iPhone 12 Pro Videos on 12 Pro coming out bad. Light "flickering"

[Supra Mac]

Can someone do this test attached. I'm getting some bad light flicker, even more so with HDR. This is on my 12 Pro, HDR off as it makes it worse. My iPad Pro 9.7 does not do this. I have played with the settings and while some minimize it, its still there. See flashes on the wall.

Edit, the clip below is just a test to show it, the light flicker has been distracting and stealing focus on the shot of indoor filming including some good natural lighting. Goal is not to get a nice video of the wall. ☺️. I'm trying to rule out if its just my unit.

iPhone 12 Pro

 

[loybond]

That's the extended dynamic range doing it's thing. It combines 2 exposures into 1 frame, but the exposure value changes for each frame. Something bright (the lights in that room) can throw off the exposure when the framing changes. I don't think you can turn that feature off.

 

[AmazingTechGeek]

When making professional videos, you must always keep the entire scene in mind and must incorporate into your vision or at least utilize lighting as setup. You must always account for global lighting on any recording device or else something will easily go wrong in your recordings.

Once you master this, then we can talk about whether or not the iPhone 12 series has issues recording video in accurate lighting.

 

[Supra Mac]

That's the extended dynamic range doing it's thing. It combines 2 exposures into 1 frame, but the exposure value changes for each frame. Something bright (the lights in that room) can throw off the exposure when the framing changes. I don't think you can turn that feature off.

Thanks for the feedback. So this even with HDR off its still doing extended dynamic range?

 

[Supra Mac]

When making professional videos, you must always keep the entire scene in mind and must incorporate into your vision or at least utilize lighting as setup. You must always account for global lighting on any recording device or else something will easily go wrong in your recordings.

Once you master this, then we can talk about whether or not the iPhone 12 series has issues recording video in accurate lighting.

I understand your view as a proactive approach to professional filming. In my case I have notice the light flicker on I guess you can call reactive filming, everyday type of in the moment video of my kids indoor with natural lighting. It's distracting to the main focus of the shot.

Here is the same shoot on iPad Pro 9.7 for reference, no distracting flicker. Outdoors I can see it in the slightest bit but not to the point of distraction.

I'm curious if anyone is having the same issue on their 12 indoors? Trying to rule out if it's just my unit.

iPad Pro 9.7

 

[MisterMillz]

Loybond and Extendedtechgeek have pretty much explained what’s happening. Your iPad doesn’t do it because it lacks the same HDR capabilities.

Rare that someone swings a camera back and forth against a bright colored wall for home video purposes as you mentioned to begin with. It’s accounting for the change in light which is a good thing. Go slower and you will see how that happens—albeit still noticeably, but much smoother. Confirmed on both my iPhone 12 pro and iPad Pro 11.

 

[Supra Mac]

Loybond and Extendedtechgeek have pretty much explained what’s happening. Your iPad doesn’t do it because it lacks the same HDR capabilities.

Rare that someone swings a camera back and forth against a bright colored wall for home video purposes as you mentioned to begin with. It’s accounting for the change in light which is a good thing. Go slower and you will see how that happens—albeit still noticeably, but much smoother. Confirmed on both my iPhone 12 pro and iPad Pro 11.

Thanks for testing out.

I got a Mini on order but expect the same, just found this thread with others having same issue in more conditions.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/light-flickering-when-recording-video-on-12-pro.2263660/

 

[loybond]

Thanks for the feedback. So this even with HDR off its still doing extended dynamic range?

Yeah the smart HDR is for pictures, and other than conceptually, it's not related to the extended dynamic range in video.

It's actually an amazing feature, something that I wish was incorporated into my real cameras. There are situations where you can see that it needs further development, like the one you demonstrated, but it still does amazing things that no other phone or camera can do.

 

[elhungarian]

Hopefully they will give us a way to turn that off. Annoying.

 

[Supra Mac]

Hopefully a software fix for this. Other than that the cameras are awesome.

 

[leecrawford]

Can someone do this test attached. I'm getting some bad light flicker, even more so with HDR. This is on my 12 Pro, HDR off as it makes it worse. My iPad Pro 9.7 does not do this. I have played with the settings and while some minimize it, its still there. See flashes on the wall.

Edit, the clip below is just a test to show it, the light flicker has been distracting and stealing focus on the shot of indoor filming including some good natural lighting. Goal is not to get a nice video of the wall. ☺️. I'm trying to rule out if its just my unit.

iPhone 12 Pro
View attachment 1608481

I’ve had this issue with 3 seperate 12 pro phones.

Yeah the smart HDR is for pictures, and other than conceptually, it's not related to the extended dynamic range in video.

It's actually an amazing feature, something that I wish was incorporated into my real cameras. There are situations where you can see that it needs further development, like the one you demonstrated, but it still does amazing things that no other phone or camera can do.

there’s an option to turn off HDR for video too, but even with this off there’s still that godawful flicker / strobing effect in the recordings.

 

[Jakki]

I also have this problem on iPhone 12 Pro.

Video is unusable. It does not matter whether it's 4k, HD, 60 fps, 30 fps, 24 fps, HDR on or off, automatic FPS on or off. It also does not help to lock the exposure by pressing and holding some part of the screen.

