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iOS 26: Capture iPhone Screen Content in HDR

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple's iOS 26 update, currently in beta, brings a nice optional upgrade to screen capture quality with HDR (High Dynamic Range) capture support. The new feature captures or video-records what's on your iPhone's screen while preserving rich colors and detail.

iOS-26-Screenshots.jpg

HDR screenshots are particularly valuable when capturing content with high contrast – like bright app interfaces against dark backgrounds, HDR videos, or detailed photos. The enhanced dynamic range preserves details that would typically be lost in standard screenshots, making them ideal for sharing visual content or documenting app interfaces with greater fidelity.

How to Enable HDR Screenshots

The following steps show you how to switch from standard to HDR screenshot capture:
  1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
  2. Scroll down and tap General.
  3. Tap Screen Capture.
  4. Under "Format," tap HDR.
hdr-screenshots-ios.jpg


That's all there is to it. Your iPhone will now capture all screenshots in HDR format, and video record in HEVC HDR10 format, providing superior image quality with enhanced dynamic range. Just be mindful that the trade-off is larger file sizes, as HDR captures store more image data than standard PNG screenshots and HEVC screen recording.

To return to standard screenshot capture, simply select SDR (Most Compatible) under the same "Format" section in the settings menu.

Additional Screen Capture Features

iOS 26 also includes other useful screen capture options in the same Settings menu. You can enable Full-Screen Previews to display screenshots in a larger view instead of showing a thumbnail, turn on Automatic Visual Look Up to identify objects in your screenshots, and enable or disable CarPlay Screenshots for capturing car display screens.

Article Link: iOS 26: Capture iPhone Screen Content in HDR
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/ios-vibrant-screenshots-iphone-hdr/
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The problem with HDR is that displays do map it (sometimes wildely) differently, so it’s not very portable. HDR is defined in terms of absolute luminance values, however displays rarely actually display those (because you adjust brightness to the environment), not to mention that displays differ in the dynamic range they are capable of displaying. Different algorithms are used to compensate for that, so it’s a bit of a mess.

My understanding is that with Liquid Glass, Apple is for the first time using HDR highlights in the actual UI (i.e. not just in media content), and that’s the motivation for supporting it in screenshots.
 
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And you thought standard PNG‘s were large :rolleyes:
Time for another image format standard.
 
MacRumors said:
Just be mindful that the trade-off is larger file sizes, as HDR captures store more image data than standard PNG screenshots and HEVC screen recording.
Click to expand...
OS26 SDR PNG screenshots are approximately 10x the file size (heavily dependant on the detail captured) but 100% lossless within SDR limits.

In practice I don’t think HDR10 HEVC video captures are much different from SDR HEVC in file size.

The latest PNG format supports HDR too (as demonstrated here) but there may be compatibility issues when sharing HDR PNGs with older operating systems. Ideally both iOS/iPadOS (SDR/HDR) still-capture options would be lossless and support transparency for capture of individual window/menu parts like macOS’ Shift+Command+4, Spacebar.
 
Good to have the various options. Have to update and see what I prefer. HDR capture is a nice feature. Might turn off full screen previews.
 
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klasma said:
The problem with HDR is that displays map it (sometimes widely) differently, so it’s not very portable. HDR is defined in terms of absolute luminance values, however displays rarely actually display those (because you adjust brightness to the environment), not to mention that displays differ in the dynamic range they are capable of displaying. Different algorithms are used to compensate for that, so it’s a bit of a mess.

My understanding is that with Liquid Glass, Apple is for the first time using HDR highlights in the actual UI (i.e. not just in media content), and that’s the motivation for supporting it in screenshots.
Click to expand...
The OS has run in HDR for a while already - which is why you could do windowed HDR video in some places - but various standards to support that weren’t finished and the support massive varied between apps (mostly just safari and photos)
IPhone uses Display P3 HLG for video recording and maybe for photos too (stored as a gain map), which aren’t absolute - they are relative much like standard srgb or whatever - IOs actually clips out or turns off highlights based around the current scene brightness and temperature of the device

My experience so far with the betas is that the HDR experience is that support for photos is better now ; they often display in previews and in apps like messages where they did not before.
I’ve not really seen much evidence of it in the UI on iPhone - but they may opt not too as there are battery life implications to driving the screen brighter more often.

I have seen it on the UI in TvOS - it at the very meats uses it in basic ways - like additive blending..

But to come back to screenshots, they are saved in HEIF format; the same as photos are; they are maybe 1/10th the size of the normal PNG files
 
Finally! I've been waiting for this for years.

JosephAW said:
And you thought standard PNG‘s were large :rolleyes:
Time for another image format standard.
Click to expand...
Like HEIF? These upcoming HDR screenshots are in HEIF.
Shin-Ra said:
In practice I don’t think HDR10 HEVC video captures are much different from SDR HEVC in file size.
Click to expand...
The HDR metadata for HDR10 or Dolby Vision is tiny, and 10-bit HEVC actually compresses more effectively than 8-bit HEVC. Even for 8-bit sources, using 10-bit HEVC is a best practice.
 
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banfiz said:
I really wish Apple would let you screen shot a whole webpage, document or image, even what's off the screen
Click to expand...
Many good examples here pointing to the way to do this from inside Safari and such.

For apps that where this mechanism doesn't work, I use an app called PicSew - you take multiple screenshots while scrolling the page in question (with some overlap - an inch or so), and then open up PicSew - it looks at the end of your camera roll, identifies the images that fit together, and aligns/overlaps them perfectly into one image - then you click share to save the combined image back to the camera roll (or elsewhere) and click the trashcan to remove the original separate images from the camera roll.

I've been using this for years and I'm very happy with the results. You can also go back and edit images in PicSew to cut out some sections (like that ad in the middle of some article), to make it more presentable.
 
Jana_CZ said:
Only specific apps such as Safari.

If you want a screenshot e.g. of an intervals run from the Fitness app, you're out of luck - and have to stitch together a collage in a 3rd party app if you want the whole thing.
Click to expand...
I've been using PicSew for this for years - works great.
 
CarlJ said:
I've been using PicSew for this for years - works great.
Click to expand...
Yes, there are many 3rd party apps that can do that, but the point is we shouldn't have to use them - iOS should be able to save the whole page in one piece...
 
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