How Do I Take 4K Images On Iphone 14

[PlatinumSun]

I can take 4k video, what about photos? Would be really nice.

[Jaunitta 🌸]

To do this, go into your phone's main Settings, choose Camera, then tap into Formats. From there, you'll want to turn on Apple ProRAW and Apple ProRes. There's a secondary setting under ProRAW where you can choose the resolution. Choose the 48 megapixels setting for the absolute largest image sizes you can capture.
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/iphone-14-pro-take-48-megapixel-proraw-photos/

[SlowClick]

My 12 takes photos at 4032 x 2268 pixels as standard (can't adjust this without an app?) - which is about 8K AFAIK.

[SlowClick]

Use compatibility to get .JPG files. My older 12 is just a 12.
Efficiency mode makes .HEIC files, and most PC photo apps won't open them without some fiddling.
I use compatibility mode.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

SlowClick님이 먼저 게시:

Use compatibility to get .JPG files. My older 12 is just a 12.
Efficiency mode makes .HEIC files, and most PC photo apps won't open them without some fiddling.
I use compatibility mode.

It's an Apple phone. They won't be opening the pictures from their Apple phone on a PC. They have an Apple desktop to go with it. Apple users have Apple everything always. That's how "The Apple Ecosystem" works.

[SlowClick]

I have an iPhone and an iPad (and an Apple Watch), but have a PC for desktop and gaming. I don't have a Mac. I'm a moderately keen photographer.

[Pepe]

🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊님이 먼저 게시:

SlowClick님이 먼저 게시:

Use compatibility to get .JPG files. My older 12 is just a 12.
Efficiency mode makes .HEIC files, and most PC photo apps won't open them without some fiddling.
I use compatibility mode.

It's an Apple phone. They won't be opening the pictures from their Apple phone on a PC. They have an Apple desktop to go with it. Apple users have Apple everything always. That's how "The Apple Ecosystem" works.

You are talking nonsense. Stop stereotyping and spreading FUD. Pics and videos from iOS devices can be seen on any PC. Android has HEIC/HEIF format available since 2018. "Android 8 (Oreo) and later (HEIF), Android 10 and later (HEIC)". You just need to have some knowledge of the format and software that can decode it (it's just one search away on the web). HEIC/HEIF files are just containers of compressed pics and videos using the HEVC/H.265 codec. Maybe five years ago it wasn't popular and it was hard to make it work on a PC, but we're in 2023. The industry is moving towards AVIF image containers and the AV1 codec already.

Efficiency wise (file size at the same quality, or quality at the same file size, depends on how you look at it), HEIC/HEIF (HEVC) is better than JPEG and slightly worse than AVIF (AV1). AV1 is the future because it's royalty-free and it does give you better quality, but it's not widely available yet (as in power efficient decoding and encoding hardware).



Considering nobody made quite a direct answer, I'll give it my take.

Skip to 4K Image Resizing if you don't have time or don't want to read too much.

4K
4K is a generic term for a resolution with a width of approximately 4000 pixels, coming from the film industry. 3840×2160 (4K UHD) is the most spread resolution standard for 4K, so most people use 4K as term for this specific resolution, which also fits perfectly in a frame of 16:9 aspect ratio, as in most TVs and monitors nowadays.

Camera Sensors Aspect Ratio
Most digital cameras use a sensor of 4:3 aspect ratio, as it was the most popular ratio used by CRT TV and displays back in the days. Four Thirds, APS-C and Full Frame camera sensors have a 4:3 aspect ratio. Most phones have a 4:3 aspect ratio. This is not the only aspect ratio cameras have, but it's the most popular. Notable mentions are 3:2, 5:4 for photo cameras and 13:9, 16:9, 17:9, 19:9 for professional video cameras.

Aspect ratio is important because it defines the right amount of width and height, depending on the amount of pixels a camera has. It defines the maximum information your camera can output, horizontally and vertically. 8.3 Megapixels of 4:3 is not the same of 8.3 Megapixels (MP) of 16:9 4K. You can't crop a 4:3 8.3 MP photo and get a 4K photo, as the 4:3 picture doesn't have enough width pixels to match the 4K width.

