the Panasonic Corporation, and as of January 2020, 94 companies had joined,” explained Youngwook Sohn. “We at HDR10+ Technologies, LLC, provide free specification details on the technology and the relevant tests, along with the verification logo and user guide. This allows us to bring more realistic and richly colored video images to more users. We are set to improve our HDR10+ specification based on feedback from each of our member companies.”

To produce high-quality TV displays, Samsung’s Picture Quality Solution Lab developers are constantly working hard to bring realistic video experiences to users; they are already on their way to realizing technologies that improve on existing ones. “Our goal is to bring about previously unimagined viewing experiences by creating the best possible HDR quality for next-generation displays,” affirmed Sohn.

HDR10+ is an enhanced version of HDR10 that leverages dynamic metadata to maximize the black level and peak brightness of every scene and frame on displays. The result is an image that more closely represents the original creative intent of directors. The HDR10+ Technologies Certification and Logo program makes it easy for consumers to find devices, content and services that deliver this high quality HDR viewing experience.

With VIZIO now adding support for HDR10+ technology to their UHD TV lineup, reach of HDR10+ expands notably. “VIZIO is committed to delivering the best entertainment experience to the consumer, regardless of the format,” said Bill Baxter, Chief Technology Officer, VIZIO. “Adding HDR10+ capability to the roster of HDR signals we already support means our customers will have the best viewing experience possible when they play HDR content on their VIZIO SmartCast TV.”

GooglePlay Movies & TV, a major UHD OTT distributor, will support HDR10+ for their UHD titles. Consumers will be able to enjoy a superior UHD experience with content from major Studios in 2020. The HDR10+ UHD Blu-ray slate continues to grow with titles available in HDR10+ such as, “X-Men:Dark Phoenix” from 20th Century Fox, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” from Universal, and “IT: Chapter Two” from Warner Bros.. HDR10+ content mastering is currently supported by major post production companies like Deluxe, Giant Interactive and Pixelogic.

In addition, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme and Xiaomi have also announced support of HDR10+ on their mobile devices. Consumers are able to enjoy their favorite shows and movies in HDR10+ as well as capture HDR10+ content with camera then share through YouTube. Viewers are also able to enjoy HDR10+ video across a range of compatible mobile devices and TVs.

Support of HDR10+ also includes AV Receivers to enhance the home theater viewing environment from brands such as Onkyo and Pioneer. “We welcome that the HDR10+ feature is expanded to support AV Receiver.” said Kenji Miyagi, President of Onkyo & Pioneer. “We plan to support HDR10+ on our future products, which we believe helps consumers enjoy a premium experience.”

The HDR10+ Logo and Certification program has expanded support for even more next generation technologies. Announced at IFA, 8K display certification is now available for HDR10+, which brings the technology to even greater display resolutions and includes high-bandwidth HDMI 2.1. In addition, the HDR10+ specification has added DisplayPort connectivity.

Finally, The Alliance for Open Media has published an Implementation Note for HDR10+ support with the AV1 encoding standard. Demonstrations of 8K AV1 HDR10+ content are available at Samsung booth 15006 at CES 2020.

Companies can learn more about the HDR10+ license and logo program, including whitepaper, final specifications and adopter agreements at http://www.hdr10plus.org.

About HDR10+ Technologies, LLC

HDR10+ Technologies, LLC is the company founded by Twentieth Century Fox HDR10+, LLC, Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd and providing the license of its HDR10+ specifications to source provider, display manufacturer, SoC vendor, content company and tool vendor. To learn more about the HDR10+ Technologies, LLC, please visit: www.hdr10plus.org/

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film. TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions as well as all third party distribution partners on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, Digital and VOD (video-on-demand). Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets and digital stores throughout the world.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies and solutions for customers in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B businesses. The company, which celebrated its 100^th anniversary in 2018, has expanded globally and now operates 582 subsidiaries and 87 associated companies worldwide, recording consolidated net sales of 8.003 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2019. Committed to pursuing new value through innovation across divisional lines, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for its customers. To learn more about Panasonic: http://www.panasonic.com/global.

In the two years that have passed since its introduction, HDR10+ has not only been revolutionizing the home entertainment market but has also debuted on a variety of other devices, including smartphones.  Bill Mandel, Vice President of Samsung Research America’s Digital Media Solutions Lab, sat down with Samsung Newsroom to provide an update on how far HDR10+ has come since 2017.

