iPhone 11 Pro Curious effect when opening HDR images in Photos app

[zorinlynx]

I've noticed that when I open an HDR photo on my 11 Pro Max, the photo looks non-HDR at first sometimes, then the bright areas slowly get brighter and you get the full effect. This doesn't happen every time; usually it's only when you open an HDR photo from the photo picker. When you're swiping through from photo to photo, the HDR effect shows consistently.

Is this effect intentional, or just some oddness with the way OLED screens work? This is my first OLED phone so I'm loving the look of HDR photos, but would rather they just appear as HDR right away!

 

[akash.nu]

It’s not an effect. I’m guessing you’ve got iCloud optimisation turned on?!

 

[ryanmp]

Don’t believe this has anything to do with iCloud optimisation.

It is completely normal. This is the phone adjusting the display to show the full dynamic range of the photo. On supported devices you can turn the option on/off in the Photos section in Settings.

 

[akash.nu]

Don’t believe this has anything to do with iCloud optimisation.

It is completely normal. This is the phone adjusting the display to show the full dynamic range of the photo. On supported devices you can turn the option on/off in the Photos section in Settings.

I’ve noticed a shift in colour when the device needs to download the image from iCloud instead of showing just the thumbnail.

 

[symphony]

It’s not an effect. I’m guessing you’ve got iCloud optimisation turned on?!

It has nothing to do with that. The OP is viewing HDR photos on an HDR-capable display that enables the HDR effect.

It’s like watching movies with Dolby Vision, the highlights will exceed the current screen brightness and shadows can reach deeper blacks.

The feature is on by default and can be disabled in Settings > Photos > View Full HDR

I've noticed that when I open an HDR photo on my 11 Pro Max, the photo looks non-HDR at first sometimes, then the bright areas slowly get brighter and you get the full effect. This doesn't happen every time; usually it's only when you open an HDR photo from the photo picker. When you're swiping through from photo to photo, the HDR effect shows consistently.

Is this effect intentional, or just some oddness with the way OLED screens work? This is my first OLED phone so I'm loving the look of HDR photos, but would rather they just appear as HDR right away!

It’s intentional. The feature is in Settings > Photos.

Only HDR photos have this effect, well some at least. Usually the HDR effect kicks in for photos that have highlights blown out. Even with Smart HDR, the photo has to be very dramatic to kick in.

The iPhone X is capable of this, but the effect has been increased for the iPhone XS (60% greater dynamic range) and now the iPhone 11 Pro (dont.

Even old HDR photos taken from very old iPhones can have this effect on OLED phones.

It looks really good. It makes everything pop.

Sadly, not a lot of people know about this feature.

 

[ApplePieAlaMode]

I was wondering about this. Noticed immediately when opening photos in editing mode that that colors and range are shifting. I have “view full HDR” enabled. It’s also happening when I zoom in using the editing app. The image shifts back and forth in color. I just assumed it was the phone lagging or playing catch up to show the full rez or possible software glitch. hmmm interesting.. I’m not sure I like seeing that shift when editing.

 

[jackbauer1909]

Hey there,
I think I have the same effect. When just scrolling through photos in the photos app, the pics look good, but not great. When I slightly zoom in to a photo, the hdr effect pops in and the photo becomes much sharper.
Is this really normal or is it a bug?

 

[symphony]

Hey there,
I think I have the same effect. When just scrolling through photos in the photos app, the pics look good, but not great. When I slightly zoom in to a photo, the hdr effect pops in and the photo becomes much sharper.
Is this really normal or is it a bug?

The HDR effect should start working the moment you open the photo.

 

[jackbauer1909]

Yeah well... it doesn‘t. The HDR effect (or whatever it is sharpening the picture) starts when I slightly zoom into the pic....

 

[OlexandrIgnatov]

I'm curious whats the purpose of viewing HDR on your smartphone if it doesn't show as HDR almost everywhere else, and you can't even edit it as HDR photo. If you load it into Snapseed or VSCO or similar it will just use the regular version. It doesn't make much sense because you're not seeing the picture you're gonna be working with, if you plan to do it, it kinda tricks you into it's better than it is.