In some scenes it is less noticeable, but it's always there. Initially i thought that this is the smart HDR feature doing its thing, but now I'm confident that this is some fundamental problem with the camera firmware / calibration etc.

I hope they fix it in coming iOS versions. As of now, the video camera is, IMHO, completely worthless to anyone with a working pair of eyes.

 

[loybond]

I also have this problem on iPhone 12 Pro.

Video is unusable. It does not matter whether it's 4k, HD, 60 fps, 30 fps, 24 fps, HDR on or off, automatic FPS on or off. It also does not help to lock the exposure by pressing and holding some part of the screen.

In some scenes it is less noticeable, but it's always there. Initially i thought that this is the smart HDR feature doing its thing, but now I'm confident that this is some fundamental problem with the camera firmware / calibration etc.

I hope they fix it in coming iOS versions. As of now, the video camera is, IMHO, completely worthless to anyone with a working pair of eyes.

That is the extended dynamic range constantly adjusting due to the changing exposure. Lol unusable. You're blowing this way out of proportion.

 

[Jakki]

That is the extended dynamic range constantly adjusting due to the changing exposure. Lol unusable. You're blowing this way out of proportion.

That’s what I thought initially, too. But: turning off HDR won’t help and it only happens when camera is panned along the long edge of the viewport (horizontally in this orientation).

Of course you could use the footage if you accept the horrible quality Some people won’t mind, and it’s ok!

The audio equivalent would be having a microphone that is constantly hissing and popping due to ”enhancement” algorithms that cannot be turned off. But as I said, I don’t believe this is the HDR doing its stuff, at least not in the intended way.

 

[Jakki]

Here's another clip in natural light. I added a high contrast version to the end to emphasize the problem. HDR is turned off (even though it doesn't matter)

It sure looks like some kind of tone mapping going on, but it isn't pretty. I love the idea of HDR video, but *if* this is the final implementation, I'd rather have the option to dumb down the camera when needed. But, I really think this is some kind of bug or defect, not a feature.

 

[TrueBlou]

Not the best solution in the world, I'll grant you, but if you're unhappy with the default Apple App then maybe try out some others.
I have a few installed on my phone, for various situations, but to see if it's going to help you at all, I'd suggest something like ProMovie Recorder as it's free to download and other than a watermark, doesn't limit its options. It has so may options for locking ISO, white balance, exposure, and so on, that you might find a solution to minimise what you are seeing.

 

[Jakki]

Not the best solution in the world, I'll grant you, but if you're unhappy with the default Apple App then maybe try out some others.
I have a few installed on my phone, for various situations, but to see if it's going to help you at all, I'd suggest something like ProMovie Recorder as it's free to download and other than a watermark, doesn't limit its options. It has so may options for locking ISO, white balance, exposure, and so on, that you might find a solution to minimise what you are seeing.

Thanks a lot for your suggestion!

I tried it right away, but unfortunately the problem persists:

I tried setting manual ISO, white balance, shutter and exposure, as well as selecting different resolutions and frame rates, but it didn't help. This leads me to believe that flickering is "burned in" to the picture before any app processing takes place.

Thanks for offering your help though!

 

[Next Stop]

12 Pro max outside, same thing.

 

[Jakki]

12 Pro max outside, same thing.

This is an excellent demonstration of the problem under normal shooting conditions (no deliberate attempt to bring up the problem, I assume). I think this is not just a minor flaw, but a showstopper for anyone who uses the camera for more than just for fun.

 

[Deifie]

Could this be caused by the framerate change due to the low available light?
Did someone try it with the auto fps disabled?

 

[Jakki]

Could this be caused by the framerate change due to the low available light?
Did someone try it with the auto fps disabled?

Just did, sadly there is no difference.

 

[Supra Mac]

Dolby Seasons
Spring===>Fall
Spring<===Fall

 

[ionmihaimarian]

Isn't this "issue" related to neon lights (fluorescent)? On my iPhone 12 Pro it happens when I am at work and in my office I have this kind of cold fluorescent lightning. At home or in any other places this issue is not happening, no matter if it is cold or warm light, or if it's an incandescence light source or LED bulbs.

 

[Jakki]

Isn't this "issue" related to neon lights (fluorescent)? On my iPhone 12 Pro it happens when I am at work and in my office I have this kind of cold fluorescent lightning. At home or in any other places this issue is not happening, no matter if it is cold or warm light, or if it's an incandescence light source or LED bulbs.

Fluorescent lights with older type magnetic ballasts and also cheaper led lights with poor filtering can cause flickering in video, especially in higher shutter speeds, but it’s a different thing and not related to issue presented in this thread.

This problem occurs in natural light as well, so it isn’t related to the type of light source used.

 

[ionmihaimarian]

Fluorescent lights with older type magnetic ballasts and also cheaper led lights with poor filtering can cause flickering in video, especially in higher shutter speeds, but it’s a different thing and not related to issue presented in this thread.

This problem occurs in natural light as well, so it isn’t related to the type of light source used.

I see. Fortunately, my phone doesn't have this issue when recording videos in natural light. Thanks for the explanations though!