Using some of Samsung Electronics’ most innovative devices, Samsung Global Newsroom followed the everyday lives of the twelve giraffes that live in Everland, from the story of the world record-breaking head of the giraffe family to the surprisingly belligerent nature of giraffes, and finally their charming yet subtle characteristics. Read on and take a look at the videos below to learn more about these gentle yet surprising creatures, and see if you can work out how the Galaxy S21 Ultra and The Sero TV made their way into the footage as you do.

The Most Famous Giraffe in South Korea

Giraffe matriarch Jang-Soon is living the life of a superstar who cannot escape the spotlight. Since making it into the Guinness Book of World Records for a special reason and becoming the most prominent giraffe in Everland, Jang-Soon’s conjugal harmony, silver wedding and other events have been reported on the news. The next giraffe to likely continue Jang-Soon’s legacy in the giraffe family has also come to the forefront. Who is this next contender for the leader of the superstar Everland giraffe family? Let’s find out by following a day in the life of Jang-Soon and her family.

Slow Yet Stealthy: the Hidden Abilities of Giraffes

“If you encounter a giraffe in the wild, don’t look back and run for your lives!” noted Jun-Yeong Park, Everland zookeeper who has been working with Lost Valley’s giraffe family for over 10 years. In fact, the giraffe is one of the top 10 strongest fighters among African land animals. ‘Cheong-Ryong’, the heaviest and strongest member of the giraffe family of twelve, in fact weighs 1.5 tons. If a giraffe harnesses its heavy body and starts kicking with full strength to defend itself, it is enough to break the skull or spine of a lion into pieces.

What’s more, their big eyes, each of which is the size of a tennis ball, grants them excellent eyesight and a visibility range of 4 to 7km, meaning that giraffes are very good at escaping from their enemies. Let’s learn more about some of the surprising physical characteristics of giraffes that are disguised behind their beatific eyes and relaxed gait.

The Longer the Neck, the Higher the Blood Pressure

One of a giraffe’s most characteristic features is its long neck, which is hard to see in one go even if you tilt your head as far as you can. Male giraffes engage in fights using their necks, known as ‘necking’, in order to compete for females, meaning that it is more advantageous to have a longer neck as it increases a fighter’s overall centrifugal force.

That said, as giraffes have to pump blood all the way to the top of their heads which sit 3m above their hearts, giraffes inevitably have high blood pressure, with their normal blood pressure being 270/180 mmHg. The blood pressure of the giraffe is two times that of the human, which is 120/80 mmHg, but nevertheless, giraffes manage to eat, drink, sleep and play with ease. So what is their secret?

Top Tips for Filming Giraffes

1) Harness Single Take for Those Funny Moments Featuring a Precocious Giraffe

When paying a visit to the zoo, it is difficult to predict when and where a giraffe might turn its head directly toward you for a picture, and you might end up with dozens of shaky or blurry photos taken in a failed attempt to capture that fleeting moment. This is when Single Take on the Galaxy S21 comes in handy. By filming up to fifteen seconds, you can then enjoy various media, including photos, videos, GIFs and hyperlapses, with just one shot. Single Take’s AI will also recommend you the best cuts, making it easy for you to capture and share the perfect giraffe moment.

2) Record 8k Videos on the Galaxy S21 for Those Subtle Yet Detailed Giraffe Features

Just as every person has a different appearance, every giraffe has a different pattern on its body. With the Galaxy S21 Ultra, you can clearly observe even the finest details, such as the unique patterns on a giraffe, as the device comes with a 108-megapixel camera. The resolution of videos can also be adjusted to up to 8K, which enables you to see even the most delicate textures of a giraffe’s fur. Another good way of observing a giraffe on the Galaxy S21 Ultra is using its Super Slow Mo mode when you witness a special sight, such as a giraffe lowering its head for drinking water or curling up its long neck to sleep.

3) Viewing a Giraffe from Head to Toe in One Go? Try The Sero

The giraffe is the tallest animal in the animal kingdom, boasting an average height of around 4.8 to 5.5m including its horns; even new-born calves can be as tall as 180cm. With its portrait mode that allows the user to rotate the landscape display to a vertical orientation, The Sero allows you to enjoy all your favorite content in portrait mode – just like watching it on your phone, but with the benefits of the big-screen experience. With The Sero, you can enjoy your vertically oriented giraffe videos and pictures in an entirely new way – just as giraffes were meant to be seen.

Giraffes that group with others live longer than less sociable individuals, according to the team of researchers led by Professor Barbara König at University of Zürich. World Giraffe Day was designated to promote collaborative efforts to the end of preventing the extinction of giraffes. After enjoying this dynamic tale of Everland’s giraffe family captured in the Galaxy S21 Ultra and The Sero, let’s be sure to pay more attention to protecting these gentle giants.

¹ One of the twenty-four solar terms, the summer solstice has the longest day and the shortest night of the year.

