Bug Alert: One UI 6.1.1 Causes Camera Glitch on Galaxy S23 Ultra

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Among a host of goodies, the One UI 6.1.1 update seems to have introduced a camera bug to the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Several users have reported strange ghosting or watercolor effects in photos taken at zoom levels between 16x and 19.9x. Interestingly, the issue is absent at other magnifications, and the base S23 and S23+ models seem unaffected. Samsung has yet to officially address the problem.

One UI 6.1.1 introduces a zoom camera bug to the Galaxy S23 Ultra

Shortly after Samsung expanded One UI 6.1.1 to the Galaxy S23 series globally, reports started coming in about this weird zoom issue on the Ultra model. Photos captured between 16x and 19.9x magnification produce ghosting effects, blurring the edges. Capture your photos at any other zoom level and they come out fine. Users in Europe, India, and other regions have confirmed the issue on their Galaxy S23 Ultra.

According to reports, this is a software optimization bug. The unusual effects around the edges are minimal or non-existent when Intelligent optimization is set to “Minimum” and/ or Scene optimizer is turned off (you can do that from camera settings). Samsung hasn’t officially said anything about the bug but a moderator on Samsung Members (community app) reportedly took note of the reports to submit to the concerned team.

🚨 Attention #GalaxyS23Ultra Users! 🚨

If your camera zoom between 16x and 19.9x is showing ghosting or watercolor effects after updating to #OneUI6.1.1, you're not alone. This issue seems to be linked to the new update's impact on the Intelligent Optimization algorithm.

🔧… https://t.co/HTArTWQ0KA pic.twitter.com/Imqdq1D5U6

— S M A Sithick (@smasithick) September 17, 2024

Since this issue is limited to select Galaxy S23 Ultra units running One UI 6.1.1, and only occurs at certain zoom levels, it should be a relatively simpler bug to fix. Users have already figured out a temporary workaround. Hopefully, the company won’t make them wait long for a permanent fix. While not a major issue, it could be an annoying convenience to people who often click photos at high magnification. As a user said, they used their S23 Ultra to click photos for their notes from some lectures. We will let you know when we have more information.

Written by

Sumit Adhikari

Sumit, a life-long Samsung user, is passionate about technology and has been professionally writing on tech since 2017. He’s a mathematics graduate by education and enjoys teaching basic mathematics tricks to school kids in his spare time. Sumit believes in artificial intelligence and dreams of a fully open, intelligent and connected world.

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