Many people who own the Galaxy S23 Ultra are saying that a strong feature of the Samsung flagship phone is unexpectedly taken away. This occurred following a recent software update. Impacted individuals reported that after installing the update, they can no longer choose the option to record 8K video in high bitrate mode. Users have expressed numerous complaints about the smartphone’s highest-quality recording mode being removed without any warning.
The official update release notes from Samsung lack clarity and don’t mention anything about removing this feature. Instead, the company states that the update doesn’t include any new features or performance improvements. This is mainly because the company had already released several camera and performance enhancements the previous month.
Why Samsung Removed the 8K Video Recording at High Bitrates from the Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung might have had valid reasons to disable the option, considering that this particular feature has caused frustration among users before. Earlier this year, some users reported issues like “stuttering” and dropped frames while recording high bitrate 8K video. However, it is worth mentioning that there are other users who have been able to use the mode without any problems.
Disabling the mode completely would safeguard users who were facing issues from recording unusable footage without realizing the problem during the recording process. However, this action is likely to disappoint those who have been patiently waiting for a fix to the problem.
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It is reasonable to question the practicality of having an 8K video recording mode on a smartphone. However, supporters of this feature argue that they can produce better-looking 4K footage on the Galaxy S23 Ultra by downsizing 8K recordings instead of shooting directly in 4K. Additionally, shooting in 8K allows them to capture the highest resolution possible when extracting still photos from their video recordings.
In the previous Camera version 13.1.01.28, users were able to record high bitrate 8K video. However, this capability is no longer available in the latest Camera version 13.1.01.35, which came with Samsung’s recent firmware update.
Reverting to the Older Software Version is Currently Impossible
After updating the smartphone with the July 2023 firmware, it seems that users cannot revert to a previous version. Therefore, restoring the high bitrate 8K recording function becomes impossible. In other words, once the update is installed, there is no way to go back to an earlier version and regain the ability to record high bitrate 8K videos.
If someone is currently using the high bitrate 8K recording feature, it would be advisable for them to refrain from installing the system update until Samsung finds a solution. However, it’s essential to note that by doing so, the phone will not have the latest security updates. Users will need to weigh the trade-off between keeping the feature and potentially compromising on the latest security enhancements.
It is worth noting that Samsung only disabled the 200mb/s bitrates option for 8K video recording. It is still possible to record 8K at the standard 80Mbit/s bitrates.