Packed with Samsung’s best photography and video features, the Galaxy Note20 Ultra’s pro-grade camera is perfect for capturing stunning shots of your furry friends. Galaxy user Jiyoon Kim has been using the device to record life with her two dogs, Miso and Ara, and sharing tips and memorable moments with viewers on social media. Let’s take a look at how the varied features offered by the Galaxy Note20 Ultra have helped Kim capture Miso and Ara’s most adorable sides.

① Professional-Grade Pet Portraits

Many pet owners like to visit specialty studios to have high-quality photos taken of their four-legged companions. However, it can prove challenging to make your pet look natural and comfortable in an unfamiliar setting. With the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, you can now take high-quality pet portraits and create amazing video recordings of your furry friend from the comfort of your home.

You only need three items to create incredible pet photos – a suitable backdrop, a tripod, and your Galaxy Note20 Ultra. A conveniently placed patch of colored wallpaper at home works great as a backdrop. Alternatively, you can purchase some colored paper in your preferred tone and carefully fasten it to your wall to establish your backdrop. Another trick is to add cute costumes and props and shoot from a range of angles to give variety and character to your pet portraits.

Miso’s ears perk up when he’s happy. He loves photo time.

Ara makes people smile – an authentic, happy aura is captured when shooting in a familiar space

The Galaxy Note20 Ultra comes with a 108-million-pixel, ultra-high-resolution camera. It can capture amazing details and textures, such as patterns in the fur or the color of the eyes.

“You can take great pet portrait photos with your dog looking towards the camera,” says Kim. “An important tip for taking this kind of picture is to grab your pet’s attention with fun toys while using your S Pen as a remote controller to take the photo. These kinds of tricks can help you take professional-quality pictures and really have a lot of fun with your shoot. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra can take pictures with very high resolution, which means you can get them developed and hang them up at home.”

The perfect puppy portrait!

Take pet portraits with the Galaxy Note20 Ultra and hang them up at home.

② Record Special Moments in 8K

Filming a video is the best way to record your pets’ unique characteristics. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra enables you to capture memorable moments with your pets in 8K UHD video. Just take a look at this adorable video of Miso and Ara jumping over rows of toilet paper and weaving between paper cups.

It’s easy to miss photo opportunities when you’re busy having fun with your pets. With the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, you can easily turn your favorite scenes from a video clip into high-resolution photos. Screenshots captured with the device’s 8K video function are vivid and extremely detailed, which means you can isolate memorable images from longer videos.

Ara pokes her face through a hole in the tower of toilet paper. Cropping screenshots brings vivid image quality to life.

Getting the timing just right can be challenging. With high-resolution screenshots, you can easily isolate your favorite images from longer videos.

“I used to film memorable moments when I was too busy to take individual photos. But it was hard getting high-resolution screenshots from these videos,” says Kim. “With the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, I can create high-resolution screenshots from the 8K videos. The picture quality of these shots is comparable to still photos. This feature lets me have fun with my dogs while capturing everything on camera.”

③ Transform Ordinary Scenes Into Epic Moments

Some moments with your pets can only be captured properly when they are slowed down. The Galaxy Note20 Ultra’s Super Slow-mo feature makes it possible for you to transform fleeting scenes into epic videos. With this feature, you can catch every detail of your pets splashing around in water or can even turn ordinary scenes, like taking a bath or blow drying hair, into fun and memorable experiences.

You can also try inserting a Super Slow-mo clip into one of your 8K videos to make your pet videos stand out even more.

“I love this clip of Miso’s hair blowing in the wind. I just want to watch it over and over again,” says Kim. “The quality of the video is amazing and I can just post it on my pet’s social media account without much editing.”

④ Capture Everything All at Once  

For those who love recording their pets but find themselves missing the mark when capturing just the right moments, the Galaxy Note20 Ultra has a solution in the form of the AI-powered Single Take feature. Single Take provides you with a wide range of photo, video, and even ‘meme’able mode results based on just one shot. Once you have selected the mode and captured a short clip, Single Take harnesses AI to analyze the background and subject in order to recommend the best cuts of your picture or video, removing the need for manual scrolling of the different results.

 

Single Take captures Ara’s various sides, providing a range of picture options. The ‘best cut’ is enlarged at the top of the screen or highlighted with a crown

 

Features like Single Take are particularly useful for those who are video production beginners. Single Take also provides results that apply background music and immersive video effects for a professional feel. In a video of Ara running and striking a pose, for instance, the application of a lively melody in addition to a time-lapse effect changes the feel of the clip completely. The combination of all these effects can enhance the experience of revisiting some of your favorite moments.

 

 

What’s more, users of the Galaxy Note20 Ultra can also harness various features and lenses including ultra-wide, Live Focus, and time lapse while filming. From there, they can pick and choose their preferred outcomes from among a broad range of results. Those who prefer still cuts can choose individual images, while those who like watching short clips of cute-looking dogs can apply other, more meme-worthy effects. “As a person who enjoys filming, I was fascinated by the AI-powered Single Take feature,” said Kim. “I find myself using the feature regularly as it enables me to capture my dogs from a range of different perspectives.”

