Samsung’s next camera-centric flagship – tentatively called the Galaxy S22 Ultra – will have large shoes to fill, as it succeeds the well-received Galaxy S21 Ultra. But as per a fresh leak, the Galaxy S22 Ultra will have one camera trick that will put it miles ahead of others – continuos zoom. Tipster Ice Universe has shared on Weibo that Samsung Electromechanics and the company’s semiconductor division have jointly developed an in-house continuous zoom solution that will make its way to the upcoming phone.

What is continuous zoom?

From a hardware perspective, a continuous zoom solution for smartphones has a module in which the lens elements move freely to achieve different focal lengths and aperture to achieve a magnification effect. So, how is this useful? In simple words, continuous zoom will minimize loss of detail at intermediate zoom range, say like 2x or 3x, as it doesn’t lock itself to specific focal length values. Needless to say, it will make the Galaxy S22 Ultra an even better camera for photography enthusiasts. 

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An illustration of how a continuous zoom solution works in a periscope camera setup. ()

Take for example a modern high-end smartphone that usually has a telephoto lens, the main camera, and an ultra-wide snapper. At a low zoom range, say 2x or 3x, the zoom effect is achieved via cropping (and interpolation) by collecting data from more than one sensor. It is only when you go beyond 3x or 5x mark that the telephoto camera kicks in to provide optical zoom. Needless to say, the intermediate zoom values (when the telephoto camera is not in use) aren’t always the best quality as they miss out on details and show artifacts too. 

What other upgrades the Galaxy S22 Ultra will bring?

The tipster mentions that Samsung’s next flagship will employ an AMD GPU that uses an AMD GPU. Samsung joined hands with AMD a while ago, and it appears that the rumored Exynos 2200 SoC will be the first product to come out this collaboration, and per alleged benchmarking results, the boost in graphics prowess will leave even Apple’s A-series processors far behind.

Continuos zoom, an SoC with AMD GPU, under-display camera. Damn, that's some upgrade!

In addition to it, the leakster also mentions the arrival of an under-display camera on the Galaxy S22 Ultra. However, it won’t be the first phone to rock that technology, as leaks suggest that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will be the first Samsung phone to hide a selfie camera under its OLED display. While the Galaxy S22 Ultra is still months away, it is definitely shaping up to be a major upgrade  and might well be the phone to beat in 2022.


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