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Let's take a close look at the newly added APV (Advanced Professional Video) codec featured in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The APV codec offers professional video quality, helping you achieve superior editing results.
The APV codec is an open-source technology published as an RFC, an official technology document of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). It is aimed to deliver visually lossless quality comparable to RAW video while requiring lower computational complexity than most existing video codecs.
Professional Video vs. Everyday Video
Unlike everyday videos (life-logging videos), professional videos utilize high-quality source formats capable of maintaining a high visual quality even after undergoing color grading and editing. As smartphones have become capable of recording high-quality videos and the market for independent creators has grown rapidly, the demand for professional-level video production on mobile phones has steadily increased. With the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the APV codec, now anyone can capture high-quality videos and edit them freely using nothing more than their smartphone and PC.
Image 1. Utilization Scenario of APV Codec on Mobile Devices
What is the APV (Advanced Professional Video) Codec?
So, what exactly is the APV codec that lies at the heart of this innovative transformation?
Incredible Image Quality and Bitrate (Visually Lossless & High Bitrate)
Typically, videos on popular platforms are significantly reduced in file size at the expense of image quality to ensure seamless, uninterrupted streaming over the internet. So, if you try to edit this file again, the image quality is likely to deteriorate. However, the APV codec was designed specifically for the editing process rather than for playback, so it maintains the original image quality as much as possible.
Rather than compressing data by calculating the correlation between frames, the APV codec stores each individual frame as an independent, high-definition image (Intra-frame only). Consequently, the bitrate is significantly higher, and the file size is larger than that of a standard video, but it provides a "visually lossless" fidelity that closely approximates the original source. This characteristic is essential to help ensure that the visual quality remains uncompromised, and that fine details are preserved during color grading or post-production.
Multi-iteration Encoding — Remains unchanged even after multiple saves
The powerful advantage of the APV codec is precisely its "visual quality preservation."
Standard codecs (such as H.264, HEVC, and AV1) suffer from quality degradation every time a video is rendered after editing. It is much like making a photocopy of a photocopy—the text gradually becomes blurrier with each iteration. The APV codec, however, is designed for multiple iterations of encoding. Even after editing the recorded video, adding subtitles, color grading, and undergoing multiple rounds of re-encoding, the degradation in video quality remains remarkably minimal. It helps to preserve the original quality from start to finish, even in professional work that requires complex workflows.
The video below shows a comparison of the image quality degradation between the HEVC and APV codecs when the same video is encoded 10 times.
<Insert YellowKitty_HEVC_APV.mp4 >
Freely Accessible to All: True Open Technology (Open Technology & Royalty-Free)
The APV codec does not monopolize the technology and has transparently disclosed its technical specifications to the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) [1], the international standards organization that forms the foundation of the internet (RFC 9924).
Furthermore, the source code (OpenAPV[3]) for the APV codec has been made publicly available through the ASWF (Academy Software Foundation) [2] project, which operates under the Linux Foundation. The harmonious combination of a royalty-free policy with no licensing fees, a robust open-source ecosystem, and open technologies of the international standard IETF provides an unrestricted, free editing environment across any platform, including Windows, Android, and Linux.
In other words, the APV codec's greatest asset is its "versatility", allowing users to freely perform high-quality editing across a wide range of environments such as Windows PCs or Android smartphones, without the need for equipment from any specific brand.
APV Codec Supported Specifications
The APV codec is designed based on technology that has been verified for over 20 years, and it processes videos of various resolutions at bandwidths reaching several Gbps using the intra-frame prediction method, which excludes inter-frame prediction. Furthermore, it supports various color formats from 4:0:0 to 4:4:4, as well as auxiliary images such as alpha channels and depth images, and HDR-related metadata.
APV Profile
Table 1. Color Formats and Bit depth by APV Codec Profile
Profile | Color format | Bit depth of input video |
422-10 profile | 4:2:2 | 10 |
422-12 profile | 4:2:2 | 12 |
444-10 profile | 4:4:4 | 10 |
444-12 profile | 4:4:4 | 12 |
4444-10 profile | 4:4:4:4 (Supports alpha channel) | 10 |
4444-12 profile | 4:4:4:4 (Supports alpha channel) | 12 |
400-10 profile | 4:0:0 | 10 |
APV Family [4]
In particular, as a guideline for complex bitrate numbers that users may find difficult, we provide a standardized preset called 'APV Family.' By leveraging the bitrates defined within the "Family" framework, users are empowered to intuitively select optimal encoding settings that align with their desired levels of video quality and storage efficiency. Although not an officially defined element within the APV codec documentation, this preset serves to ensure clear and consistent communication among users. The APV family has categorized bitrates based on image quality levels: LQ (Low Quality), SQ (Standard Quality), HQ (High Quality), and UQ (Ultra-High Quality).