 

An image captured through Single Take, which delivers steady, well-structured images

 

Pets bring a lot of joy to our lives and the Galaxy Note20 Ultra is the perfect companion for recording all the amazing moments you spend with them.

 

“I have had my dogs since they were puppies. I often think it’s a shame that I wasn’t able to take more photos and videos of them growing up,” says Kim. “With the Galaxy Note20 Ultra, I can now capture every moment I spend with Miso and Ara.”

Filled with sandy beaches, blossoming flowers, and lazy days by the pool, it is no wonder that summer is peak picture-taking season.  The longer days marked by early sunrises and late sunsets mean you’ve got even more daylight to work with than any other time of year.  But although popular summer vacation destinations are ripe with creative possibilities, they’re also bursting with overdone clichés. Thankfully, the Galaxy S10 is here to help.

Featuring triple rear cameras with Telephoto, Wide, and Ultra Wide lenses, and a variety of camera modes to support your creativity, such as Super Slow-mo and Live Focus, the Galaxy S10 is the perfect device for capturing summer memories. And what better way to spend the dog days of summer than with a furry companion? We teamed the Galaxy S10 up with an adorable Corgi to show you tips and tricks for taking summer photos that stand out.

1. Take Beach Portraits with Live Focus

In addition to Background Blur, new Live Focus modes give users the power to add an artistic touch to their photos. Starting from the top left: Color Point, Background Blur, Spin, Zoom

Nothing captures a summer day at the beach quite like the unbridled joy of a canine smile – and nothing captures those smiles quite like the Galaxy S10’s Live Focus feature. Originally designed to give you the power to add background blur to your portraits, the Galaxy S10 offers a new selection of blur effects, allowing you to create a variety of artistic photos.

The new effects include zoom, spin, blur and color point. The latter option makes your subject stand out by keeping them in full color while painting the rest of the photo in black and white. When shooting in Live Focus mode, the new background options, as well as a slider that allows you to adjust the intensity of the effect you want to apply, appear just above the shutter button.

You can preview your selections in real-time, but if you’re still not happy after you take the shot don’t worry – you can choose a new effect and make adjustments in the Gallery app even after you’ve taken the picture.

2. Fit the Whole Shoreline in with the Ultra Wide Lens

While you’re enjoying a morning walk down the beach with your pup, make sure you spend some time taking in the scenery with the Galaxy S10’s Ultra Wide lens. Whether you’re trying to capture dramatic skies, or expansive shorelines, the 16MP Ultra Wide lens offers a 123-degree field-of-view so you can make your summer photos more interesting. Simply enter the camera app and click on the icon with three trees above the shutter button to use the Ultra Wide lens.

3. Get a Dog’s Perspective with Super Steady

Have you ever wondered what the world looks like from your dog’s point of view? The next time you’re out for a walk in the park, you can capture their perspective with the Galaxy S10’s Super Steady video stabilization, which allows you to record video without any shakiness. Super Steady can be toggled right in the Video menu and, once turned on, allows the Galaxy S10 to optimize your recording, whether you’re bombing downhill on a bike or capturing a booty-shaking corgi on a summer evening walk, so you get fluid, steady action in your videos every time.

4. Capture that Puppy Love in Ultra-High Definition

White, fluffy clouds are rolling through blue skies, a breeze is blowing through the trees and fresh green grass, and your dog just can’t help but thank you for sharing the day with a big goofy smile. Every dog owner knows the happiness those moments can bring and now you can share them with your pup in ultra-high definition with the Galaxy S10’s 10MP, UHD Dual Pixel AF Selfie Camera that delivers true- to-life image quality.

5. Post Your Best Shots Straight to Instagram

Our best memories deserve to be shared, and the easiest way to show your friends and family what you’re up to is by posting straight to Instagram social media with the Galaxy S10’s Instagram mode. You will first have to install the app and set up an Instagram account for the option to appear in the menu above the shutter button in the Samsung Camera app. Once your account is ready, simply select the Instagram mode from the menu, take your photo or video, and you will be taken directly to Instagram where you can share what you captured in your Instagram Stories.

6. Shoot Stunning Sunsets at the Park

One of the best parts of summer is taking in the purple and pink skies of late evening sunsets – but getting crisp shots can be difficult in the fading light. As the above images shot with the 12MP Wide main camera demonstrate, the Galaxy S10 is capable of delivering incredible low-light performance. With an F1.5 aperture and larger 1.4 µm pixels, the camera is able to capture more light so you and your furry friend will be photographed in full detail while you’re catching the last rays of daylight. In addition to the Galaxy S10’s professional low-light performance, it also features a dedicated Night Mode for especially dark conditions to give your night shots a boost.

