Other HEIC vs JPG Photo Type

[BigMcGuire]

I started noticing that taking a photo with HEIC (for us 8, 8+'ers) vs JPG resulted in near identical photos in daylight. However, once I got inside the house at night, there was a noticeable difference in quality between the two photo types. .heic would be grainy, almost out of focus, and blurry while .jpg would be much sharper.

I noticed that for indoor shots the .heic would be 1mb while the .jpg would be 2.9mb - big size difference and a very noticeable quality difference on the phone's screen itself (blowing image to 100%). On the computer it is much much worse (heic being grainy, blurry, having loss of detail).

Instead of me posting my results and getting bashed for not being a pro (I am not a pro), I figured I'd cite others who have to be better than I am.

https://www.kirkville.com/do-heic-photos-really-look-this-bad/
https://forums.appleinsider.com/discussion/202158/watch-heif-vs-jpeg-on-iphone-8-compared

(Watch from 0 to 1:22).

I am definitely seeing this. JPG files are easily 2x bigger on average, sometimes more (some jpgs are 12+mb) while the .heic are usually 1mb - 6mb.

I've personally switched back to JPG because there is a HUGE difference (imo) in quality. And having a 256GB iPhone, size isn't a big worry.

What are you all doing? Have you noticed this?

 

[tr1ad]

I've noticed since the 7 series, quality on the whole has decreased - resulting in grainy photos / watercolor looking shots which is a big disappointment

 

[rocksyoursock]

Interesting. I’d be curious to see a similar test done with video.

 

[TL24]

No issues with HEIF here in my 8+. I’ve done comparison on my end and found no differences in quality. Keep in mind that HEIF is able to capture a wider color gamut as well.

 

[OneMike]

Interesting information. I haven't taken much photos or videos since I updated, so personally I don't have much info to compare yet. I'll keep this in mind though.

 

[upandown]

I haven't noticed a difference on my 7+ but I'll take a closer look

 

[edfoo]

I am reviewing my photos of skin lesions with Good Reader and found out the app cannot show photos in HEIC format, so have to keep all photos in the trusty JPG format.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I took photos of a birthday in the evening and wow... grainy but very vivid. Photo sizes were 1-1.8mb and grainy. Next indoor birthday I'll switch to JPEG and do a bit more of a realistic comparison. I'm impressed at the small photo sizes but I don't know.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UqYdQLGWCjGLsVqB2

https://photos.app.goo.gl/akVMNLT6yBXTbtxj2

Not complaining, just know it would be a lot sharper with JPG - and 50-80% larger file sizes too . I like the photos and for the incredible space savings, maybe the slightly grainier look is worth it.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Have you guys/gals stuck with .heic those that voted such?

I've been using it since I posted this and noticed that .heic sizes have doubled since the last few iOS updates - and the fluzzy lowlight problem is mostly gone - still a lot less than .jpg pictures. The only problem I have is that I'm using windows more and more and there isn't a great .heic or live photo option.

 

[Makayla]

I like .heic files because they are storage friendly but boy they can be inconvenient at times.

When I am stuck with a .heic file on my Windows PC I use the iMazing app to convert. So far it works great.

 

[thesaint024]

I use jpeg mainly because I have all the storage in the world now. Had to buy way more storage because of the options available. I might use jpeg anyway if only to force me to download my photos from my phone more frequently.

 

[Benz63amg]

I’m using the Jpg format here as well and I don’t mind the bigger file size of the jpg files either as I have the 256gb iPhone X. I personally did not like the fact that when importing photos from my iPhone to my iMac using Image Capture the imported photos had that odd HEIC extension that I couldn’t play on my iMac(i’m Running El captian) and so it rendered my photos useless that’s why I switched to JPG as soon as I realized that

 

[Zigourney]

After reading this - I am switching to JPEG.
I too have the 256gb iphone x, so no storage issues here.

I am a windows user too, so probably best if I just switch now rather than worry about space saving as Ive got plenty of space anyway.

 

[Benz63amg]

After reading this - I am switching to JPEG.
I too have the 256gb iphone x, so no storage issues here.

I am a windows user too, so probably best if I just switch now rather than worry about space saving as Ive got plenty of space anyway.

Great choice, all you have to do to switch to jpeg is switch the “high efficiency” setting under formats in the camera menu to “most compatible”.

There is a secondary setting under “photos” called transfer to PC or Mac that has 2 options (keep originals and automatic) and should be kept at “keep originals” to insure full quality is transferred to the Mac or PC during import, not sure what “automatic” does.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I agree with the above posters - that said, the whole 16 bit vs 8 bit bothers me. Supposedly HEIC is a better photo quality/color because of the higher bits.

http://nokiatech.github.io/heif/comparison.html

What do you all think?

I haven't seen this in my own photos (exact opposite especially in low light). That said the 8+ takes amazing photos so it is really difficult to see without blowing up to 100%. In daylight I can KINDA see the HEIC having more vibrancy but I'm far from a pro photographer and like others here, I use Windows a lot so... I have that going against me.

Supposedly HEIC is better in color and sharpness. ?

My only argument AGAINST HEIC in that article is that the file sizes are very similar. Ok, if the file sizes are similar, HEIC will win. However, on iPhone 8+ - my JPG files are 8-12mb while the HEIC are usually half that. In that respect, I think that's why I see the JPG as far superior quality especially in low light.

