[Interview] Make Every Moment Cinematic: How Cinematic LUT Transforms Video on the Galaxy S26 Series
Beyond high resolution, video trends are shifting toward mood and emotional storytelling. Samsung Electronics debuted the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec on Galaxy S26 Ultra, laying the groundwork for mobile video production while maintaining image quality and minimizing loss during editing.
In response, Samsung asked a simple question — can anyone create Hollywood-style videos on a Galaxy mobile phone? The answer is the Cinematic Look-Up Table (Cine LUT) feature on the Galaxy S26 series. While the APV codec provides the foundation for cinema-quality video, Cine LUT brings a distinct color style to the footage.
Cine LUT makes professional-level color grading — once reserved for experts — accessible to anyone. Samsung collaborated with internal teams and external specialists to bring the feature to life. The Mobile eXperience (MX) Business led final camera implementation, Samsung Research developed core video processing technologies and U5K Imageworks — a colorist studio behind globally recognized productions — helped shape its visual aesthetic.
Following the introduction of the APV codec, which delivers a visually lossless level of image quality, Samsung Newsroom spoke with three key developers behind Cine LUT — Sugon Baek of the Camera Image Quality R&D Group at the MX Business, Bomi Kim of the Reality Media Lab at Samsung Research and Taesik Eom, CEO of U5K Imageworks — to hear the story of its creation.
▲ (From left) Taesik Eom, Bomi Kim and Sugon Baek
Q. What is a LUT? What sets Cine LUT on the Galaxy S26 series apart?
Baek: A LUT is essentially a “map” that transforms one set of colors into a desired look. Unlike conventional filters that simply overlay color, Cine LUT reinterprets Samsung Log1 footage to deliver the depth and look of professional filmmaking.
Kim: It’s optimized for Log video. By leveraging its wide gradation,2 the feature precisely reconstructs color and brightness to preserve subtle tonal details often lost with conventional filters for richer, more natural depth.
▲ Comparison of Log footage in standard settings and with the Thriller LUT and Blockbuster LUT ▲ Comparison of Log footage in standard settings and with the Coming-of-age LUT and Romance LUTQ. What led to the development of Cine LUT?
Kim: While Galaxy devices supported Log video for high-quality capture, color grading remained challenging for users. We aimed to make professional-looking results accessible without advanced editing skills.
Baek: We wanted to create an experience that lets users preview cinematic footage at the moment of capture, then apply a LUT and share the video with a single tap in the Gallery.
▲ (From left) Bomi Kim of the Reality Media Lab at Samsung Research and Sugon Baek of the Camera