Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The 4K that comes from iPhones in iOS 11 has all been 8-bit, although I don’t know for the latest iPhones coming out soon. I assume they are all also 8-bit but I’m not 100% sure.

Yes it will play fine in QuickTime but it would be interesting to see how IINA handles it and other 8-bit 4K. Should be fine on recent hardware though.
 
Interestingly, it seems QuickTime and IINA approach high bitrate files differently. I transferred an 8-bit 4K iPhone video to my 2009 MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz, no hardware HEVC decode obviously). QuickTime tried to play in real time, but since it couldn't, it just skipped large amounts of frames. CPU usage was often well below 100%. IINA tried to play more of the frames, but slowed down the video. It was still jerky, but more of the frames were actually displayed. CPU usage was 100%.

However, if you have an older machine without hardware decode of any sort, I will confirm again other posts that a lot of 1080p30 HEVC trailers and demo videos play just fine in software.

This Rogue One 1080p30 HEVC video at 7.7 Mbps plays perfectly on my 2009 MacBook Pro with IINA.

http://www.digital-digest.com/movies/Rogue_One_A_Star_Wars_Story_HEVC_Theatrical_Trailer_2.html

Summary:

Even on a Core 2 Duo, 1080p30 HEVC 8-bit movie trailers play perfectly, but 4Kp30 HEVC 8-bit video from an iPhone does not.
 
Last edited:
What HEVC 1080p60 content? For example, it seems that the stuff recorded on the iPhone 7 is a lot easier to decode than a lot of demo videos (even 8-bit ones) out on the internet.
Also, what kind of CPU usage are you seeing, and with what specific equipment? But yeah, I wouldn't worry that much about 1080p60. It's the 4Kp60 stuff that is the killer. My 2009 13" Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz will choke on some 1080p HEVC content though.

Attached are two screenshots of relevant system load while playing the same iPhone-7-captured 1080p60 HEVC video in both QuickTime Player and IINA.
Both play with full speed and full motion, though QuickTime Player is noticeably better with CPU usage.

I tried some low-bitrate 10-bit 1080p24 content, which also performed admirably, and with very little CPU usage — IINA and QuickTime's CPU usage difference scaled back similarly.

For reference, I'm on an i7 Mid-2012 MacBook Air (i7-3667U)

I do have to say that even after all the experience I've had with transcoding and device compatibility over the years, I'm still surprised at the difference that bitrate can play in performance. Though it does seem logical (and obvious :) ) — more bitrate means more numbers to crunch.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2017-09-17 at 8.19.53 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2017-09-17 at 8.19.53 AM.png
    18.9 KB · Views: 224
  • Screen Shot 2017-09-17 at 8.22.06 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2017-09-17 at 8.22.06 AM.png
    14.7 KB · Views: 215
i'm seeing this when trying to play that Rogue One trailer in Quicktime. same thing happens for any HEVC video. 2011 iMac

not sure why exactly?
 
1) Are you running 10.13 High Sierra?
2) If yes to #1, do you have a legacy version of QT installed?
3) If yes to #1 and #2, did you open the file with the right version of QT?
Strange. Didn't work for me either on my High Sierra MacBook5,1. Maybe I linked the wrong file. Let me look again for the right file.

As for the legacy QT, when QT X came out it was very feature poor, so many people had QT 7 and QT X on the same machine.
[doublepost=1505859290][/doublepost]
woops forgot the screenshot

WMzpNQu.png
I edited my post. It plays fine in IINA, but wouldn't open in QT, so I linked the wrong file. However, I can't seem to find the right file that opens in QT at the moment. Sorry about that.

However, the 1080p HEVC (low bitrate) files here play fine. The 4K HEVC doesn't, despite being only 2 Mbps.

https://x265.com/hevc-video-files/

I'll look for some more. However it is hard to find free 1080p HEVC trailers. Most of the 1080p files are h.264 and most of the HEVC files are either MKV or else 4K.

BTW, I just upgraded a Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz MacBook5,1 to High Sierra too, and it struggles a little bit more with 1080p HEVC than my Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz MacBookPro5,5. I guess that 13% speed boost for the MBP makes a significant difference at these performance levels.
[doublepost=1505859917][/doublepost]Here are 720p, 1080p, and 4K versions of Tears of Steel in HEVC MKV format. They won't play in QuickTime, but they'll play in IINA.

http://www.libde265.org/blog/2014/02/28/libde265-hevc-performance/

My Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz MacBook can play the 1080p HEVC file (in software).
 