Building a HDR10+ Ecosystem

The biggest innovation for HDR10+ since its introduction in 2017 has been the expansion of the types of devices that can support the revolutionary picture technology, as well as the number of partners that have adopted it.

Over the past year, the number of HDR10+ certification program adopters has tripled, including many TV makers and various ultra-high-definition (UHD) device and System on Chip (SoC) makers. As Mandel affirms, the technology has become crucial to providing the best possible big screen television experience. “The additional picture information that comes with HDR10+ enables the TV processor to best recreate the color tones, brightness and contrast details with the highest precision and respect for the creative intent,” he notes. “Every scene and frame of a viewer’s content is delivered to the highest possible quality on larger screens thanks to HDR10+ and QLED TV processors.”

Samsung’s US-based Digital Media Solutions Lab are constantly aware that, just as the number of HDR10+-certified devices is constantly growing, so is the amount of content available. “We develop technologies like HDR10+ to be stable over a long time so that we can ensure we offer consistency across all available picture qualities as well as synergy between content producers and the viewing ecosystem,” explains Mandel of their development process, “and we work to provide a roadmap to enable the industry to develop and grow with these and other new video tools and enhancements.”

Providing High Picture Quality Across the Board

Back in 2017, Samsung partnered with 20^th Century Fox and Panasonic to create a logo and certification program that allows displays to be certified for having HDR10+ implementation. Since then, many more displays and much more content have been developed to support HDR10+ by a wide range of partners and collaborators who see the benefits this picture technology has to offer viewing quality.

“Device adopters see the picture quality benefit to HDR with HDR10+, service providers are finding that they can easily update their existing HDR services, and content providers are finding they can achieve greater consistency of quality across a wider variety of televisions,” comments Mandel on the path HDR10+ has forged in the industry. “Recently, at the Samsung Developer Conference in San Jose, we showcased samples of HDR10+ across a variety of devices including mobile, tablets and TVs to many interested developers.”

Looking to the future, Mandel notes that HDR10+ is set to revolutionize not only TV viewing experiences for users, but potentially also cinematic experiences. “Starting with HDR10+ technologies, we are currently working to understand the needs of filmmakers, post-production facilities and studios in order to help post-production workflows and future generations of displays provide even more capabilities and options to consumers and the media industry.”

The Most Vivid Viewing Experience Yet

What sets HDR10+ apart is that it has been designed to reproduce images faithfully by taking advantage of the brightness, darkness and contrast elements of content paired with the performance range of a viewer’s television. Thanks to its advanced tone mapping technology, HDR10+ is able to better reproduce HDR content with the appearance as intended by the creator. “Not only can users enjoy this quality on HDR10+-certified devices, but HDR10+ technology can enable any TV, even with differing sets of performance characteristics, to provide an immersive HDR content experience that fully showcases the care creatives put into their HDR source masters,” explains Mandel.

Mandel recommends dimming the lights in your home when watching HDR10+ content to make the most of the experience. “HDR10+ works with all the picture modes available on Samsung TVs,” adds Mandel, “and our ‘Movie’ picture mode has been optimized by the picture quality engineering team to deliver colors and cinematic texture as envisaged by the original content creators.” Mandel encourages consumers to look for HDR10+ support when considering their next device, “so that they can be sure they are getting the best HDR viewing opportunity possible.”

HDR10+, along with 8K resolution, stands at the forefront of display technology innovation. “Samsung is committed to continuously expanding the capabilities offered by TV screens,” affirms Mandel. “Through industry collaboration with technology initiatives such as HDR10+ and partners throughout the media ecosystem, we are continuously striving to deliver the best possible viewing experience to consumers now as well as in the future.”

The smartphone revolution transformed the way we see the world: offering access to communication, information and entertainment – all in the palm of our hands. At the center of this revolution lies the smartphone’s display.

From watching the latest blockbuster to snapping breathtaking pictures, the highest levels of brightness, color accuracy and contrast are crucial to delivering the best possible color expression and the optimal mobile experience. The Galaxy S10’s striking colors and beautiful display have garnered considerable media attention, and the device has been designated DisplayMate’s highest-ever “Excellent A+” grade. This outstanding visual experience begins with the Dynamic AMOLED display.

Brilliant (1200-nit) Brightness

No matter where you are, you can enjoy a clear and bright viewing experience with the Galaxy S10 line. The Dynamic AMOLED display ensures that you can check your messages or easily search for restaurant recommendations without having to find a shaded spot when you’re outside and on the go.

