xda-developers: What is Samsung’s AI Stereo Depth Map feature in the Galaxy S22 camera?

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

What is Samsung’s AI Stereo Depth Map feature in the Galaxy S22 camera?

Samsung has announced its latest flagship smartphone series for 2022 consisting of the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, and the mighty Galaxy S22 Ultra. Since these are Samsung’s marquee products for the year, you get top-of-the-line specifications across all departments along with various improvements from last year’s Galaxy S21 series. One aspect that seems to have improved considerably from last year is the cameras. The standard Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S22 Plus have newer sensors while the Galaxy S22 Ultra also gets a ton of improvements both in terms of hardware and software. One of the highlighting features is the new AI Stereo Depth map on the Galaxy S22 series.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra rear cameras

AI Stereo Depth Map is one of many new camera features on the Galaxy S22 series of smartphones this year. This is a software-based feature that relies on AI algorithms to improve the image output when you click a photo using any of the three smartphones in the Galaxy S22 series. Let’s learn more about this feature and how it would impact the photos you click.

AI Stereo Depth Map: What is it and how does it work?

s22 ai stereo depth

As the name suggests, Artificial Intelligence plays a big role in this regard. Samsung is using AI algorithms to create a sophisticated depth map of the scene that you’re going to capture on your Galaxy S22 smartphone. The depth map is used to accurately calculate the distance between various elements in the frame and your smartphone camera. This is done so as to get a proper mapping of smaller elements in the frame that are generally missed out on.

For example, when clicking a picture of a person, we often find that the face is in focus but some parts of the hair are blurred or smudged. This is especially true when there are complex elements in the background like moving objects or objects that have a similar color scheme as the subject. This is exactly what Samsung is aiming to fix with the AI Stereo Depth Map feature. This is something that runs in the background and doesn’t have to be enabled or toggled on by the end-user.

Galaxy S22 Ultra camera modes

If you’re someone who clicks a lot of portrait mode images, you will surely appreciate this feature. When shooting in portrait mode, the camera applies an artificial background blur or bokeh to create a separation between the subject and the background. A lot of times, the blur isn’t very accurate as the depth information obtained by the software isn’t perfect. As a result, some aspects of the subject like hair, glasses, parts of attire, etc. tend to get blurred with the background.

Samsung is trying to address this issue with AI Stereo Depth Map. It maps out even tiny elements that may otherwise be out of focus and makes sure that they are in focus along with the subject. This can also be useful when clicking moving subjects like kids or even pets. The whole idea of this feature is to never end up with a shot that’s out of focus or with some parts of an image blurred. A clear image is what one expects when clicking a photo and that’s exactly what AI Stereo Depth Map aims to deliver.

This is one of several new camera features that Samsung has introduced with the Galaxy S22 series. Features like these may lure smartphone photographers to make the switch to the new Galaxy S22 Ultra, especially since the Galaxy S21 Ultra was one of the most versatile camera phones out there and the Galaxy S22 Ultra further strengthens the notion. If you wish to know more in detail about the cameras and just about every aspect of all three phones in the Galaxy S22 series, you can wait for our review which should be dropping soon.