Samsung denies claim of fake moon photo by premium smartphone model

Samsung Electronics Co. has denied that a photo of the moon in the night sky taken by its premium smartphone Galaxy S23 Ultra is fake, saying as soon as the claim appeared that its device can clearly capture details and merely enhances them.

Industry sources on Thursday said the company recently said on its official website that when the smartphone takes a photo of the moon, its artificial intelligence (AI)-based optimization process produces enhanced picture quality and improved color but does not apply separate synthetic functions like image overlay. 

The claim that the S23 Ultra-snapped photo of the moon is fake and was created through image overlay has gone viral among information technology users worldwide. Image overlay is a technique of putting images on top of the subject being photographed and combining them.

So the rumor is that when the smartphone snaps a photo of the moon, the result is a synthetic image, not a real one.

"Clear photos of the moon were produced through AI technology and a 'space zoom' that supports up to 100X zoom using two telephoto cameras," Samsung Electronics said.

Write to Sungsu Bae at baebae@hankyung.com