Galaxy S24 black-and-white photograph colorization: Is it any good?

An city legend tells the story of Google promising a cool characteristic for its Pictures utility: the magic capability to show your outdated black-and-white photographs into colourful pics. Google’s magnificent dataset of photographs would assist its AI engine work out what a sure shade of gray ought to have been, initially. So your grandpa’s blue shirt would change into blue once more, and the tree behind him would return to its inexperienced shade.

Sadly, Google has but to launch this characteristic for its Pictures utility (it briefly examined it then took it again). Within the meantime, Samsung has already taken the leap and added a Colorize possibility as a part of its Galaxy AI options on the Galaxy S24 collection. And it’s extremely straightforward to make use of, however is it any good, for actual? Are you able to depend on Samsung to show your black-and-white photographs into a colourful snap? I did some intensive testing.

You may solely colorize what Samsung helps you to colorize

Colorizing photographs is an possibility Samsung reserves to itself, in a means. It’s not a part of the generative edit magic button, and might solely entry it in Samsung’s Gallery app. It’s one of many sensible options that present up as a chip (on the underside left of the photograph) whenever you swipe up on a pic to see its particulars.

When you hit the Colorize button, it solely takes just a few seconds for the Galaxy S24 to pop up the consequence. Samsung reveals a earlier than/after slider, so you’ll be able to examine the consequence earlier than saving it (or saving it as a replica). The perfect half is that generally it understands that there are focal factors in your photograph, like on this collage of two of my photographs. It gave me the choice to zoom in on each faces to see the earlier than/after transformation. Cool.

Nonetheless, since this can be a sensible suggestion, I can’t pressure it on photographs that Samsung doesn’t deem worthy of colorizing. I examined the characteristic with about 30 black-and-white photographs and the Colorize suggestion popped up on all of them besides the 2 beneath. Each sushi photographs, for the enjoyable coincidence. Since I didn’t get the choice right here, I can’t pressure colorize these pics in some other means. So my sushi platters will stay colorless for now.

Colorizing individuals and pets

I began my assessments with photographs of these we love essentially the most — individuals and pets. Talking from a private perspective, the photographs I’d need to colorize can be of my grandmas and grandpas, and the early childhood pics of my dad and mom. We have now dozens of albums’ price of black-and-white snaps that might use an additional sparkle like this.

However since I don’t know the true colours of these photographs and since I needed to check Samsung’s capability to recreate these, I made a decision to run my take a look at on photographs the place I’ve the originals. So I took some photographs from my library, dropped the saturation all the way down to zero, made them black-and-white, saved that as a brand new photograph, and transferred them to the Galaxy S24.

Within the first samples beneath, you’ll see how Samsung offers with individuals and pets. Normally, it nailed what ought to be a pores and skin tone (although the facet of my face in that collage remained blue), the pink hue of lips, and the colour of grass within the background of the canine’s photograph.

I might say my husband’s photograph above is essentially the most reasonable colorization of the bunch. Sure, it failed at getting the colourful ceiling panels above him, however the face and shirt look good if a bit of chilly. I might add a bit of heat to that photograph and also you wouldn’t have the ability to inform it began as a black and white photograph.

The opposite two photographs above exhibit a filter-like impact. The saturation is simply too weak, my indigo sweater seems to be nearly black, and the grass past the canine is simply too pale. Given Samsung’s propensity to over-saturate its personal digicam photographs, it’s bizarre to see it go the opposite means on this colorization train.

My greatest disappointment is within the Samoyed’s colorization. A correct AI ought to acknowledge the canine’s breed and know they’re white, not pink-purple. This shouldn’t be a query.

Bringing landscapes again to life

Shifting on to landscapes, I had excessive hopes. That is the precise reverse of individuals: Given an in depth dataset of photographs and areas, colorizing a greyscale panorama ought to be youngsters’ play for an AI engine.

The Galaxy S24 upset me a bit right here. The primary two landscapes of the Swiss mountains and Lake Bled, respectively, turned up too heat and classic.

The third photograph is the perfect colorization consequence I’ve seen amongst all 30+ pictures I examined. It seems to be practically good, and each the blue and inexperienced hues are fairly near the unique pic’s colours.

Including some colours to flowers

My disappointment continued with photographs of flowers. As soon as once more, given a correct dataset, the AI ought to know the flower’s actual species and work out precisely what colour it ought to be. In my assessments, that wasn’t the case.