When it comes to displays, brightness is measured in terms of luminance – the amount of light per square unit that the display emits or reflects. With a peak luminance of 1200 nits (40 percent greater than the Galaxy S7), the Galaxy S10’s display allows users to enjoy bright, clear images even under direct sunlight, without having to shade the screen with their hand or turn their back to the sun.

The Galaxy S10 is the world’s first mobile display to support HDR10+¹ which optimizes content’s brightness levels to offer users truly immersive viewing experiences. The display is backed by the official HDR10+ logo certification, which was created after several months of discussion with related organizations and companies to expand the HDR10+ certification standard – a standard that had previously only applied to TVs – to mobile devices.

Utilizing its HDR10+ Dynamic Tone Mapping feature, the Galaxy S10 ensures that content like films and shows are depicted precisely as their creators intended. This allows the display to adjust brightness to every single scene, creating better shadow detail, and making light scenes lighter and dark scenes darker.

The Galaxy S10 opens the door for users to enjoy an ever-growing collection of HDR10+ mobile content. This includes the rich library of HDR10+ content that’s accessible via Amazon Prime – the collection which was previously only available on HDR10+-compatible TVs. The Galaxy S10’s camera also allows users to record their own HDR10+-quality content with true-to-life colors and brightness.

Ever-So-Accurate Colors (0.4 JNCD)

Years of innovation in display technology have led to new heights of color expression for smartphone displays.

This is especially noticeable when viewing photos. Have you ever received photos from your friends whose colors looked washed out when viewed on your smartphone’s screen? A lack of color reproduction could be to blame. When it comes to color reproduction, it doesn’t matter how well a photo is shot, nor how high-quality the camera may be. Rather, it all depends on the color reproduction capacity of the display.

Like Samsung’s QLED TVs, the Galaxy S10’s display has been certified by Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker (VDE) to produce 100 percent color volume in the DCI-P3 color range. This means that just like Samsung’s latest TVs, the Galaxy S10 can be counted upon to deliver a viewing experience that’s second to none. While previous Galaxy devices’ AMOLED displays have supported a wide range of colors, the Galaxy S10’s display takes color reproduction to the next level, producing true-to-life colors at the highest brightness levels.

The Dynamic AMOLED display received a score of 0.4 from DisplayMate for their evaluation of its Just Noticeable Color Difference (JNCD)². This stunning level of color reproduction makes watching a movie or show on the Dynamic AMOLED display a cinematic experience. It also helps ensure that when shopping for clothes or other products online, the colors of the items that you see on your screen will closely match the colors of those items in real life.

A World-Class (2,000,000:1) Contrast Ratio

When watching a movie or playing video games, the deeper the contrast, the more immersive the visual experience. In fact, the ability to make out shadowy figures in the dark can mean the difference between life and death when you’re playing a first-person shooter game.

The Galaxy S10 line takes gaming and watching videos to the next level through the combination of an industry-best, VDE-certified 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. The former opens the door for even more distinctive and accurate color gradation³, while the latter enables the display to produce exceptional detail and deeper contrast.

When gaming, greater contrast makes it that much easier to navigate dark settings and spot items and lurking enemies. When watching dark scenes in a film like the latest space-set thriller, the enhanced contrast allows even the most subtle of details to shine through.

“We innovate with displays to make the mobile experience more enjoyable and immersive,” said Kee-Hyon Park, adisplay R&D engineer in Samsung Electronics’ Mobile Communications Division. “That’s why we’ve enhanced every aspect of the Dynamic AMOLED display: to add brilliant, high-quality visuals to more aspects of daily life.”

¹ HDR10+ is a next-generation open standard for high dynamic range (HDR) video. The HDR10+ Logo License Program is the product of a joint venture established by Samsung Electronics, 20th Century Fox and Panasonic Corporation. HDR10+ logo certifications are evaluated by VTM Group, a certification/logo management services company based in the U.S.

² The Just Noticeable Color Difference (JNCD) measurement evaluates color accuracy based on the bare minimum color difference that the human eye can perceive. The closer a display’s JNCD score is to zero, the more accurate its colors are.

³ Accurate low-gradation color expression technology is not included in the Galaxy S10e.

* Images and videos included in this article have been simulated for illustrative purposes.