7.  Slow Down Summer with Super Slow-mo

Summer vacations might be relaxing, but time still moves too fast to capture those precious moments that happen in the blink of an eye – and what could be more precious than a corgi in a floating rubber ducky? The Galaxy S10’s Super Slow-mo is the perfect tool to capture those moments, shooting in 960fps and capable of extending 0.4 seconds of action into a 14.8 second clip. Choose the Super Slow-mo option from the menu above the shutter button in the Samsung Camera app and hit record. After capturing the action, the Galaxy S10 processes it for you and produces a Super Slow-mo video in 720p HD resolution ready for your next social media post.

So, if it’s your first foray into vlogging, the Samsung Newsroom has put together five tips to get started with just your Galaxy S10+.

Even Out Shaky Footage with Super Steady Mode

When starting anything new, you may want to minimize equipment cost and outlay before you’re fully committed to the project or hobby. Vloggers, however, often discover that one piece of equipment is crucial to create smooth videos: a stabilizing gimbal. When you hold a camera in your hands, the slightest shake can be reflected in the footage, resulting in lots of time-consuming cuts and edits before your video is ready to be published.

Super Steady mode on the Galaxy S10+ is able to eliminate the effect of shaky hands by calibrating the video, predicting your movements and calculating the range with the smartphone’s Ultra Wide lens. To switch on Super Steady when shooting a video, just tap the icon in the center at the top of the screen.

Vlogger Tip: For optimal results in Super Steady mode, shoot videos when you’re on-the-go in bright, natural light.

Create Movie-like Moments with Super Slow-mo

Vloggers are constantly mixing up their content and format to attract new audiences and excite existing fans. Often the difference is in the details, transforming the vlog from digital content into artform.

To ensure that you don’t miss any of the action, capture the moment on your Galaxy S10+ in Super Slow-mo. Taking 960 frames per second, Super Slow-mo plays back 0.4 seconds of footage over 14 seconds, creating breathtaking videos that invite viewers to examine every detail, from a droplet of water falling on a petal, to a critical play in a sports game.

Vlogger Tip: Make use of the Galaxy’s S10+’s editing tools by adding background music or looping certain sections of the video to create a GIF file.

Condense Time with Hyperlapse

Whether it’s slowing down or speeding up, a change of pace can add a fresh perspective on an everyday scene.

Hyperlapse provides the perfect segue from one moment of action to another, allowing you to condense the flow of time and fast-forward between scenes without a dramatic cut. What’s more, because the effect can also be added after capturing the original video footage, creators don’t need to be conscious of the camera or alter their actions while they are filming.

Vlogger Tip: Hyperlapse can be used to show the flow of time in a fixed location. Once you open the camera app on your Galaxy S10+, click on the “Settings” icon at the top left of the screen, activate the grid lines to help you find the center of your scene and fix the camera to a tripod.

Get Personal with the UHD Front Camera

While there are many different styles of vlog covering countless different topics, they all offer a personal point of view. When a vlogger talks directly to the camera, they want to ensure that they have the best picture quality possible to capture their moods and reactions.

The Galaxy S10+ is optimized for this first-person perspective, equipped with two front cameras, including a 10MP Selfie Camera. This powerful camera can achieve UHD resolution, picking out the contours and fine details of the face to express every nuance of emotion. When they come to edit their film, cuts between footage captured with the front and rear cameras appear fluid, uninterrupted by differences in quality.

Vlogger Tip: Go hands-free with voice control. Simply open up the front camera, say “Record Video” and you can start shooting right away.

Bring Your Own Mini-me to Life with AR Emoji

Creating animated videos once required specialist know-how and a lot of time, limiting the kind of content that vloggers could produce.

Now, with AR Emoji on the Galaxy S10+, you can create your very own avatar and capture its movements on-camera, crafting an instant digital mini-me for the screen. Upgraded for the S10 line, the new AR Emoji accurately follows the movements of your eyes and your body when filming. If you prefer to stay anonymous, you can also replace your head with your AR Emoji’s cartoon-like face by selecting the “Mask” function.

Vlogger Tip: Use the “Mini motion” function to place your AR Emoji anywhere on the screen, or the “Basic” function for AR Emoji to record your every movement in cartoon form.

The Galaxy Note9 builds on Samsung Electronics’ legacy of innovative camera technologies with an intelligent camera that takes the work out of capturing the perfect photo.

Brand new functions including Scene Optimizer and Flaw Detection utilize artificial intelligence to help users get the most out of the device’s advanced camera. Together, this powerful combination of smarts and specs makes it easier than ever to snap stunning shots.

Optimal Color Every Time

Picture this: When catching a sunset during your vacation, you snap a pic with your phone only to find that the image on the screen hasn’t quite captured the majesty of the moment. The Galaxy Note9’s new Scene Optimizer function makes it easy to photograph breathtaking moments just like this by automatically optimizing camera settings to capture the full beauty of the scene.

Scene Optimizer utilizes deep-learning technology to analyze objects, scenery and time elements in the camera’s frame in order to identify exactly which type of scene you’re about to photograph. The function is currently capable of recognizing 20 types of scenes—including ‘Food’, ‘Flowers’, ‘Indoor scenes’ and ‘Landscapes’— and automatically adjusts the color tone based on how the scene is classified¹.