From Sensors to Photos and Videos
In general, images saved are the same resolution as the maximum resolution of the sensor, but it might not be that way. Some cameras could have sensors with different aspect ratios and resolution than the maximum output picture or video the camera can offer. As far as I know, iPhones use the same resolution the sensor has for photos and a croped resolution for videos, the standard format resolutions, HD, FHD and 4K.

iPhone
iPhone 6s was the first iPhone capable of 4K video resolution due to its new 12MP 4:3 sensor (4032×3024 pixels), which would output a high enough image to crop to 4K 3840×2160. iPhone 6 had a 8 MP 4:3 sensor which couldn't fit a 4K image inside due to its lower resolution of 3264×2448 pixels.

iPhone 14 has two 12MP cameras. One wide, one ultrawide. I couldn't find the exact sensors aspect ratio, but looking at the photos from one online review, both cameras' images were 4032×3024 pixels in size, so that's a 4:3 aspect ratio. Considering this, iPhone 14 doesn't crop or resize its images coming from the sensor, so your maximum resolution of your photos are 4032×3024, which is enough for a 4K 3840×2160 image.

4K Image Resizing
A. If you don't need exactly 4K 3840×2160 image resolution - as bigger sized photos will usually "fit" well on smaller resolution displays (on-demand resize algorithms used by software usually show the pics well enough in full screen), but you want the 16:9 aspect ratio of 4K, having an iPhone 14 with latest iOS which has the photo aspect ratio option in Camera app, you could just set the picture aspect ratio to 16:9 and that's it. Your picture will fit into a 4K display. This is the simplest solution and you end up with the original photo exactly as it came out of your iPhone Camera app.

B. If you want exactly a 4K 3840×2160 image, then there are many solutions, I'll just point out two which involve using freely available software.

Already bored, skip to 1. Crop to 16:9 and resize to 4K 3840×2160.

Before talking about the solutions, lets go back to the codecs. The HEIC/HEIF (HEVC) used by iPhones or JPEG-standard have lossy encoding (there's a lossless option for HEIC now, but that's not how images are saved on iPhone), that means the image stored have some loss of quality over the image information that comes directly from the camera sensor. While there are lossless image formats like BMP, PNG, JPEG-LS, WebP-lossless, HEIC-lossless, AVIF-lossless, the lossy codecs have far better compression rates, which result in very small file sizes. In the detriment of losing a bit of quality that is negligible to most people for day to day use, we gain much more room for pictures to store than if we were to use a compressed lossless solution. That's why we're kind of "stuck" with lossy formats, they're the best compromise between quality and quantity. And the better the compression, the better the compromise.

Editing a lossy image will affect to a small degree its quality. When you open up an image, the image viewer/editor will check what kind of encoding that image is using and it decompresses the lossy image into lossless data that it displays on the screen. When you apply different effects on an image, that will change the original pixels forever (ignoring saving the file into the editor's special file format that keeps the original plus the effects and layers separate for future edits). When you save the image, if you keep the existing lossy format or just use another lossy one, you lose some small amount of information due to recompression, certain areas might look different, depending on the image encoding used. So, if you actually need the best quality, better save the edited image into a lossless format like PNG, JPEG-LS, or WebP-lossless.

If you crop an image, in theory, there is no loss of the quality for the remaining pixels, because a crop just removes some horizontal and vertical lines from the picture. There's a but... But, depending on the algorithm, because of the crop, the starting point of the encoding could be different, resulting in totally different pixels compared to the original. Not all is lost, there are some applications that can crop without losing information: for JPEG there's a specific cropping procedure that will keep the encoded pixels from the original image: the cut must be done exactly on the borders of the JPEG compression blocks, which can be 8 or 16 pixel wide. So, if the crop can be done in a multiple of 16 pixels, there will be no loss.