An all-in-one, cross-device video creation and publishing solution, Premiere Rush features an intuitive interface that simplifies video editing into just a few easy steps. Premiere Rush provides content creators with all the tools they need to easily craft professional-grade video content.

As a result of Samsung’s partnership with Adobe, Premiere Rush for Samsung is fully optimized for Galaxy smartphones¹.

Professional Videos, On Your Terms

Premiere Rush harnesses the powerful capabilities of Premiere Pro, optimized for mobile devices. With premium features such as customizable Motion Graphics templates, AI-powered audio clean up, graphics creation and audio mixing, Premiere Rush allows users to cut and edit professional-grade videos and vlogs with ease.

Users can capture high-quality videos directly inside the app and begin editing them immediately by dragging and dropping clips on the multitrack timeline. They also have the ability to freely adjust audio, color saturation, title placement, transitions, voiceovers and more, all from the main interface. Furthermore, users can access built-in, fully customizable animated title templates right from within the app itself. And with easy resizing options, a video can be proportioned for whichever social destination the user desires. All videos and edits are automatically synced to the cloud, so users can work on their videos anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Premiere Rush for Samsung

Premiere Rush for Samsung comes with a full suite of features specially optimized for Samsung devices¹. Special features include GPU optimization for improved editing performance, meaning that exporting videos on the Galaxy S10 is now 70% faster than on previous devices², as well as HDR10+ support and Samsung DeX support to allow users to extend and optimize their workspace options.

Galaxy users who become monthly Premiere Rush subscribers will receive unlimited video exports, 100GB of cloud storage, and a 20% discount for one year³, taking the subscription price down to 7.99 USD a month.

A free starter trial version is also available, giving Galaxy users access to all Premiere Rush features, the use of desktop and mobile apps, 2GB of cloud storage, the ability to create an unlimited number of projects and export up to three projects.

Adobe Premiere Rush for Samsung is available on the Galaxy Store and will be expanded to more Galaxy devices in the near future.

The Galaxy S10 line builds on Samsung’s camera leadership – which includes the company’s game-changing Super Speed Dual Pixel and Dual Aperture technologies – by introducing a slew of exciting enhancements and even more advanced intelligence. Together, these innovations offer users all the tools they need to take truly epic shots and videos.

See More, Snap More

Each Galaxy S10 is like a professional-grade camera that fits in your pocket. The devices’ easy-to-use cameras were designed to allow you to capture any shot and angle. So no matter what you’re shooting, you’ll always have the right lens for the job.

At 123-degrees, the rear camera’s new 16MP Ultra Wide lens features a field of view that’s similar to the human eye. It covers approximately 4.3 times more area¹ than a 77-degree Wide-angle lens, and allows you to capture the world as you see it. Perfect for taking epic landscape shots, big panoramas (both horizontally and vertically), or simply fitting the entire family into a photo, the Ultra Wide lens ensures that you’re always able to capture the full scene.

Pictures taken with Galaxy S10’s Wide-angle (left) and Ultra Wide lens

Each Galaxy S10’s rear camera setup also includes a 12MP Wide-angle, Dual Aperture, Super Speed Dual Pixel lens. It combines an f/1.5-aperture lens with an f/2.4, and automatically adjusts to light just like our eyes to help users snap professional-looking photos, day or night. The Galaxy S10 and S10+’s triple rear camera setup also includes a 12MP Telephoto (zoom) lens. For those times when you need to get a little closer to your subject, the Telephoto lens provides two times optical zoom and ten times digital zoom.

Each Galaxy S10 comes equipped with a 10MP UHD Dual Pixel front-facing camera that’s perfect for taking high-quality selfies. The Galaxy S10+’s dual front camera setup offers improved megapixels and super-fast autofocus,²and includes an RGB depth lens for enhanced quality of bokeh effects.

A Smarter Way to Shoot

The Galaxy S10’s hardware is complemented by a next-generation Neural Processing Unit (NPU) – a layer of intelligence for all your photos – that streamlines image processing and makes already smart features better.

The addition of the advanced NPU makes the camera’s Scene Optimizer function that much more powerful. Now, Scene Optimizer is capable of analyzing even more complex scenes, and can simultaneously process more image recognition data than before. The camera recognizes up to 30 different types of scenes in all (up from 20 with the Galaxy Note9), including “Face,” “Baby,” “Dog,” “Vehicles,” and more. The function will also automatically optimize the color, saturation, white balance and contrast in order to ensure that the image you see on your screen appears as true to life as possible.

