Missing codec on Nothing Phone (2)

hexagonal717

So, there’s a major video codec bug with the Nothing Phone 2, specifically affecting Snapdragon 888, 8 Gen 1, and 8+ Gen 1 devices according to reports.

These devices cannot perform HEVC (H.265) 10-bit hardware recording because P010 Color Format is missing.

I’m using an app called MotionCam Pro, which lets you record in RAW, LOG, and different formats.

I kept searching for the HEVC 10-bit option since it should be possible on a flagship device like the Nothing Phone 2. However, due to this specific bug, the OS doesn’t expose the HEVC 10-bit option to apps that utilize it.

It was a huge disappointment for me when I found out from the app developer that Snapdragon 888, 8 Gen 1, and 8+ Gen 1 devices have this bug.

Then, I installed the app on my OnePlus 6T, which has a Snapdragon 845 (a 2018 device). To my surprise, it shows that HEVC 10-bit recording is supported.

As a customer, I feel extremely let down because I love recording video. All of this could’ve been avoided if Nothing went with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 instead of 8+Gen 1.

Nothing team, if you see this, please fix this issue. Even if it requires communicating with Qualcomm, please do what’s necessary to address this. Thank you.

Nothing, please triple check whatever chipset you put into your devices next time.

It is clearly written in the product brief of 8+ Gen 1 that it supports HEVC 10-bit recording.

As the MotionCam App developer said, It’s a software bug (In the kernel?? or something else) from qualcomm that’s causing all this.

aekit

hexagonal717 I think Nothing OS limits alot of phone 2 hardware capabilities specifically SoC. 8+ gen 1 is enough powerful to play games at 60+ fps, record videos at 10 bit HEVC as u mentioned, able to keep games in ram for longer periods of time but somehow we are not capable of. Probably they are keeping this for next updates. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ I just don’t want to get a custom rom to unlock the actual power i want NOS to do it.

BKX

How is it an issue that is related to nothing as a brand, if it is a limitation that exists with the SOC.

Edit - Unless you’re shooting something related to billions of colors, there is no reason to see the bitdepth issue as a limitation. You’ll have better color accuracy and depth, and less amount of banding with 10bit and that’s about it. For majority of videos shot on a phone, there is no use of higher bitdepth. (I’m experienced with media encoding) If it is really important to you, you can load the source files and use a video encoding software to encode them with 10bit bitdepth, this won’t solve the inherent issue of not capturing the wider range or colors or such but it can reduce banding to a certain extent.

hexagonal717

BKX If Nothing can communicate with Qualcomm to fix this. It will be nice. That’s the only way the message can get through to Qualcomm. I don’t know if this is something that can be fixed in the Kernel by Nothing. How come a 2018 device have support for HEVC 10-bit recording but not 2023 device.

happypanda80

BKX This explanation makes perfect sense to me. Honestly I think the Nothing Phone (2) is a really good product, not everything is perfect. I also think it would be nice to have the 10-bit camera functionality, but I’m willing to bet not many people use this and to expect Nothing as a company to listen to every little gripe about things not being “perfect”…let’s think about it, if any of us were running a company and we have to integrate so many parts into a product, we have to optimize, and for the most part the Nothing Phone (2) is still great, even without 10-bit recording.

Perhaps Nothing will listen and make it a priority to fix or not, either way as customers, we have choices. And I think that is the big thing to be grateful for, not complaining or bickering with eachother about seemingly minor bugs. At the end of the day, we can choose to use other brands, we don't have to use the Nothing Phone. I for one like nothing Phone (2) it works well enough for me, just saying…

thalapathy

hexagonal717 Yeah you’re right and you’ve asked a legit question. Ignore BKX. In addition to your reply, Nothing team has degraded it’s services since last 6 months. Dirac codec in Nothing Phone 2 isn’t working anymore. Not only video but also audio experience is not improved. Try yourself. Dirac ON/OFF, you won’t see any difference in the sound. Phone 2 is a 50k device but literally becoming Nothing.

BKX

thalapathy

Hello there Mr. Jaishankar

Dirac not really making any difference has been there since the day 1, it is just some algorithm which is supposed to make slight difference but maybe on the phone 2 that doesn’t make any noticeable difference. Would you like to explain how nothing’s services have degraded in the last 6 months?

hexagonal717

It’s not like nothing can just talk to Qualcomm to fix the 10bit encoding problem, every product of tech or any product in general have certain flaws or mistakes that are unfixable. It is a widely recognised issue with all the 8+gen1 models not just the one used by nothing so I think they can’t really do anything about it. But I may be wrong.

A software update can only fix the issues if any or upgrade the OS experience. I have never seen a software update which can fix some core problems related to chipset.

You can workaround using the information I provided above in my updated answer. You seem like you know what you’re doing but even if the final encoded content is in 10bit, you can notice the difference only on a 10bit screen. Just a heads-up incase you were not aware about this.

shreykatiyar

thalapathy 50K I bought it at 35k that 12Gb variant with charger final price 38K bro you paid massive.

WilfredSwaroop

BKX

It’s reasonable to expect basic feature improvements from a flagship phone, especially when you’ve paid a flagship price.