For the average Joe like me, I really don't see a difference between a lossless crop and a normal crop for a JPEG or a HEIF, if I don't zoom a lot. As long as the compression ratio and the format is the same between the original image and the edited saved image, most people won't see any difference. I'm just trying to do the due diligence, if someone really wants to push the quality to the maximum.

Since HEIC/HEIF is now available virtually on any OS, I'd rather keep my PC pictures smaller and ignore the insignificant quality loss, not to mention the space saved on mobile devices, which is limited vs a PC.

As for professionals, they will prolly use an app that will give them some kind of RAW or close-to-RAW image format. I didn't say anything about the RAW formats because those are really only for professionals. The size of those files outweighs any quality advantages the RAW format is giving for non-professionals, plus there is much more to explain about pictures in general, to even consider talking about RAW.

1. Crop to 16:9 and resize to 4K 3840×2160
1.1. Crop to 16:9
- on iPhone, take the picture with an aspect ratio of 16:9 from the Camera app
... or ...
- on PC, with an image viewer/editor, apply a 16:9 crop, after downloading the file (for 4032×3024 pixels file, the 16:9 crop resolution is 4032×2268)
1.2. Resize the image
- on PC, with an image viewer/editor, simplest thing to do is to use the resize function at 3840×2160 resolution with the default options (Lanczos algorithm is mostly used which gives you the best quality overall); if you want something better looking, you have to do a bit of research on the order of applying different effects; unfortunately I'm not a fan of "Photoshoping" and don't know enough about it; if anything, I'd apply some sharpness before resizing.
1.3. Save the file with a different name *

2. Crop to 4K 3840×2160
2.1. On iPhone, take the picture in 4:3 aspect ratio to get the most out of your sensor
2.2. On PC, using an image viewer/editor, do the crop of 3840×2160, trying to get in the cropped area the things you consider important for the picture (E.g. rule of thirds, full heads, full top buildings, a certain whole object)
2.3. Save the file with a different name *

* You can use the same file format as the original file or go for a lossless one. Using a different file format will result in most differences (under zoom).

The Free Software
Windows: IrfanView (https://www.irfanview.com/) + ALL Plugins (https://www.irfanview.com/plugins.htm) ** - This is the most versatile, lightweight image viewer and basic editor on Windows, period.
MacOS: Preview should suffice for a basic crop and/or resize
GNU/Linux:*** depending on the distro and DE, many file viewers and editors should work, for KDE, Gwernview is enough for the job. For HEIF and AVIF, you will need certain packages installed: libheif*, livbavif*
Cross Platform: GIMP - a free, open source, cross platform advanced image editor where you can do most of the Photoshop-like effects

** Hint: if using JPEG, check "Options->JPG Lossless Crop" for quality crop - 3840×2160 crops nicely from 4032×3024, 12×16 pixels horizontally, 54×16 pixels vertically)
*** jpegtran is a command line tool in GNU/Linux that is able to do lossless crops of JPEG if given the right parameters

[Pepe]

Pом Мій Нігге님이 먼저 게시:

Ok so you are saying photos are already in 4k? Then why do photos look so inferior to video alot of the time?

You need to expand on what inferior means. In which circumstances you find photos inferior to videos? On which devices are you looking on (on your phone, your PC)?

Are you comparing videos and photos sent or received from messaging apps that resize and recompress those images and videos? Because this is the case even for iMessages. Some time ago, iMessages photos and films were fully sent in the original state, now Apple recompress them randomly, it seems. The same happens with Whatsapp and prolly many other apps. You don't get the original file sent to someone else (there is an option on Whatsapp, but it's off by default, and most people don't bother looking into advanced options).

Later Edit: Put the phone on a static position, like a stand or leaned towards a glass or something. Take a photo, then a video, from the same position. Compare them on your phone. Transfer the files to a computer and compare them at their original size.

I know iPhones are not good in low quality light, even iPhone 14. I've made a few tests inside a store, last year, I wasn't impressed. Maybe that's bothering you. Make some photos outside when it's sunny. You will see a big difference vs photos taken inside.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Radoo님이 먼저 게시:

You are talking nonsense. Stop stereotyping and spreading FUD.

