Camera flickering during FaceTime on new iPad Air?

I have found a fix.

I have an iPad Air 4th gen (iOS14.4.2) and had flicker using FaceTime, Zoom or Camera apps on both front and back cameras. I live in Australia which has 50Hz power.

I have just managed to fix this with changing settings>Camera>Record video>Show PAL Formats on, then select 25PSF. I also turned Auto FPS off. It took a while, toggling between FaceTime & the camera app. At first it only affected the camera app, but at some point the flicker stopped on FaceTime & Zoom also.

UPDATE: FLICKER IS SOLVED!

So to update you on my findings this morning about our iPad Air 4 (2020):

The severe screen flicker and video noise WAS indeed produced using the Camera app in front-camera mode.

I connected with AppleCare chat yesterday, and the tech first ensured that I had the latest iPadOS update, which I did. Then she told me to reset Network Settings as a way to remedy the video flicker. Instead, frustrated and assuming this reset would be useless (asking myself, How are network settings related to the camera!?), I ended the chat, drove to the local Bestbuy, they confirmed the screen flicker, and made me another appt. to have the iPad sent in for repair/replacement.

Well, today, on a whim, I decided to Reset Network Settings. After a lot of testing time, to my surprise and delight, the front camera screen flicker has now completely disappeared from the 3 apps I saw it on before: Facetime, Camera and Photo Booth. I have NOT tested the camera on Skype, Zoom or any other apps.

So here's this from Apple support:

"Reset your Network Settings.

Go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings.

This also resets Wi-Fi networks and passwords, cellular settings, and VPN and APN settings that you've used before."

Good luck all - I hope this helps!

I went through several levels of support and after talking on the phone with Engineer, I was told to bring it to warranty service. His logic was as follows: if you reset to factory settings and it is still going on, it must be the hardware.

Sounds like you've cracked it, but I sent the iPad back so no longer have it to test your solution.

Just a word of caution, I did quite a lot of experimenting with the settings and thought I'd solved too but wasn't really sure how!

However, after a couple of weeks later the flickering started again. I assumed used at the time that it was an intermittent hardware issue and the techies at Apple agreed with me. Hence I returned it for an iPad Pro and Apple split the difference.

I've already the replacement unit and the blinking is gone. So it seems it is an hardware issue.

Are you using your iPad Camera in artificial light - such as incandescent bulbs or fluorescent tube lighting? This is often a cause for a strobing/flicker when the camera shutter doesn’t match the electrical frequency of your AC mains.

Whilst the physiology of the human eye generally hides the flicker from artificial lighting (typically 50/60Hz - depending upon your region), the camera shutter speed interacts with the lighting flicker; what you generally perceive is a flicker whose frequency is the difference between the AC Current frequency and the shutter.

If you’re not filming under artificial light, you may have an entirely different issue...

I'm from Europe. It isn't all iPads, just the new iPad Air, and in my case just the front camera.

It only happens under artificial light, so it is possible that it's a problem specific to Europe.

In Europe artificial lighting operates at 50 Hz, in the US it's 60 Hz.

Hey Kelly,

We hear your report on the iPad Air and would like to help. Let's look into this together.

Let's start with the steps to Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Can you confirm if this happens on the latest software version?

You mentioned this only happens when recording video, have you tested another app besides FaceTime or the Camera app?

Restart your iPad and try again. Does this make a difference?

Cheers.

In my case, the problem only occurs under 50Hz artificial lights. Our family have had numerous iPads and iPhones without the problem. As above, in my case it's only the front camera that has the issue which to me suggests a hardware problem. That was also Apple's conclusion.

It is strange, but one thing is certain, the cameras are faulty.

Further, I suspect that it's a hardware fault.

I use FT a lot so it was a big problem for me. Eventually I sent it back and got an iPad pro (Apple split the difference) and the cameras are perfect.

I also got a replacement sent to me and the flickering is gone. It is annoying that the replacement is a refurbished iPad after paying so much money for a new one and only having it for a couple of months. But at least the problem is fixed.

Hi:

I didn’t post the original question but have the same issue with my new iPad Air. After a long chat with online support from Apple I was advised to return it and get another. I did this and the new one has the same issue!

The screen flickers when using FaceTime when in a room with overhead lights. The screen also flickers when recording video or any apps that use video, such as Zoom.

On both iPads I had the latest iOS and I also tried a complete factory reset (twice) with download over iTunes. That did not work. I tried a soft reboot and adjusting auto brightness. Also tried adjusting video recording settings. The only thing that made a slight difference was setting auto FPS to 30 & 60. However it is essentially unusable for FaceTime or Zoom due to the flicker.

As a comparison, my old iPad Pro works perfectly well in exactly the same lighting conditions.

Thanks for any help!

Hey Kelly,

We understand you've tried the suggestions we already mentioned. If an app unexpectedly quits, stops responding, or won’t open the page here will review steps how to remove and reinstall it.

If this continues after all of these steps we'll need to Contact Apple Support. They'll be able to run diagnostic on the hardware, and further isolate if this is related to software or the camera itself.

Cheers.

Thanks! yeah, i get it that it is because of the lights and looks like only this iPad air.

However, having in mind that apple sold 14.3 million iPads just in one quarter 2020, there should be millions that landed in 50Hz zones (most of the world). How is it that we have only 19 upvotes in this thread and no one else complains about it?

Apple support says that is hw failure. Technicians try to tell me this is by design or faulty design.

To sum up, I think there might be just a bad batch of iPads that we got unlucky with. Otherwise it would be more widely known. However, just as someone mentioned, if you get a replacement, most likely you would end up with the same issue. same batch?

In India too under artificial light the flicker happens. I have MacBook Pro M1.

My iPad 6th gen does not flicker. but the latest M1 flickers.

My Logitech Webcam (C615) has an option to set 50 or 60 Hz. But FaceTime on my MacBook Pro does not have one.

It can be fixed by software (if available). Hopefully Apple fixes this issue soon.