Regarding the decline in service quality, I agree with you. For example, have you noticed any camera improvements over the past year? Compare the photos you took on day one with those taken today—the day one photos actually look better, suggesting a degradation in quality.

On the issue of the vibration motor, have you received the same update as version 2A, which includes an intensity indicator?

I’ve also experienced problems with video playback: sometimes, when I record a video, it ends up being cropped, with only half of the subject visible, or some clips in the middle go missing.

Additionally, after the last update, the battery management seems to have worsened.

BKX

WilfredSwaroop

I never said anything about not expecting improvements. In fact, every consumer deserves a delightful after sales experience, it is their right.

What I meant was that it just feels like nothing can not possibly fix the chipset bug/limitation by pushing a software update. This is something Qualcomm should have taken care of before shipping them to phone brands.

thalapathy

shreykatiyar yes, dire need and non Chinese brand preference with Good software. So yes, till today, as of now writing here, nothing OS is way way better. Battery optimisation, some premium features and most of all, value depreciation should be controlled.

It was 55k. I got 5k discount from the store. Not online purchase.

hexagonal717

happypanda80 I’m not nitpicking or anything. 10-bit hevc recording should be there by default whether a person uses it or not.

I mean come on, nobody didn’t even knew about 10-bit recording in 2018 (OnePlus 6T). But the phone still had it. 10-bit HEVC should’ve been working properly there on flagships since 2018.

Phone 2 and several other 8+ gen 1 devices are 2023 chipset. It should’ve been there.

I love Nothing as a company, their design philosophy and OS as a whole. I’m a previous pixel owner. Nothing OS feels like a polished Stock Android experience. I would even put this at #1 above Stock Android. I have no problems with the phone as a whole.

It’s not a Nothing issue as per the developer of MotionCam Pro. It’s a Qualcomm issue. What I was suggesting is, if Nothing could fix this somehow with the help of Qualcomm it would be nice. Rest of the phone is lit tho. Best UI experience even better than pixel I would say.

I also suggest that Nothing should be more careful about the chipset they choose. Better to have a chipset with no bugs than a bugged chipset.

As the developer said, it’s a Software issue from qualcomm and they never bothered to fix it.

I’m no expert, it might be something that can be fixed in the kernel or something. When I asked the developer, he said P010 color format stuff which is needed for 10-bit HEVC encoding is missing from only 888, 8 Gen 1, and 8+ gen 1. He said it is fixable if Qualcomm decides to fix. So some hope is there.

As an individual, I can’t contact Qualcomm or anything. Through Nothing team, we can atleast request them to talk to Qualcomm about this. Rest is in their hands. But I hope they can do something about it. That’s all. Thank you.

BKX

hexagonal717

I agree with what you’ve mentioned here. Although it is optimistic, we should understand that Nothing is a smaller player compared to giants like Samsung. Samsung gets slightly overclocked snapdragon 8 gen chipsets for flagship galaxy range, if what the Motioncam dev has mentioned is true about the problem being something that can be easily fixed by pushing a software update, it would have been fixed very quickly when the first few phones were launched with these chipsets.

Also, the recent trends suggests that Nothing is preferring mediatek over Qualcomm, there’s this great relationship being developed between these two brands.

I don’t think it has anything to do with kernel though, I have some experience with Android development and I don’t think a kernel update can patch something like the ISP issue of a chipset. ISP is what’s responsible for converting the captured video into a processed file.

Have you tried enabling HEVC (H.265) in the camera settings, if you use stock camera to record some videos? It just won’t fix the 10bit problem but you will at least save some space and the videos come out efficient.

Also, you can ask the developer on what exactly are you missing if the recorded video is 8bit and not 10bit. Maybe his answer will help you understand that there is not much of a performance or quality jump from 8 to 10.

P.s. I can help you with this issue if you need any help. DM me.

Jai

Just Checked using same app Phone (2a) have HEVC 10-Bit option…

Don’t worry it would be fixed by software updates

hexagonal717

BKX Even I know about some android development but not like too much in depth. Started rooting , installing custom roms, even did some custom rom building and kernel stuff for xperia devices back in 2014 to 2017. Then lost the touch and interest. The Good old days. Anyway….

10-bit HDR video is vastly superior to normal 8-bit. Better details in the shadows and bright areas. The highlights won’t be clipped like 8-bit video. Trust me, once you use it, you won’t go back to 8-bit.

Stock Camera HEVC is just 8-bit video. We don’t have actual 10-bit HDR video in the Stock Camera app.

HDR option in Stock Camera Video is not actual 10-bit HDR. It is just stacking 8-bit video frames of different exposures to make it look like it has High Dynamic Range. Aka “ HDR ”. At the end of the day it’s just a 8-bit video.

If it was Actual HDR video in stock camera app, this codec issue wouldn’t be a thing in the first place.

I know I’m being optimistic here, but I wish they fix it. Let’s just hope.

GothandaramanR

As he said Fixes of SOC can be done by Android Security Update. So there is hope that Nothing can consult with Qualcomm about this HEVC 10-Bit and fix this via OTA update.

hexagonal717

Guys, upvote this post so Nothing will see it. ❤

Amara

thalapathy nothing os is very clean and cool but sometimes buggy too

hexagonal717

thalapathy Guys upvote this post, so Nothing team will see it.