Pictures (right) taken with Scene Optimizer

When the camera recognizes specific scenes, it will also suggest other ways to potentially improve your photo. For example, if you’re taking a picture of a sunrise, the camera will automatically ask you if you’d like to switch to the Ultra Wide lens to ensure that you capture the scene in all its glory. If you’re taking a picture in extreme low-light conditions, it will propose that you take a Bright Night Shot for a professional-quality picture.

The camera also offers users instant, automatic recommendations on how to best frame their photo through its Shot Suggestion feature. Utilizing a database of over 100 million pictures, Shot Suggestion’s composition guide offers helpful tips to help you improve your photo’s proportions, positioning and overall composition.

The camera’s upgraded Live Focus mode allows you to customize your photos with artistic effects. The Galaxy S10+ utilizes its dual front cameras to support the feature, which includes options to add new spin bokeh, zoom bokeh, and color point effects, while the Galaxy S10 and S10e’s front-facing camera utilizes the NPU’s intelligence.

(From left) Live Focus’s new spin bokeh, zoom bokeh and color point effects

Silky Smooth Videos

Recorded videos are so much smoother with the Galaxy S10, thanks to groundbreaking innovations that ensure that users’ footage looks fantastic.

The camera’s Super Steady video-recording feature is the first of its kind on a smartphone, and offers users up to three times better video stabilization than conventional technologies. Powered by anti-shake stabilization technology (VDIS), Super Steady evens out shaky footage, allowing you to record fluid video during even your most active moments. So whether you’re dancing at a concert or recording a bumpy bike ride, with the Galaxy S10, the content you capture will be nice and steady.

Both the front and rear cameras are capable of recording pro-grade UHD footage, which allows users to step up their social game with true-to-life video quality. And in another smartphone first, the rear camera offers users the ability to take their recordings to the next level by capturing them in stunning HDR10+.

Utilizing dynamic tone mapping technology that provides 2.1 times broader color range than SDR, the Galaxy S10 allows you to take videos that are brighter and more dynamic than those taken with other smartphone cameras. That’s because the camera uses tone mapping techniques to go frame-by-frame and optimize the color for every scene.

A New AR Emoji Experience

Samsung’s latest flagships offer users a brand new AR Emoji experience, highlighted by a revamped design, greater customization options, and the ability to track not just your face but also your eyes, tongue and body movements, including your arms and legs.

AR Emoji’s new Mask Mode offers a fun way to touch up a less-than-stellar photo. Not satisfied with the expression you made in your last shot? Simply choose an AR Emoji that nails the emotion you want to express, and place its face over yours.

Users can also customize their AR Emojis like never before. In addition to choosing from the dozens of expressive stickers that are created for each AR Emoji, you can create your very own stickers, featuring unique backgrounds, expressions and other personal touches. Users who download AR World from the Galaxy Store app will also be able to access tons of new hairstyles, outfits and accessories that’ll make their AR Emoji even more unique.

Samsung’s Most Epic Cameras Yet

In addition to placing more fun and convenient features at users’ fingertips, the Galaxy S10 line’s powerful cameras allow you to capture moments in more detail – and with more lenses – than ever before.

The innovative camera allows the device to accurately capture depth by measuring the length of time it takes for an infrared light signal to bounce off the photograph’s subject. The camera uses the resulting depth information to improve the quality of portrait-style images, and to power exciting new features like Video Live focus and Quick Measure. The former allows you to apply cinema-quality bokeh effects to recorded videos, while the latter enables you to use your phone to instantly measure distance, area or volume.

¹ At a distance of approximately one meter.

² Super-fast autofocus is included in the front cameras of the Galaxy S10e, S10, S10+ and S10 5G, as well as in the rear cameras of the Galaxy S10, S10+ and S10 5G.

Put simply, the Galaxy S10 features the most beautiful display that the Galaxy family has ever seen. If you thought you’d seen immersive before, you haven’t seen anything yet.

O So Beautiful

The Galaxy S10 introduces Samsung’s new, 19:9 Infinity-O Display, which maximizes screen space to offer users more room to do more, more comfortably. Bezels have been reduced to create more space for what matters most, like watching movies, reading books, and playing games. In fact, compared to the Galaxy S9, the ultra-slim top bezel has been decreased by more than three times.¹

To free up even more pixels for users’ content, the Galaxy S10 features an in-display camera design that packs an array of sensors and camera technologies into a small space. Samsung used a proprietary laser cutting technology to carve a tiny hole in the display – while minimizing damage to the surrounding pixels – that would enable users to enjoy all the essential camera and sensor technologies without losing any screen.

