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Cyan coloured artefacts on HDR photos - iPhone X

Yesterday I noticed that the new photos I have taken with my iPone are showing a circular spot, cyan coloured. The spots are not in fixed place, on each photo in a different location. And they are only visible in the HDR version of the photo. The normal version of the HDR-Normal pair is fine, so it does not look like a problem with the lens.

Here are a few examples:

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Is this a known problem?


Restarting the Camera.app and the iPhone did not fix it.

iPhone X, iOS 11.3.1, 256GB, space gray

Posted on May 14, 2018 2:21 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 16, 2018 1:52 AM

Léonie, I got it.

I didn't noticed this behaviour before, I don't use HDR mode on my iP7 that much.

Sun+moving water+backlit... (but don't ask me a tech explanation, 'cause I'm not able to give you an appropriate answer)... but your iPX is not guilty 😉.

Have a nice day.

Giulio

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8 replies

May 14, 2018 6:34 AM in response to léonie

So far, I have seen this problem only on HDR photos of a water surface with waves and bright, glittering reflections of the sun light. Come to think about it, it may be a HDR artifact caused by a saturation distortion. But I'd still like to know, if it is a problem of my iPhone X or to be expected when shooting HDR with the iPhone.

May 14, 2018 10:10 AM in response to léonie

Hello Léonie.

Does it happen only on HDR mode?

I can't replicate that "crazy big cyan pixel" because the sun is on strike today. But tomorrow I will take some backlit photos with my iP7, using HDR, and I'll let you know the results.

Not sure, but I think you hit the problem saying that it could be an artifact due to a saturation distorsion.

See you tomorrow, have a nice evening.

Giulio

May 14, 2018 10:09 AM in response to ProustGiulio

Does it happen only on HDR mode?

Yes, that is the weird thing. My iPhones are set to keep the normal photo and I can compare the normal version to the HDR version. Only the HDR versions are showing the cyan colored dots. The normal versions have been fine.

At first I thought it might have been a blinking buoy, and the HDR version captured the blinking, but the normal version does not show any traces of a buoy, and then the color should have been green and not cyan.

Thank you for offering to test this, Giulio!

I never saw similar with the HDR on my iPhone 5s.

May 15, 2018 8:31 AM in response to léonie

Even today the sun is not shining 😠.

I took a few pictures this morning (during a little clearing) but I wasn't able to reproduce your issue. Unfortunately in my town there are no canals or rivers with "rough" water, and I can only point my iP7's camera staying on the edge of a park's small pond, with quiet water). But a "full" sun is mandatory ! (to get a real backlit).

I'll keep you informed as soon as I can get good conditions for my tests.

Keep well, Léonie.

Giulio

May 16, 2018 2:20 AM in response to ProustGiulio

Wow, Giulio. Thank you very much.


I think you are right, when you suspect the glittering reflections on the water. The quickly moving specular reflections may be causing colourful ghosts, that the ghost removal algorithm cannot recognize.


I am keeping HDR set to "Automatic", and the iPhone should only take the HDR photos, if it is useful in the situation and there is no motion, that could cause ghosts.

Cyan coloured artefacts on HDR photos - iPhone X

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