The function corrects the saturation, white balance, brightness and contrast in order to provide the best possible image. And because it does not require a network connection, it’s always available to help make your photos look great.

Snap Flawless Photos

Even the best photos can be spoiled by a simple blink, a blur, a smudge on the lens, or by harsh, overpowering light behind the picture’s subject. That’s where the Galaxy Note9’s Flaw Detection function comes in. Once a photo has been snapped, the feature automatically scans it for flaws and notifies you if any are found².

The function helps users capture and save more memorable moments by ensuring that the picture they take is the best possible shot. Say you’re enjoying a special evening with friends and decide to immortalize it with a fun photo. Rather than realizing later that your eyes were closed, with Flaw Detection you’ll be immediately informed of any flaws in your photo so you can capture the memory with an additional shot.

Crisp Images In Any Lighting

Whether we’re at a restaurant, a concert, or simply enjoying a balmy evening under the summer sky, we’re constantly snapping photos in low-light environments. That’s why Samsung outfitted the Galaxy Note9’s camera with an array of innovative technologies that allow it to produce stunning shots day or night.

Combining an F2.4 aperture lens with an F1.5, the brightest currently available on a smartphone, the Dual Aperture lens automatically adjusts to light just like the human eye, letting in more light when it’s dark and less when it’s bright to produce images that are crisp and clear.

The Galaxy Note9’s multi-frame processing technology adds further clarity to photos taken under less-than-ideal lighting conditions. This technology, which combines several photos into one to create an optimal image, allows the camera to provide better HDR at night, and enriches the Live Focus feature with improved brightness and noise when taking pictures in low-light environments.

Capture More Moments In Epic Detail

The Galaxy Note9’s camera also includes support for Samsung’s recently introduced Super Slow-mo function, which ramps the camera’s shutter speed up to 960 frames per second to allow users to record spectacular slow-mo videos.

Four times slower than traditional slow-motion video, Super Slow-mo is powered by the camera’s Super Speed Dual Pixel image sensor, which supports much faster image processing thanks in part to its integrated DRAM memory chip. The feature also includes an automatic Motion Detection function that instantly starts recording as soon as it detects movement.

The Galaxy Note9 allows users to transform 0.4 seconds of footage into approximately 12 seconds of Super Slow-mo video when taken in single shot mode³. Once a video is recorded, the feature automatically adds appropriate background music that makes the recorded moment even more epic.

More Customizable AR Emoji

The Galaxy Note9 is absolutely packed with innovations that empower users’ creativity and self-expression, and the camera’s refined AR Emoji feature is one of the most dynamic examples of this.

Capable of mimicking users’ movements in addition to supporting dozens of pre-set expressions, AR Emoji stickers offer a fun way to express yourself and inject personality into messages. The Galaxy Note9 analyzes your distinct facial features to generate a 3D avatar that matches your appearance.

The feature, whose face-tracking function was recently enriched with more landmark detector points, has been enhanced for the Galaxy Note9 with an array of customization options that make it easier for AR Emojis to copy your distinct style. With loads of new outfits and accessories to choose from, as well as the ability to fine-tune details like your hair style, skin tone and facial features, the opportunities for expression are endless.

Galaxy Note9 users will also be able to customize the backgrounds of their stickers with an array of new options, and enjoy access to Samsung and partners like Disney’s ever-growing roster of AR Emojis based on iconic cartoon characters—a roster that’s set to become even more fun and diverse with the feature’s open SDK (software development kit).

¹Accuracy may differ by settings and surrounding conditions.

²Accuracy of Flaw Detection function may differ depending on surrounding conditions or subject. Blink detection works within 1.5 meters and a maximum of 3 people are detectable at the same time. Blur detection feature senses when the camera shakes, and recognizes face blur in the photo.

³Video is initially recorded at 480fps and digitally converted into 960fps footage.

Samsung believes that there’s plenty of beauty to be found in the everyday moments that many of us overlook – both in our lives, and throughout nature. That’s why the company equipped the Galaxy S9 and S9+ with a 960 frames-per-second Super Slow-mo camera: to allow users to record those ‘unseen’ moments in exquisite detail.

Samsung Newsroom recently took the Galaxy S9 on a trip to the zoo to examine how some of the animal kingdom’s most majestic inhabitants enjoy a typical spring day. Read on to find out how Super Slow-mo transformed ordinary zoo sights into extraordinary footage.

A sunny day at Korea’s Everland amusement park proved the perfect setting to capture a series of stunning Super Slow-mo videos.

Samsung Newsroom recently sat down with members of Samsung’s Global Product Planning Group – Nayoung Kim, Taihoon Kim, Joohyun Kim and Jonathan Min – who discussed the process of developing a device that’s more powerful, personal and in tune with how we use our smartphones today.

(From left) Taihoon Kim, Jonathan Min, Nayoung Kim and Joohyun Kim, of Samsung’s Global Product Planning Group, helped shape the Galaxy S9’s design.