So my phone is set to JPG.

 

[orev]

Has anyone compared the photo quality of files transferred using the "keep originals" option (heic) vs the "automatic" option (jpg) in the Photos settings? The camera will use HEIC when High Efficiency is selected, and then converts them to JPG upon transfer depending on the setting in Photos. I imagine there's some quality hit when going from HEIC to JPG.

Great choice, all you have to do to switch to jpeg is switch the “high efficiency” setting under formats in the camera menu to “most compatible”.

There is a secondary setting under “photos” called transfer to PC or Mac that has 2 options (keep originals and automatic) and should be kept at “keep originals” to insure full quality is transferred to the Mac or PC during import, not sure what “automatic” does.

Automatic converts them to JPG when transferring to a PC.

Personally I'd rather use HEIC with larger file sizes to get better quality than to try to match the JPG quality at a smaller file size.

 

[BigMcGuire]

The thing is that the iPhone pops out smaller HEIC photos than the JPG photos - when taking a pic of the same thing. So if they were the same size, HEIC would be higher quality. But because the JPG is 12 MB but the HEIC is 4MB - the JPG is a higher quality image imo. Though I don't know for sure, this is what I'm seeing and hoping others put their experiences.

As far as converting, I don't know too much about that cuz I haven't done it.

 

[Makayla]

Great choice, all you have to do to switch to jpeg is switch the “high efficiency” setting under formats in the camera menu to “most compatible”.

There is a secondary setting under “photos” called transfer to PC or Mac that has 2 options (keep originals and automatic) and should be kept at “keep originals” to insure full quality is transferred to the Mac or PC during import, not sure what “automatic” does.

Automatic will automatically convert heic files to JPEG when you are transferring them through a Usb cable to PC (I don't have a Mac so can't say to that). But from what I can tell it only works when the phone is directly connected. If I want to store them to iCloud or google drive it does not convert.

 

[orev]

The thing is that the iPhone pops out smaller HEIC photos than the JPG photos - when taking a pic of the same thing. So if they were the same size, HEIC would be higher quality. But because the JPG is 12 MB but the HEIC is 4MB - the JPG is a higher quality image imo. Though I don't know for sure, this is what I'm seeing and hoping others put their experiences.

As far as converting, I don't know too much about that cuz I haven't done it.

You can't assume that a larger file automatically means it has better quality. The JPG file format has been around forever (though changes have been made over the years), so there's no reason there couldn't be big changes to the quality/compression ratio that allow HEIC to have equal or better quality at smaller sizes. As a parallel, in video we had MPEG2 which was DVD quality, and then we went to h.264 which has a much smaller size but much better quality (and now on to HEVC for 4k video, which is what HEIC is based on).

I think the video in the OP is biased as they start by showing file sizes, then start talking about quality. Quality is in some ways subjective, so starting with the file sizes can bias perception of the quality by making one think the smaller file size has less quality. Also a video is additionally compressed so it cannot be an honest representation of the image quality.

The link you posted here shows much better quality for HEIC than JPG, though the file sizes are very small compared to normal photos:
https://nokiatech.github.io/heif/comparison.html


I wish you could select the format differently for photos and video. I might prefer to use JPG for photos but still want HEVC for video.

 

[BigMcGuire]

You can't assume that a larger file automatically means it has better quality. The JPG file format has been around forever (though changes have been made over the years), so there's no reason there couldn't be big changes to the quality/compression ratio that allow HEIC to have equal or better quality at smaller sizes. As a parallel, in video we had MPEG2 which was DVD quality, and then we went to h.264 which has a much smaller size but much better quality (and now on to HEVC for 4k video, which is what HEIC is based on).

I think the video in the OP is biased as they start by showing file sizes, then start talking about quality. Quality is in some ways subjective, so starting with the file sizes can bias perception of the quality by making one think the smaller file size has less quality. Also a video is additionally compressed so it cannot be an honest representation of the image quality.

The link you posted here shows much better quality for HEIC than JPG, though the file sizes are very small compared to normal photos:
https://nokiatech.github.io/heif/comparison.html

I wish you could select the format differently for photos and video. I might prefer to use JPG for photos but still want HEVC for video.

Agreed - I wish it was a clear "HEIC offers better quality photos" or "JPG does but you sacrifice quality" --- my guess is that Apple probably spent quite a bit of time making sure they were as close as possible at this point in time.

It looks like the last few iOS releases allow you to have JPG photos but choose 4k at 60FPS (High Efficiency) at the same time now.

But yeah, agreed 100% - thanks for your post!

 

[Benz63amg]

Why would someone pick the “automatic” setting and have their photos “converted” to jpg when their in the process of importing their photos from the iPhone to the computer(Mac/PC) when in reality the photos can be “shot” In jpg from the source which is the iphone’s Internal camera and avoid a conversion which degrades the image quality to some extent altogether?

 

[orev]

Why would someone pick the “automatic” setting and have their photos “coverted” to jpg when their importing their photos to the computer when in reality the photos can be “shot” In jpg from the source which is the iphone’s Internal camera and avoid a conversion which degrades the image quality to some extent altogether?

Using HEIC format on the phone would save space on the phone, and it wouldn't matter so much when transferring to a PC. HIEC also acts as a container for multiple images like the live photos. I don't know all the details of HEIC, but it's possible that it could be transcoded to JPG without losing quality depending on how the algorithms work.