The primary colorization is ok, till you discover the pink middle of the hibiscus is nowhere to be discovered. However the different two are extra of a criminal offense towards botany in all places. Gone is the blue-purple of the globe thistle, changed by a heat yellow-green shade. The orange and yellow of the Peruvian lily are barely colorized right into a blue-green tint. There aren’t many colours of those flowers, so Samsung shouldn’t get them unsuitable.

Colorizing meals is hit-and-miss

If you happen to have been already considering that there isn’t a variety of additional “intelligence” occurring behind this characteristic, this could seal the deal. Whereas the burger and fries photograph is ok (and doubtless the second finest after the inexperienced and blue panorama above), the fruit bowl is an absolute shame should you ask me.

Even within the black and white photograph, you’ll be able to inform these are bananas, blueberries, and strawberries. You may’t flip them into three shades of brown!

The identical is true of the pizza photograph, the place the pink of the ham is introduced again as a boring gentle brown mush. I’d forgive lacking the crimson of the platter as a result of there’s nothing to trace at it within the authentic photograph, however the pink ham ought to be a straightforward one.

From easy scenes to difficult colourful scenes

I knew I used to be hitting a wall with this characteristic, however I made a decision to push it a bit extra. First with just a few easy scenes that it dealt with somewhat advantageous. It didn’t select the precise colour tone within the first two underground and cellar photographs, however the result’s reasonable. I’ll additionally give it some additional factors for recognizing the white and crimson of the lighthouse.

Issues turned more durable as I went on. Pictures with a number of colours lead to a boring single-hue colorization. I don’t blame Samsung for not understanding the precise colours right here, but it surely’s proof that the AI has limits. It sees shades of gray and figures out a center hue worth that is smart. It isn’t utilizing geolocation or an enormous public dataset to colorize photographs.

Living proof: Bilbao’s constructing (first photograph) and Le Havre’s Catène de Containers (third pic) change into orange mush and no matter that blue-green’ish shade is for the delivery containers.

Pushing additional, I examined the Colorize possibility on extraordinarily busy photographs and the outcomes have been a bit unhealthy within the first two samples (too vintage-feeling and desaturated), whereas the third one nailed the timber and lights colours fairly properly.

Purple is the hardest colour

You may need observed that in most of the examples above, the Galaxy S24’s colorization engine is commonly selecting to veer away from reds. The one occasions it actually added some reddish hues have been for pink lips and the lighthouse. For the flowers, strawberries, pizza ham, and lots of different crimson components, it simply ignored the crimson colour. That is one other instance. The crimson lighthouse is was a blueish gray.

For photographs of individuals, I’m satisfied that Samsung will do a superb job of bringing these outdated black-and-white snaps into life. All the examples I examined (together with those I didn’t share right here for privateness functions) obtained a superb pores and skin tone, correct pink for the lips, and respectable sufficient hair coloring. Now when you have crimson hair or blue eyes, decrease your expectations. The Galaxy S24 may not guess that.

For all different photographs, the outcomes are mitigated. I anticipated Samsung to make use of various factors (topic of the photograph, location, and its personal picture dataset) to get some colour again into photographs. However as proven by the examples of the canine, flowers, totally different landscapes, and people brown strawberries and blueberries — sorry, I simply can’t overlook these! — that isn’t the case.

Plus, I’ve a suspicion that Samsung’s AI engine, in the hunt for velocity, is trying to divide any photograph into particular areas earlier than it colorizes it. Most occasions the entire photograph finally ends up lumped collectively and will get the identical remedy.

You’ll see this in colorized photographs which might be principally only a single tone (sea port lighthouse above, Bilbao buildings, fruit bowl, pizza, flowers photographs, many of the landscapes, and the canine photograph). And that tone is commonly too heat or too chilly, not saturated sufficient, and undoubtedly too classic filter-like.

In some photographs, although, you get two or three totally different zones and a distinct tone between every. These are those which might be the closest to actuality and the unique photograph. That is true for the primary lighthouse photograph, the inexperienced and blue river panorama, and the burger. These are my favorites of the bunch.

In conclusion, I’d personally do this characteristic on photographs of individuals, and I’d anticipate it to do issues principally proper. If I’m colorizing tremendous outdated photographs, I gained’t know what colours I’m lacking on, however I’ll know what I’m gaining. So it’s a win. For the rest, it’s a coin toss. I wouldn’t waste my time. Preserve the classic black-and-white as an alternative of a nasty yellow or blue filter.