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Samsung’s portrait mode is insane: here’s how it works

Portrait mode is not a particularly new function, but it is something that many users value, both in Spain and in other markets.

In recent years we have seen how different manufacturers have made an effort to create a blur effect that mimics professional cameras as well as possible, something complicated since mobiles do it by software and not by hardware.

What is bokeh and how to have the blur effect of portrait mode

We tell you what the blur effect we know by bokeh is and how to achieve or copy the portrait mode of the iPhone with the camera of our mobile.

To date, firms like Apple or Google were the benchmark but other brands have been working on it to catch up. Or get over it.

Samsung explains how its new portrait mode works

The launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21 has been better than it might seem by looking exclusively at the specification sheet of the three models.

One of the sections in which we have seen the least changes has been in the photographic. As far as hardware is concerned, the only thing that stands out has been the 10x zoom of the S21 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, analysis: touching the limit

We have tested what is the best Samsung mobile, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, a terminal that has little room to be better.

However, Samsung has greatly improved the processing software, as explained in an article on its website.

For starters, face cropping has been improved, allowing the camera to know which area to focus and enhance and which area to blur to simulate the blur effect. Various filters are applied here to achieve a better skin tone.

After that, checks are carried out that check if what we are focusing on is a person or another element. You can even do that even if the two elements are together, as we see in this image.

Once the person in the foreground is detected, various operations are performed to improve the cropping of the subject. This is where multiple layers are applied to best contour the image.

Finally, the maximum detail of the entire contour is extracted, paying special care to the hair, which is the most complicated area, especially when we have loose and long hair, as you can see in these photos.

As you can see, the process is still not perfect, but it is certainly much better than what we had so far in Samsung phones and it is at the height of its main rivals, if not ahead. And it is done in a few seconds, although it depends on the conditions of each photo.

We have done some tests with the Samsung Galaxy S21 and as you can see in the result, although there are strands that do not focus, they are the ones in the back area and it is capable of focusing a large part of the loose hair.