Perfecting this aspect of the design enabled Samsung to craft a revolutionary display that covers the entire front of the phone and makes everything from watching a movie to playing games that much more immersive and enjoyable.

In addition, users can trust that whatever activity they’re engaged in, thanks to its use of Gorilla Glass 6, which is twice as durable as Gorilla Glass 5, the Galaxy S10 is built to last.²

Cinema Screen

The Galaxy S10’s new Dynamic AMOLED display fosters truly cinematic viewing experiences. Featuring a peak luminance of 1200 nits, the display is capable of producing over 16 million colors (36 percent better color range than SDR), with 100 percent mobile color volume in the DCI-P3 color range.

When tested by the experts at DisplayMate, the Dynamic AMOLED display received a 0.4 Just Noticeable Color Difference (JNCD) score. An improvement on the Galaxy S9’s 0.7 JNCD rating, this score confirms the Galaxy S10’s exceptionally accurate color reproduction. In other words, the colors you see on Samsung’s new smartphones are a near-perfect match to colors in real life.

The company’s latest groundbreaking display is also the first smartphone display in the world to support HDR10+: a next-generation open standard for high dynamic range (HDR) video. HDR10+ support effectively delivers cinema-quality visuals to users’ pockets by enabling compatible content to be depicted precisely as the creators intended. This means that when streaming a favorite film, for instance, colors are more accurate, and the viewing experience is more immersive.

The display utilizes dynamic tone mapping technology to optimize colors from scene to scene, and to produce better contrast between light and dark scenes. It also optimizes brightness levels so that even the smallest details look beautiful, and produces true black colors³ for better shadow detail, even in low-light conditions.

The Galaxy S10’s Dynamic AMOLED display utilizes dynamic tone mapping to produce a brilliant, realistic picture

The Galaxy S10’s bright, brilliant screen ensures that colors are crisp even under harsh sunlight. So when you’re out and about or lounging by the pool, the sun won’t stop you from catching up on a favorite show, or checking out that video clip your friend just sent.

Beefed-Up Biometric Security

Embedded beneath the Dynamic AMOLED display is Samsung’s new, in-display Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner,⁴which offers vault-like security to keep your device safe.

The scanner works by emitting ultrasonic waves that map the unique pattern of your fingerprint by sensing the tiny air gaps between your finger and the screen. That wave data is then sent back to the scanner and analyzed by the phone’s main chipset in order to determine whether it’s a match.

It works in the blink of an eye, and features 3D anti-spoofing technology that applies a machine learning-based algorithm to the on-screen fingerprint to offer a high level of security. This ensures that your phone will only open once it’s registered your physical fingerprint, and not an image of it. Its security is backed by the world’s first FIDO Alliance Biometric Component certification, and it’s been tested to work in the most challenging of conditions, including in sub-zero temperatures and under bright sunlight.

Easy on the Eyes

Comfort is key when it comes to the Galaxy S10, which is why Samsung optimized its newest flagships with innovations that make these beautiful devices even easier on the eyes.

If you regularly check your phone before going to bed, you’re likely familiar with blue light emissions, which studies indicate can affect your sleep. The Dynamic AMOLED display has been certified by the experts at TÜV Rheinland to reduce blue light by a full 42 percent,⁵ which can help users protect their eyes. Best of all, in addition to making it easier for users to get a good night’s rest, the smartphones’ blue light-reducing technology doesn’t require filters, and won’t compromise the display’s picture quality.

To offer users greater comfort and convenience, each Galaxy S10 also features a comfortable, lightweight design, as well as Samsung’s revolutionary One UI. The latter features a clean, intuitive interface that reduces clutter to help users stay focused, and places important information at the bottom of the display to enable them to comfortably manage their device with one hand. It also includes a built-in Night Mode that optimizes the display for nighttime viewing, and allows users to seamlessly transition to darker environments.

¹ Figure describes the Galaxy S10

² The Galaxy S10e’s display features Gorilla Glass 5.

³ Accurate low-gradation color expression technology is not included in the Galaxy S10e.

⁴ The Galaxy S10e features a Capacitive Fingerprint Scanner that’s mounted on the side of the device.

⁵ Compared to the Galaxy S9.