Q. What inspired you to develop the Galaxy S9’s ‘visual communication’ features?

Nayoung Kim: Current mobile trends are being dictated by Generation Z, but they are very selective. In our research, we took a close look at how Generation Z are communicating, as well as what kind of apps and functionality they most enjoy. We eventually uncovered an increase in the use of visual forms of communication. For example, members of the social media generation will often use emoticons rather than texts, and they enjoy sharing fun images. So, to cater to this preference, we focused on adding new functionalities to the camera.

Q. Could you elaborate on the camera’s development process?

Nayoung Kim: When designing the camera, our team focused on three key points. It needed to be capable of recording dynamic video – the type of content that the younger generation loves to consume; it needed to be able to capture low-light photos, which should be a fundamental feature of any camera; and it needed to be easy to use and offer fun new features, like AR Emoji.

Taihoon Kim: The product development process for the Galaxy S9 was quite different from that of the previous years, as team members with different expertise strived to discover the visual experiences of everyday life through their own eyes, and how that might translate to camera functionality. These diverse insights enabled us to develop a camera catering to wide needs.

Q. How did you refine the Galaxy S9’s user experience?

Taihoon Kim: We focused on enhancing the End-to-End scenario of the user experience. For the camera, that involved ensuring easy-to-use Super Slow-mo video functionality, with immediately accessible videos that could be directly uploaded to social media through one intuitive process.

You see this sort of seamlessness with AR Emoji as well. Once you scan your face, you’re instantly given the option to customize your 3D avatar to your liking, and presented with 18 shareable GIFs encompassing a wide range of expressions.

Nayoung Kim: We tested the device’s usability extensively, and in various contexts, to ensure the processes were intuitive and organic, and could work across all aspects of daily life. As example, I brought a prototype of the phone with me when I went sledding with my children. The first-hand experience of recording a Super Slow-mo video of my children rocketing down the hill gave birth to the idea of an auto motion-detect function able to capture those sorts of fleeting moments.

Q. Which Galaxy S9 feature has received the biggest response from consumers?

Jonathan Min: We’ve found that users are very interested in the AR Emoji feature, which we first started working on in 2016. People are used to expressing themselves with emojis and stickers, but this feature allows them to create and express themselves through emojis that resemble their own faces, in a way that’s much more personal.

When we started it was new, so everything had to be built from the ground up, and it was difficult to predict consumers’ feedback. It was also our development team’s first time working on something like this, so it took a lot of trial and error to bring the function to life.

Nayoung Kim: Our most important goal is to provide users with new experiences by launching the product, enhancing it based on the market’s reactions, and continuing to develop innovative features. AR Emoji will continue to be enhanced in ways that reflect consumers’ needs.

Q. Do you have a favorite feature?

Jonathan Min: I personally use AR Emoji stickers the most, whenever I message my friends and family.

Taihoon Kim: I like the Super Slow-mo function the most. It’s not only great for capturing dynamic actions, but life’s little moments as well, such as the signature facial expression of your loved ones. And the Galaxy S9’s ability to display Super Slow-mo clips on the lock screen creates a touching way to enjoy videos of them.

Joohyun Kim: We redefined the design of the Infinity Display to make it even more beautiful and to minimize any ‘distracting’ elements. Subtle adjustments, such as ensuring that the iris scanner is hidden, and that the bezel and display are the same color, helped us deliver a display that makes it easy for viewers to immerse themselves in their favorite content.

Q. Going forward, how does Samsung plan to ensure that Galaxy smartphones remain among the most innovative in the market?

Taihoon Kim: It will be important to stay a step ahead in innovative features, as well as time them to the market appropriately to grab consumer attention. Consumers can experience visual communications features directly themselves, without an explanation. We plan to continue exploring dynamic visual features, given their unique appeal to the young generation of consumers, as well as integrate new technologies like AR (augmented reality) and AI (artificial intelligence) into our devices.

Nayoung Kim: The basic features of smartphones have been refined to the point that consumers are largely satisfied. What matters is not how diverse the offered features are, but whether the features offered to deliver a high level of satisfaction. At this point, we need to think about the next phase for smartphones, which will involve delivering innovations that really resonate with the new generation of users.

Joohyun Kim: Smartphones have become essential to daily life. As product planners, it’s our duty to constantly look for ways to improve on ‘basic’ features – those that we use every day – while also identifying brand new functions.

At Galaxy Unpacked 2018, Samsung Newsroom caught up with Gavin and Dan to hear their thoughts on the device’s 960 fps (frames per second) slow-motion capture capability, and to discuss ways to utilize the Super Slow-mo feature to make everyday moments epic.

Q. How did you first get into making slow-mo videos?

Gavin: I used to be a high-speed camera operator for the British film industry, so I was able to play around with these cameras in our off time. Eventually, I got Dan involved because Dan, to me, was the best person I knew to get banter on camera, and we started a YouTube channel with these incredible cameras that not many people had access to at the time.

