Galaxy S26 Ultra is the world's first phone with APV codec support

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s most advanced smartphone yet. It introduces the new Privacy Display feature to enhance on-screen privacy, a more powerful processor for improved performance, upgraded camera hardware for better image and video quality, and faster charging speeds.

It also brings more advanced tools for content creators, including support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) codec.

Samsung first announced the APV codec in 2023. This perceptually lossless video codec was developed to enable professional-grade video capture and post-production. According to Samsung, APV can deliver cinematic-quality video while reducing file sizes by nearly 20 percent compared to commonly used codecs such as HEVC.

The APV codec supports Full HD, 4K, and 8K resolutions, as well as HDR10 and HDR10+ formats. It also supports frame tiling for immersive content, parallel encoding and decoding, and multiple chroma subsampling options, including 4:0:0, 4:2:2, 4:4:4, and 4:4:4:4. In addition, it supports video bit depths ranging from 10-bit to 16-bit. Other advanced capabilities include multi-view video and auxiliary video data such as alpha channels, depth information, and preview streams.

Google added native support for the APV codec in Android 16. Qualcomm introduced APV support with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and Samsung enabled chipset-level support through the Exynos 2600.

APV videos can also be edited using professional tools. The codec is already supported by widely used video editing software suites such as DaVinci Resolve and LumaFusion, making it easier for creators to integrate high-quality smartphone footage into professional workflows.