Apparently you're not an Apple user or you don't own Apple products. Most Apple devices are designed so only other Apple devices can open anything that it records, produces, or makes, or they require some other Apple device to even get the content out of said device. It's a design choice that Apple does to try and force people to own multiple Apple products. And what I quoted is literally what Apple calls it themselves in advertising. They refer to it as "The Apple Ecosystem": "If you want to work with files from Apple device A you must also own Apple device B and Apple Device C" for example.

[Pepe]

🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊님이 먼저 게시:

Radoo님이 먼저 게시:

You are talking nonsense. Stop stereotyping and spreading FUD.

Apparently you're not an Apple user or you don't own Apple products. Most Apple devices are designed so only other Apple devices can open anything that it records, produces, or makes, or they require some other Apple device to even get the content out of said device. It's a design choice that Apple does to try and force people to own multiple Apple products. And what I quoted is literally what Apple calls it themselves in advertising. They refer to it as "The Apple Ecosystem": "If you want to work with files from Apple device A you must also own Apple device B and Apple Device C" for example.

Stop making assumptions and stop generalizing. You have no idea of my experience with or without Apple products. Yes, there is an "Apple Ecosystem" for some workflows, and it is pretty close in some areas, but this imaging topic is not the case. You are totally offtopic.

If you're so angry about Apple so much, make another topic about it, or make many topics for each dark pattern they are using into their closed system.

[Pepe]

Radoo님이 먼저 게시:

Pом Мій Нігге님이 먼저 게시:

Ok so you are saying photos are already in 4k? Then why do photos look so inferior to video alot of the time?

You need to expand on what inferior means. In which circumstances you find photos inferior to videos? On which devices are you looking on (on your phone, your PC)?

Are you comparing videos and photos sent or received from messaging apps that resize and recompress those images and videos? Because this is the case even for iMessages. Some time ago, iMessages photos and films were fully sent in the original state, now Apple recompress them randomly, it seems. The same happens with Whatsapp and prolly many other apps. You don't get the original file sent to someone else (there is an option on Whatsapp, but it's off by default, and most people don't bother looking into advanced options).

Later Edit: Put the phone on a static position, like a stand or leaned towards a glass or something. Take a photo, then a video, from the same position. Compare them on your phone. Transfer the files to a computer and compare them at their original size.

I know iPhones are not good in low quality light, even iPhone 14. I've made a few tests inside a store, last year, I wasn't impressed. Maybe that's bothering you. Make some photos outside when it's sunny. You will see a big difference vs photos taken inside.

Maybe you have one of the camera issues I've seen on the Web with iPhone 14 phones. It seems some people get serious poor quality images out of their phones: "blurry", "grainy", "lack of detail". Just search the web for iPhone 14 camera issues. You should go to an Apple Shop or Retailer to check your phone. Maybe it's a factory issue, or a software issue. Update your phone to the latest iOS, just to make sure the problem is still there. Try changing the image quality from Most Compatible (JPEG) to High Efficiency (HEIC), or the reverse. See if you see an improvement with the other image format. I don't know what else to say, I give up.

Ooof... I thought this topic is about making a 4K image. I'll just put my clown mask and cry. I've posted so much info for nothing more than a phone camera issue.

[🦊Λℚ𝓤ΛƑΛᗯҜᔕ🦊]

Radoo님이 먼저 게시:

Stop making assumptions and stop generalizing.

I think you do not understand how the steam forums work. You can not tell me to stop commenting here. Only moderators can do that and you are not one. I can continue to comment here as much as I want to. Also: Everything I wrote is completely on topic. We're discussing Apple devices here. I was also discussing Apple devices.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Also don't use any modes or settings that would end up outputting Images to a JPG/JPEG; instead have it save as PNG. As many places online such as Steam and Facebook for example are going to do some internal compression and save your upload as a JPG anyways. If you have your original device camera save it as a JPG, after it gets uploaded to another place online it's going to look horrible as it will have gone through multiple compression phases.