Dan: I would say that cameras like these, at the time, were very uncommon. There were only a couple in the country. We were so young, and Gavin was so capable of using [the cameras] because of his job, so it was a cool opportunity that led us to what we do.

Q. What makes a great slow-mo video?

Dan: Sometimes our videos are very scientific, and we’ll discover something that might not have been seen before. Sometimes they’re just fun stunts. For instance, banging paint on a drum. It’s not scientific, it just looks cool for that split second – one that you don’t get to see in real life, but that you can see in slow motion.

Gavin: Yeah, we’re lucky enough to be able to do such a wide variety of subjects. There’s no strict rule to our channel besides shooting stuff in slow motion, so we can choose what we want.

Q. What do you think has made your creations resonate so well with viewers?

Gavin: We’re showing the audience something that they’ve seen hundreds of times, something that they can relate to, but at a much, much slower pace. There’s a lot of beauty in the world, even in normal, everyday subjects when they’re slowed down.

Dan: When we slow everyday things down, we’re showing [the audience] something they haven’t seen before. And we’re not just showing them a video; we’re presenting it and going through the experiment with them – showing them the setup, did it go well or did it not, and anything funny that happened. We try to engage people with that as well, so it appeals to a broad audience. So it’s not just footage – it’s more engaging.

Q. What are some good examples of moments in daily life that would look great captured in slow motion with the Galaxy S9?

Gavin: I feel like even before you go to work every day, there are so many moments full of emotion. For instance, if you look at a shower, you see droplets of water turn into a stream and into beads of water. Even putting milk into your coffee or watching TV – there are so many aspects of everyday life that you usually ignore that look completely different when slowed down.

Dan: I like that the Super Slow-mo technology is built into the phone, because you could be on a jog in the park or walking your dog and think “I wonder what that looks like in slow motion,” and just whip out your phone and see for yourself. Usually, we have a huge camera that we have to set up and get everything ready for, whereas with the phone, you can just go about your day and capture slow-mo footage without needing to set anything up.

Q. What were your initial impressions of the camera?

Gavin: I particularly like what the Galaxy S9 does with auto triggering, because with high-speed cameras, even ours, we can’t record for very long because it’s taking so many pictures every second that the recording time is very short. It has auto triggering so that you can put a box on the screen and, if something goes through the box, it automatically knows that that’s your slow-motion moment.

That’s very useful, especially considering that human reaction time isn’t actually very good and that 0.2 seconds goes by very fast, so that’s a great feature. We actually did one shot where we put the phone down on a table and it triggered itself when I threw water over Dan.

Dan: Yeah, there was no one touching it, and that’s a first for us. We just set it up, left it and it triggered automatically, which is really cool. It’s difficult to get [that kind of shot] manually when you don’t know what’s going to happen. So say, for instance, you’re waiting for something to burst or something to be hit or explode. If you place the box where the action is going to happen, you don’t need to worry about it, which is really, really, cool. It removes the human error part.

Q. What inspired the Super Slow-mo videos that you created with the Galaxy S9?

Dan: The idea was to show how easy it is to [film Super Slow-mo videos] in everyday situations, so we thought, what’s around the house? We used popcorn in one of the videos and just about anything else that we could use around the house.

Q. Are there any tips that you could offer users to help them get the most out of the Super Slow-mo feature?

Gavin: I think [users] should be very experimental [with the feature], and make sure that you have a lot of light, since you are taking so many pictures every second. There’s not actually a lot of light hitting the sensor for very long, so a bright environment is very good. And get someone to help you as well.

Dan: I would say that obviously, since it’s a phone, there’s no limit to what you can record in slow motion. You can just record whatever you want around the house, wherever you are. But it’s like Gavin said, it’s all about light. The more light you have, the easier it is.

These include features such as Super Slow-mo and Dual Aperture, which allow users to capture amazing moments in impeccable detail, as well as exciting innovations like AR Emoji, which offer users a fun and unique way to express themselves. Let’s explore some of the innovative features that make these cameras such a pleasure to use.

Capture Small Moments in Incredible Detail

Our daily lives are full of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments that, when captured on camera, are breathtaking to behold. By increasing the camera’s shutter speed to a blistering 960 frames per second (fps), the Galaxy S9’s new Super Slow-mo function makes it easy for users to record special moments that pass too quickly to be seen by the naked eye – such as the instant a water balloon bursts, or the moment your child scores a big goal.

In order to incorporate the function, Samsung outfitted the Galaxy S9 with a Super Speed Dual Pixel image sensor that supports faster image processing. Composed of an image sensor, a fast readout circuit, and a smart dedicated DRAM memory chip, this sensor allows Super Slow-mo to record content that’s 32 times slower than normal video, and four times slower than any other slow-motion mobile technology. That means that just 0.2 seconds of normal video can be transformed into approximately 6 seconds of stunning footage.

When activated on the Galaxy S9, the function is not just fast; it’s also smart. To make capturing slow-motion footage even simpler, Samsung enhanced the function with an intelligent feature called Automatic Motion Detection, which allows users to capture any fleeting moment.

