Samsung Shares Insights on Galaxy S26 Ultra’s APV Codec

Samsung debuted its APV (Advanced Professional Video) codec with the latest Galaxy S26 Ultra. This codec aims to make high-quality video recording and editing easier on mobile devices. The company has now shared insights into the development of the codec, along with its key advantages and other details.

APV codec raises the bar for mobile video creation

Traditional video codecs lose some data during compression to reduce file size. This loss becomes prominent with repeated editing, leading to a degradation in image quality. Samsung has independently developed the APV codec to solve this problem. It helps preserve image quality while reducing loss during editing, so you can create more professional-looking videos.

Samsung Research led the standardization of APV, while the MX business team ensured its support in the Android ecosystem. APV has been formally standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The codec achieves excellent compression efficiency while keeping as much data as possible. It also improves color reproduction using YUV 4:2:2, resulting in near-lossless image quality even after multiple rounds of editing.

Samsung has released APV as open source to promote wider use and create an ecosystem around the technology. The company says bringing APV from development to real use on smartphones was tough. It focused on heat management and system-level optimization to support real-time processing of UHD and 8K video.

Since APV videos can be very large, Samsung worked with the Memory Business team to ensure stable data storage. Moreover, the company collaborated with chipset makers and developers of editing tools and video players to create an ecosystem around the codec.

Basically, the APV codec on the Galaxy S26 Ultra will help users create high-quality video without expensive equipment. The phone comes with built-in cinematic LUTs that help users create film-like visuals effortlessly. The company says it will continue advancing the codec to further improve Galaxy-based video editing. As of now, you can buy the flagship model from the official US store with a $200 discount.