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kamilq

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 20, 2022
2
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Hi. Have you noticed the problem which can be seen in the linked video? It's 4k 60fps HDR footage recorded by brand new 13 Pro Max. The problem is the "grainy"(?) effect visible for example on the earth (left side) or road after fast moving the camera. Not sure if it's software (iOS 15.4) or hardware related issue. When I turn off "HDR video" in settings, the problem seems to disappear. Any thoughts or does it exist on your 13 Pro / Max? Trying to google it, but haven't found anything interesting :c

 
Tbh I tried to repeat this test with 13 PM in store - the same result, even with slower move. Not sure if iOS bug or some kind of feature that I don't understand.
 
I have the exact same problem with the 13 Pro which i bought a few days ago.
If i disable HDR Video, the problem no longer exists.

Hopefully this can be resolved with an update...
 
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I'm trying to understand your issue. I've been watching your video on YouTube on my MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max in 4K with HDR enabled, and the worst I can see is that your jerky movements cause the iPhone's hardware to apply some degree of compression to compensate.
 
Hi. Have you noticed the problem which can be seen in the linked video? It's 4k 60fps HDR footage recorded by brand new 13 Pro Max. The problem is the "grainy"(?) effect visible for example on the earth (left side) or road after fast moving the camera. Not sure if it's software (iOS 15.4) or hardware related issue. When I turn off "HDR video" in settings, the problem seems to disappear. Any thoughts or does it exist on your 13 Pro / Max? Trying to google it, but haven't found anything interesting :c

Actually I can confirm this! From the very first day after purchasing the 13 Pro i noticed the grainy effect in 4k 60fps HDR video recordings. I have bad news for you: this "grain" or noise is actually... video compression artifacts. The same ones you get with bad quality JPG files.
Just take a look at this closeup screenshots of 4k 60fps HDR-ON and 4k 60fps HDR-OFF:
Obraz (1).jpg

The compression and quality loss is clearly visible on the left.
I think there are two possibilities:
a) iPhone 13 Pro is not powerful enough to maintain stable 4k 60fps with HDR ON, so Apple had to implement a lot of compression to make it even possible.
b) this is purely software shortcoming which can be fixed with next ios update - HOPEFULLY THAT'S THE CASE

What's interesting is that if you lower fps to 30 and keep 4k and HDR ON, those compression artifacts are gone! So the problem is only with 4k 60fps HDR ON. This proves that this grainy effect is a result of compression, which Apple implemented to be able to show off with 4k 60fps Dolby Vision videos. Nevertheless the quality loss is visible especially in darker areas, trees, grass and other tiny objects. Also I noticed that artifacts are the most visible while camera is moving.

Yesterday I talked on the phone with Apple Support and to them this is something new. Of course they wanted screenshots and everything but their response was that probably my iPhone is faulty, or perhaps the backup file was corrupted and some software errors were copied from older iPhone. I don't buy it at all. They said that only because there are no similar reports from other iPhone users.

Please make your own screenshots and make an appointment with Apple Support to get a phonecall. Provide them with your screenshots. Only if there are more of us we can make Apple admit that the problem is there in every iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max. And only if there are more of us, there is a chance they will do something about it and at least try to fix it in next updates.

PS. I even made a topic on this on discussions.apple.com:

PS2:Also there is another problem with overexposure with 13 Pro videos which I also reported and here you can see the topic:
 
I have some good news people. There is a way to get much better quality videos with HDR ON. The quality is soo good that it even surpasses the standard camera app HDR OFF quality.
Don't think that it's some kind of ad! It's not! I accidentaly discovered that my favourite HDR Photo app has some serious Video functions. This app is ProCamera and you can buy it on the AppStore.
Here you can see the settings that you can change (also you can change formats between H.264, H.265(HEVC) and ProRes422 and even set many different fps settings like 48 or 50):
IMG_3802.PNG

And now the good stuff. Some comparison of close up screenshots between standard iOS camera 4k 60fps HDR ON, 4k 60fps HDR OFF, ProCamera 4k 60fps HDR ON - see the attatched files.

As you can see the quality on ProCamera is really great. The conclusion is that this is not iPhone 13 Pro being too weak to record good quality 4g 60fps HDR videos. The issue is the iOS camera app itself.
I am going to report this to Apple Support and hope they will fix it in upcoming updates.
 

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Apple tries to hide the facts... My topic on Apple Discussions forum has disappeared!
 
I have some good news people. There is a way to get much better quality videos with HDR ON. The quality is soo good that it even surpasses the standard camera app HDR OFF quality.
Don't think that it's some kind of ad! It's not! I accidentaly discovered that my favourite HDR Photo app has some serious Video functions. This app is ProCamera and you can buy it on the AppStore.
Here you can see the settings that you can change (also you can change formats between H.264, H.265(HEVC) and ProRes422 and even set many different fps settings like 48 or 50):
View attachment 2004465
And now the good stuff. Some comparison of close up screenshots between standard iOS camera 4k 60fps HDR ON, 4k 60fps HDR OFF, ProCamera 4k 60fps HDR ON - see the attatched files.

As you can see the quality on ProCamera is really great. The conclusion is that this is not iPhone 13 Pro being too weak to record good quality 4g 60fps HDR videos. The issue is the iOS camera app itself.
I am going to report this to Apple Support and hope they will fix it in upcoming updates.
Hello. Mind to share which of this two apps are you talking about:
1. ProCamera - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/procamera/id694647259
2. Pro Camera by Moment - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pro-camera-by-moment/id927098908
Thank you.
 
It's the low bitrate. The phone changes the bitrate likely to save on space, it may average around 40Mbps from what I have tested. Ideally you would want 80Mbps even with an HEVC encode, it's clearly visible in the sky.

40Mbps for 4K/60fps and Dolby Vision is way too low, if you want a picture perfect video.
 
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