This allows users to automatically record moments that could pass them by in the time it would take to manually activate the function. Users can easily adjust the size of the motion-detection area on the camera screen, and have the option to capture either a ‘Single-take’ or ‘Multi-take’ Super Slow-mo video, with the latter allowing them to record up to 20 slow-motion clips.

The camera also makes customizing and sharing Super Slow-mo videos simple. Users have the option to create a GIF of their clip that they may save and share with three playback options: on loop, in reverse, or in swing mode. They can also add a soundtrack to their video, utilizing a song from their library or any of Super Slow-mo’s 35 built-in options, and choose to display their Super Slow-mo clip on Galaxy S9’s home screen or lock screen.

Crisp Images in Low-Light Conditions

The Galaxy S9’s cutting-edge Dual Aperture camera is designed to adapt to various lighting conditions just as the human eye would, automatically letting in more light when it’s dark and less when it’s too bright to ensure that photos are crisp and clear anytime, anywhere.

This level of clarity is possible thanks to Samsung’s pairing of a new F1.5 aperture lens, which is the brightest currently available on a smartphone, with an F2.4 lens.

The lenses automatically adjust their apertures to reduce visual distortion and deliver the best possible picture, and help the camera provide 28 percent better reception to light¹. Users may also adjust the apertures manually by utilizing the camera’s Pro Mode.

The Galaxy S9’s upgraded Multi-Frame Noise Reduction technology enhances low-light image quality even further by capturing and combining 12 pictures in quick succession to eliminate up to 30 percent¹ more noise and create a stunning shot.

Express Yourself with AR Emoji

Expressing yourself with animal emoji and cartoon characters can be fun, but as cute as they may be, they lack your distinct personality. That’s why Samsung developed the Galaxy S9’s AR Emoji feature – to offer users a visual communication tool that allows them to express themselves in a way that’s unique to them.

From a single selfie, the Galaxy S9’s machine-learning algorithm analyzes more than 100 distinct facial features, including your eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks and forehead, and uses that data to generate a personalized 3D avatar, or ‘my emoji,’ that looks just like you. Each is capable of mimicking the user’s own movements, in addition to supporting 18 pre-set expressions at launch, which makes it easy to punctuate any point with a dynamic visual.

Users can choose to create their own avatar, or pick one from a built-in selection of unique characters. Each is fully customizable, so users may edit their avatar’s facial features, hairstyle, accessories (such as glasses) and clothing to their liking. Samsung is also collaborating with various partners to add more fun and iconic characters to the AR Emoji roster very soon.

AR Emoji are compatible with messaging apps that utilizes the Samsung keyboard, and can easily be shared as GIFs or PNG files with anyone, no matter what kind of smartphone they have. To apply an extra layer of personalization to their device, users may also choose to use it as a wallpaper on their lock screen and home screen.

Deeper Bixby Integration²

Samsung’s intelligence platform, Bixby, is integrated into the camera and uses augmented reality as well as deep learning technologies to provide helpful information about a user’s surroundings.

With real-time object detection and recognition, Bixby instantly generates information directly on top of the image that the camera is pointing at. Users can also translate foreign languages and currency in real time with Live Translation by just pointing the camera at the text.

A Dual Camera Is Twice As Fun

The best-in-class Dual Camera featured on the Galaxy S9+ is composed of a pair of 12MP cameras – an F1.5 wide-angle lens with Super Speed Dual Pixel image sensor, and an F2.4 telephoto lens – that seamlessly combine their respective images into one.

The telephoto lens offers 2X optical and up to 10X digital zooming capabilities, while the camera’s dual optical image stabilization (OIS) technology ensures that both lenses provide crisp, clear shots even when the user has a shaky hand.

The camera’s Live Focus feature makes snapping selfies more fun, and allows you to easily capture a perfect portrait shot and adjust the depth of field before the picture is taken, or afterward, in the Gallery app. The Background Blur function offers users even more creative control over their pictures, allowing them to adjust their photo’s focus by applying a variety of shapes, including a heart or star to the background.

The Dual Capture feature was specifically designed to capture beauty in the background – or views that could be missed when taking a Live Focus shot. This function allows you to snap a close-up Live Focus portrait while also capturing the surrounding scenery, so the final photo will encapsulate the beauty of the moment in its entirety.

In addition, the cameras of both the Galaxy S9 and S9+ utilize machine learning technology to ensure that captured images are as clear as can be. The cameras’ Selfie Focus feature, for instance, automatically distinguishes the user’s face from their surroundings when taking a selfie, while Image Classification Solution automatically categorizes images and recognizes subjects’ surroundings to apply filters that make the photos looks like they were taken by a professional photographer.

^*All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation. 

¹Compared to the Galaxy Note8.

²Bixby service availabilities and features may vary by country or carrier.

³Of these 54 recognizable languages, 33 may be detected automatically, and 21 should be selected manually.