Google introduced Ultra HDR to Android starting with Android 14. The Google Pixel 8 series was the first to get this feature. Later Samsung enriched the Galaxy S24 series with a similar implementation, Super HDR. Although the older Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 6 series received the feature with its Google Camera 9.2 update, older Samsung devices don’t have this feature yet.
Galaxy S23 series and older models won’t get Super HDR
When people asked about the rollout timeline of the Super HDR feature to older models, the Samsung forum moderator said this – “In the case of Super HDR, only the S24 model can be supported by AP and display is supported”. While the translation from Korean to English reads a bit weird, it is clear that Samsung won’t provide the feature to older Galaxy devices.
Notably, 2023 flagships, such as the Galaxy S23 series, the fifth-generation foldable devices, and also the Galaxy Tab S9 series have received a couple of Galaxy AI features such as Circle to Search with Google, Live Translate, Chat Assist, and Generative Edit.
Speaking of the feature itself, it’s a bit surprising that just a couple of generation older Galaxy flagships aren’t capable enough to implement this feature. The AMOLED displays on those devices should be capable enough to reach the high brightness and depict the scene properly. Speaking of the processing, it shouldn’t be too demanding of a task either.
The camera sensors in older models might not support the implementation
Google’s Ultra HDR format (which the Super HDR is based on) basically encodes a logarithmic range gain map image in a JPEG image file. While it’s a new method that enables saving and sharing more of the captured information, it shouldn’t surpass the computing power requirement to run Google’s LLM Gemini nano on-device. However, 9to5Google hints that the camera sensors themselves might not be capable enough to capture the required amount of information.
But then again, the Galaxy S23 series offered one of the best camera hardware of its time, and the Google Pixel 7 checks all the boxes.
Nonetheless, if you are a user of the latest Galaxy S24 series or the last two generations of Pixel devices, you can actually see the display lighting up upon opening the image. Now you can also share the images with the gain map included in a number of platforms including Instagram and Google Messages.
