Why wont my HEVC not play in Photos when my OS is Big Sur?

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ScottinStep Author

Level 1

8 points

Why wont my HEVC not play in Photos when my OS is Big Sur?

I have an iPhone 12 and used it to capture some videos.

When I try to open those videos to edit on my laptop

Macbook Pro (2015)

running Big Sur 11.2.3

2.5 Ghz QuadCore Intel Core i7

16 GB 1600 Mhz DDR3

Retina Display 2880 x 1800

Graphics AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2 GB

I see the warning saying it is an unsupported video format and not supported.

I have tried to use Quicktime to edit the videos but the videos will not save there once I trim the length.

Additionally, some of the videos in Photos also appear in the image roll like they are a film negative (see attached image - two as negatives, followed by one that is 'normal').

I can't figure out if this is because the Macbook is from 2015, or if this is something else.

Any suggestions or help are appreciated!

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Apr 26, 2021 6:08 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

197,705 points

Apr 26, 2021 9:11 AM in response to ScottinStep

For Tony's recommendation about HDR see: Play HDR video on Mac – Apple Support

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,705 points

Apr 26, 2021 6:38 AM in response to ScottinStep

Where are the videos stored, that you are trying to play? Are they in your Pictures folder or on iCloud Drive?

Where is your Photos Library stored? In your Pictures folder or on an external volume? If on an external volume, what is the file system format?

Are the HEVC videos having a very high frame rate? What is the Info in Photos showing for the videos?

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Answer 3

Apr 26, 2021 7:42 AM in response to ScottinStep

What does MediaInfo or Invisor say about the movie, especially:

Codec ID: hvc1

Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0

or:

Codec ID: hev1

Chroma subsampling: 4:2:2

QuickTime Player refuses to play some H.265/HEVC flavors. macOS 11 Big Sur is most forgiving but has the following issues with "Codec ID" and "Chroma subsampling" options:

- H.265/HEVC Codec ID hvc1 plays OK.

H.265/HEVC Codec ID hev1: "This file contains media which isn't compatible with QuickTime Player" plays audio only. Fix: add '-tag:v hvc1' without re-encoding:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vcodec copy -acodec copy -tag:v hvc1 output.mp4

- Chroma subsampling 4:2:0: OK.

Chroma subsampling 4:2:2: "This file contains media which isn't compatible with QuickTime Player". Opens anyway in Big Sur but fails in Mojave.

- VLC and IINA have no issues with either.

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