The choice of which APV family to select depends on factors such as file size limitations, the desired level of image quality, and your specific editing environment. For instance, if you wish to preserve a high-definition video in its original state, you would choose 422 HQ; whereas if you need to reduce file size and bandwidth, perhaps due to limited storage space or concerns regarding network transmission speed, you might opt for 422 LQ.
Table 2. APV Family Examples (LQ, HQ)
Resolution | Frame Rate | APV 422 LQ | APV 422 HQ | ||
Mb/s | GB/h | Mb/s | GB/h | ||
HD 1280x720 | 24fps | 40 | 18 | 78 | 35 |
| 30fps | 50 | 23 | 98 | 44 |
| 60fps | 100 | 45 | 196 | 88 |
| 120fps | 200 | 90 | 392 | 176 |
FHD 1920x1080 | 24fps | 81 | 36 | 158 | 71 |
| 30fps | 101 | 45 | 198 | 89 |
| 60fps | 202 | 91 | 396 | 178 |
| 120fps | 404 | 182 | 792 | 356 |
UHD 3840x2160 | 24fps | 325 | 146 | 637 | 287 |
| 30fps | 406 | 183 | 796 | 358 |
| 60fps | 812 | 366 | 1,592 | 716 |
| 120fps | 1,624 | 731 | 3,184 | 1,433 |
8K 7680x4320 | 24fps | 1,300 | 585 | 2,547 | 1,146 |
| 30fps | 1,624 | 731 | 3,184 | 1,433 |
| 60fps | 3,249 | 1,462 | 6,368 | 2,866 |
| 120fps | 6,498 | 2,924 | 12,736 | 5,731 |
APV File Format
Video data encoded with the APV codec adheres to the international standard ISO Base Media File Format (ISOBMFF) and is stored in the familiar MP4 file format.
The APV codec is a professional-grade video compression technology for the storage, exchange, and editing of professional-quality video. It is designed to maintain data integrity even during the editing process, which involves repeated compression and decompression, and for quick and easy access to frame headers and metadata to enhance workflow efficiency.
Recording APV with Galaxy S26 Ultra
APV codec can be used by setting the mode in the camera settings. It also provides an external storage function to save large-sized videos.
APV Video Specifications
Table 3. Resolutions and FPS supported for APV filming on the Galaxy S26 Ultra
Resolution | FPS |
HD (720p) | 30 fps |
FHD (1080p), UHD (2160p) | 24 fps*, 30 fps, 60 fps, 120 fps* |
8K (4320p) | 24 ps*, 30 fps |
*FPS supported in Pro Video mode
- Supported Profile: 422-10 profile (4:2:2 color format, 10-bit input video)
- HDR and Log supported (SDR not supported)
- Supported Quality: HQ (High Quality), LQ (Low-Capacity Quality)
- Audio Format: PCM (16-bit)
Camera Settings
Image 2. Enabling APV Codec on the Galaxy S26 Ultra
Enable APV mode in the Camera app
After turning on APV codec in the camera settings as shown above, enable the APV mode displayed at the top right of the camera app preview, and when you shoot, it will be recorded as an APV video.
Image 3. Turning on APV mode in the Galaxy S26 Ultra camera
Storage Settings
You can save the APV videos to an external storage device (such as an SSD) by connecting it via USB-C. In this case, all recorded videos will be saved to the external storage device. If you select "Safe save” mode, your recorded video will be successfully saved to the external storage device even in the event of accidents during APV recording such as an accidental disconnection of the USB cable.
Image 4. Save APV videos shot on the Galaxy S26 Ultra to an external storage device
Editing and Distributing an APV video filmed on the Galaxy S26 Ultra
Videos recorded in APV can be edited in the video editor of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Professional editing applications such as Blackmagic's DaVinci - Resolve and LumaTouch's LumaFusion also support the APV codec.
Furthermore, to ensure compatibility with other devices that do not support APV codec, you can easily convert videos recorded with APV codec to HEVC codec directly in the Gallery even without the aforementioned editing tools.
Watch APV videos filmed with the Galaxy S26 Ultra
You can view APV videos using Pot-Player (260114, 1.7.22769 version or later) on a PC, and can play APV videos using applications such as FFPlay, the latest version of MPV Player, etc.
Related Links
[1] IETF APV Specification document: https://doi.org/10.17487/RFC9924
[2] OpenAPV: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openapv
[3] ASWF: https://www.aswf.io/projects/
[4] APV Family: https://github.com/AcademySoftwareFoundation/openapv/blob/add_apv_family/readme/apv_family.md
※ Currently supported model: Galaxy S26 Ultra only
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