Is there any chance to get Ultra HDR / HDR+ / HDR10+ support in Galaxy S23 Ultra for taking photos in future?

[Ihor Lev]

I have my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and that's an excellent phone.

But just wondering about a new feature that Android 14 brought - Ultra HDR. Is there any chance we can get it?

Samsung takes great videos in HDR10+ mode, and I'm able to view them via default Gallery in HDR (ultra-bright) mode (e.g. when the display turns super bright on light scenes so I just enjoy how beautiful it is)

But talking about photos (I have enabled Auto HDR in Camera RAW settings and in the Camera Assistant app), I don't see any HDR-like view through the gallery. But AFAIK, the S23 Ultra supports numerous HDR standards (HLG, HDR10, HDR10+).

If the device is able to capture the 4k 60fps videos, are there any challenges for photos?

Is there any chance we can get it in the future? I just love how it is done on Pixel 8 Pro, on any iPhone {13,14,15} Pro.

[Joeeye]

From what I can see, it seems to be a purely software based feature, so it's a good possibility it could be implemented in the future, however don't hold me to this.

[mikexilva]

I was looking for the same and found this topic and wanted to add that HEIC still pictures from S23 Ultra does a good job on reducing file size (vs JPG) but still only registers 8bit/channel so it's the same color depth as a JPEG 😞 since it can capture 4K video in 10bit HDR why doesn't it store more than 8bit in HEIC stills image file format like the iPhones do?

[Vetri]

Very disappointing to see a feature that's available in Pixel 7 pro but not in S23Ultra yet. Also Samsung should drop unnecessary ego and support Dolby Vision. HDR10+ is OK but DV is supported all major players

[Joeeye]

Hmm honestly it's disappointing the Pixel 7 Pro or any Pixel in general has no features noteworthy apart from Samsung phones. It's why I've practically no interest in them ever.

[mikexilva]

So we just had the One UI 6.1 update on S23 Ultra and camera app still doesn't have Super HDR support like S24 Ultra 😞 even though they share the same 200MP main sensor.. we need a stronger partnership between Google and Samsung to see an oficial Gcam Mod making use of the Samsung camera hardware (with native support for full resolution) with Google image processing algorithms.

[SoraNoKuni]

See my post below, 

Even iPhone 12 got this feature after apple updated them, yet, we, who probably buy this phone for it's feature set that should be better than apple, get a middle finger.

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/galaxy-s23-series/lack-of-super-hdr-in-oneui6-1/m-p/9555162

[Vetri]

Of course every individuals preference is different. I've had both galaxy and pixel phones simultaneously for the past 3 years for me Pixel only falls behind in customisation. I might try Xiaomi Ultra for the first time next year but worried about resale value

[mikexilva]

Here's some additional related info I posted on XDA https://xdaforums.com/t/working-gcam-for-s23-ultra.4550019/post-89440010

[vyrgozunqk]

Samsung disabled this on purpose... Forcing users to upgrade to S24. Although low end devices such as the A3x (IPS) and A5x series support it... 
I guess you can't trust them with the 4-5-6 years of major upgrade policies to be valid since this is native part of Android 14, which was disabled on purpose, although the hardware fully supports it.
If the phone can display HDR videos and record them, it can definitely do the same for images. 
This is also clearly visible from the HDR videos in instagram with SDR dimming the other parts of the screen.
Apple backported it back to the iPhone 12, which is now almost 5 years old. Google did the same for the old Pixels, so as OnePlus, Nothing, Xiaomi... 
I'd probably look for another brand this year, i've trusted samsung for the first time since the same dirty tricks they've used in the Note2 (TRIM support was stripped on purpose from the kernel, which literally killed the nand memory chip) and Note3, I guess I will never trust them again.