Galaxy S21 Ultra’s reduced slow-motion video performance is due to its larger sensor, says Samsung

This story was originally published 2021/01/19
8:28 a.m. PSTJan 19, 2021 and last update 2021/01/20
2:58 pm PSTJan 20, 2021.

Samsung’s different models for the S21 are not all the same. If the price and physical size didn’t tell you, the datasheets probably did. And tucked away among the list of different standards and named numbers is a curious piece of information that escaped detection on launch day: while the low-end Galaxy S21 and S21 + support slow-motion video at 960 fps ( bursts up to 0.5s), the more premium S21 Ultra, with its upgraded cameras, doesn’t – or at least, it’s not native.

If this sounds familiar to you, it’s because last year’s S20 / S20 Ultra had a similar arrangement.

It’s not very straightforward if you don’t know how it all works, but hidden away in a footnote in the video recording section of the datasheet, Samsung is shedding light on the difference:

“On Galaxy S21 5G and S21 + 5G, users can record approximately 0.5 seconds of captured video at 960 fps with approximately 16 seconds of playback. On Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, users can record approximately 1 second of captured video at 480 fps and digitally enhance video at 960 fps with approximately 32 seconds of playback. “

Simply put, this means the smaller S21 models can record 960 fps natively, instead of relying on digital interpolation to create the frames between the 480 fps. can record, as with the S21 Ultra. In some cases, the difference probably won’t be noticeable, but it does give the smaller models a head start when it comes to recording slow motion video.

The distinction is curious. As reported by Android Authority, there is no difference at the chipset level between the phones, and the Snapdragon 888 these phones share (in the US) is expected to support 960 fps capture at the hardware level.

After the post, Samsung told us that the reason for the S21 Ultra’s digitally enhanced slow-motion video was related to the phone’s larger image sensor, which operates at a slower shutter speed when recording video. Rather than artificially limiting smaller phones, which can achieve higher shutter speeds, Samsung has chosen to give them the full recording capacity of 960 fps and use its frame rate conversion technology on the bigger phone, which implies that the difference between the two was not very noticeable. .

I know this sounds like a weird explanation, but as far as we can tell, it’s legitimate. This DP Review article detailing the difference between shutter types claims that the performance of electronic shutters (as you would with video from a smartphone) can be affected not only by number of pixels, but also by size. pixels / sensors and by the S21 Ultra Is have a larger main sensor with a very high pixel count compared to the smaller S21 and S21 +.

If you plan to use this feature, it may be a good idea to keep this distinction in mind when choosing a template. While the “digitally enhanced” 960 fps is probably sufficient, slo-mo aficionados may be better served by the less expensive model.