‘Super ISO’ trademark foretells upgraded night mode for Galaxy S20 series

ISO settings help the camera deal with different lighting conditions.

What you need to know

• Samsung was recently awarded a trademark for ‘Super ISO’ by the UK Intellectual Property Office.
• ISO relates to light capture in cameras, indicating the company is working on an improved night mode for its phone.
• Rumors from industry insiders suggest the feature is being prepped for the Galaxy S20 series.

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 series is reportedly getting a few downgrades in the camera department, but that doesn’t mean cameras are becoming less of a priority for Samsung’s flagships. Indeed, as new trademark awarded to Samsung indicates, the S20 series’ cameras will be one of the phones’ most significant distinctions.

The ‘Super ISO’ trademark that was filed just earlier today by Samsung to the UK Intellectual Property Office suggests the company is working on a souped-up night mode for its phone.

ISO, for those who don’t know, is a setting that determines the sensitivity of the image sensor to light. The lower it is, the less sensitive the sensor is and vice versa. As such, amping up the ISO setting can allow you to take shots in darker environments, though the downside is that the resulting image is far grainier than one made with a lower ISO setting.

While we don’t know precisely what tricks Samsung has up its sleeve, the term Super ISO almost certainly indicates it has to do with better low-light captures. And if you thought it’s maybe just some feature Samsung is cooking up in its labs for future smartphones, prolific Samsung leaker Ice Universe says the feature will actually be found on the S20 series.

Will Samsung finally have something that can go toe-to-toe with a Pixel this year? We certainly hope so.

The phones will officially be unveiled on February 6, while general availability and the delivery of preorders are expected sometime around March 6. And if you preorder either the S20+ or S20 Ultra, you’ll also get a pair of Galaxy Buds for free.