Last edited:
Strange. Didn't work for me either on my High Sierra MacBook5,1. Maybe I linked the wrong file. Let me look again for the right file.

As for the legacy QT, when QT X came out it was very feature poor, so many people had QT 7 and QT X on the same machine.
[doublepost=1505859290][/doublepost]
I edited my post. It plays fine in IINA, but wouldn't open in QT, so I linked the wrong file. However, I can't seem to find the right file that opens in QT at the moment. Sorry about that.

However, the 1080p HEVC (low bitrate) files here play fine. The 4K HEVC doesn't, despite being only 2 Mbps.

https://x265.com/hevc-video-files/

I'll look for some more. However it is hard to find free 1080p HEVC trailers. Most of the 1080p files are h.264 and most of the HEVC files are either MKV or else 4K.

BTW, I just upgraded a Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz MacBook5,1 to High Sierra too, and it struggles a little bit more with 1080p HEVC than my Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz MacBookPro5,5. I guess that 13% speed boost for the MBP makes a significant difference at these performance levels.
[doublepost=1505859917][/doublepost]Here are 720p, 1080p, and 4K versions of Tears of Steel in HEVC MKV format. They won't play in QuickTime, but they'll play in IINA.

http://www.libde265.org/blog/2014/02/28/libde265-hevc-performance/

My Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz MacBook can play the 1080p HEVC file (in software).
okay, but my whole point being that it's weird that everything doesn't play in Quicktime if it's in an mp4 container and HEVC. i have my whole Plex library of movies in mp4 via Subler from mkv so it should play just fine in Quicktime...
 
okay, but my whole point being that it's weird that everything doesn't play in Quicktime if it's in an mp4 container and HEVC. i have my whole Plex library of movies in mp4 via Subler from mkv so it should play just fine in Quicktime...
No, it depends upon how it was encoded. For example, if it wasn't encoded as hcv1 HEVC, it probably won't work. I believe hev1 HEVC encodes are incompatible. The Handbrake nightlies will encode as hcv1 HEVC.
 
okay, but my whole point being that it's weird that everything doesn't play in Quicktime if it's in an mp4 container and HEVC. i have my whole Plex library of movies in mp4 via Subler from mkv so it should play just fine in Quicktime...

Mp4 created by Subler before version 1.3.7 from mkv can't be opened in QuickTime. The latest version try to force the "hvc1" fourCC, so it will work for most mkv files. A better fix is coming probably soon.
 
Last edited:
I am curious if there are differences. Subler claims they just change the foourcc, but I don't know if mp4box actually tries to do it properly.
I've had nothing but success with HEVC .mp4s by changing any instance of "hev1" to "hvc1" with a hex editor.
Once changed, the .mp4s open up in QuickTime Player perfectly.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thewroots
I've had nothing but success with HEVC .mp4s by changing any instance of "hev1" to "hvc1" with a hex editor.
Once changed, the .mp4s open up in QuickTime Player perfectly.
Heh. That's hilarious. I wonder what's the point of the difference between hev1 and hcv1 is then in QuickTime.
 
That's not the only difference. "hvc1" fourCC means all the data needed to initialise the HEVC decoder can be found in the mp4 file structure, without parsing the video frames. "hev1" means some data can be in the mp4 container structure, or maybe not, no one knows, so you have to parse each video frame, and if some new configuration data is found reinitialise the HEVC decoder.

But 99% of the files out there put all the needed data in the mp4 structure, even if they use the "hev1" fourCC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: killawat
really confused. Downloaded a ray donavon episode h265 HEVC mkv file. Will not play on my MacBook pro 2016 running high sierra.

Put the file in my dropbox and it plays just fine on my iPhone 7 & iPad pro, both running ios11.

I was under the impression that high sierra had native sport and iTunes would also support these formats? What am I missing?
 
really confused. Downloaded a ray donavon episode h265 HEVC mkv file. Will not play on my MacBook pro 2016 running high sierra.

Put the file in my dropbox and it plays just fine on my iPhone 7 & iPad pro, both running ios11.
Plays fine in what? Cuz MKV may take another player.

I was under the impression that high sierra had native sport and iTunes would also support these formats? What am I missing?
MKV not supported in QuickTime.
 
Don't you have VLC installed? Because I'd be very surprised if Apple supported MKV.
Though I've heard that the latest iTunes finally supports FLAC.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.