HD video on iPhone 3GS [4.2]

Posted on March 2, 2011 by admin

Update: Someone made a free Cydia app that works for all iOS 4.x

Original Post:

I am back again! Just jailbroke my 3GS with firmware 4.2 and updated the HD video hack.

This release fixed the ‘clicking’ autofocus problem in the previous release and is compatible with iOS 4.2.x

Download the updated HD Video file here
Instructions:
1. Jailbreak your device and install afc2 from Cydia
2. Download iPhoneBrowser from http://code.google.com/p/iphonebrowser/
3. Connect the phone to the computer via USB
4. Decide if you want HD or SuperHD, see screenshot for a comparison
5. Browser to /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Celestial.framework/N88/
6. Replace the 3 plist files from ones from the HD folder or SuperHD folder
7. Respring your iPhone 3GS

Alternatively, you can also skip step 2 and 3 and copy the file over using SSH.

Here is another sample video:

135 thoughts on “HD video on iPhone 3GS [4.2]”

Mark on March 3, 2011 at 3:24 am said:

Thanks a lot for this.

Now it’s nearer to what I’ve been hoping for. Thumbs up!
cowcrap on March 3, 2011 at 12:48 pm said:

Great job on this release it does clears the ‘clicking’ sound on SuperHD but it would be even great if the FPS is a little bit higher.
Maurizio on March 5, 2011 at 12:14 am said:

Is it possible to get the HD hack working with the Face-it hack for the 3GS?
Jekku on March 5, 2011 at 7:28 am said:

For me this version didn’t fix the shutter clack problem completety. The sound is gone but it still does lag every minute or so.
By reducing 1px from the sensor width and height it went away.
Maybe the full sensor uses too much CPU?
mike pan on March 6, 2011 at 11:46 pm said:

Cowcrap: Due to the way the image is shot (as a series of still images), there is no way to increase the fps any further without dropping down to ‘HD’ resolution. It’s just a hardware limitation.

Maurizio, I’ll have to look into that. Personally for me, I find that the lack of front facing camera makes FaceTime almost useless on a 3GS. No personal incentive == no time being spent in researching it :)

Jekku, I’ll try that.
cowcrap on March 12, 2011 at 9:45 pm said:

@mike Thanks for the info. Really appreciate it.

@Jekku Hey, could you please share us the files that you modified?
aza on March 12, 2011 at 11:59 pm said:

fps for Super HD?15 or 30fps?..thanks
dekuleon on March 16, 2011 at 8:56 am said:

For me the ‘HD’ version records at 720 instead of 800 lines!

In ios 4.1 it worked perfectly!

Now with 720 lines everything appears as fat.

Rev 6 on the way?? :)

Thanks for your very great job!!! ^^
James on March 17, 2011 at 12:19 pm said:

I was looking forward to buy an iPhone 4, but this is great! The only thing I was going to go for it, actualy was HD Video recording! Thanks a lot!

There’s are several coments around the internet regarding the iPhone 3GS getting broken or overheated by using this hack, is this true?
Bruno on March 23, 2011 at 10:37 am said:

Works great except that HD resolution is capped at 1280×720 instead of the 1080×800 you announce, so the aspect ratio looks wrong. Could you fix this? Thanks
Kasiarz on March 24, 2011 at 2:59 am said:

Not work with Facetime (face-it) on 3gs
Ricardo on March 24, 2011 at 7:56 pm said:

Pleaaaseee!! The aspect ratio looks wrong in rev5. Resolution is 1280×720 instead 1080×800
James on March 26, 2011 at 6:30 am said:

I just tried it today and went back to original setup, the aspect ratio is wrong!
James on March 26, 2011 at 6:34 am said:

Ho, one more thing! Videos seem darker… Great progress so far!
Daniel Kurniawan on March 28, 2011 at 7:40 pm said:

hi… can i edit the default iphone video recording to a higher bit rate? the default one at 640×480 is only 3mbps right?? how to edit it to something like 5mbps or 7mbps?

i think i dont need the HD res.. but a higher bitrate maybe..

thanks
vicx on April 4, 2011 at 6:44 am said:

awesom work i used this tweak with 4.1!does it work with ios 4.3.1?!?!!?? if not when can we get the newest version?!?! i just update to 4.3.1 and JB!
Nemesis7 on April 4, 2011 at 2:00 pm said:

Please update for 4.3.1, can’t wait to use the HD feature.
Embrera on April 4, 2011 at 6:52 pm said:

Yes, i need see my iphone 3gs with ios 4.3.1 with HD camera!!!!!!!!!
Ovi on April 5, 2011 at 12:42 pm said:

Please update tweak to 4.3.1!!!PLEASE
Daniel Kurniawan on April 6, 2011 at 9:51 am said:

hi all, now i can change the bitrate for my self.. but after i do that i cant get autofocus during recording to work.. i have to “tap to focus” every time… what`s wrong?
w. on April 7, 2011 at 5:27 am said:

thanks a lot ;)

i just updates to the 4.3.1 firmware. can i home for an update of your files?
TheNoxier on April 7, 2011 at 9:35 am said:

I also updated to 4.3.1 and tried the old files, they don’t work. Of course, i screwed up the backuped original files, too. ;)
Daniel Kurniawan on April 7, 2011 at 9:40 am said:

help me anyone?
even after restoring OS my video rec cant autofocus during recording,.. (give up)
arshian on April 7, 2011 at 10:55 pm said:

please relaese update for 4.3.1 plz plz i have updated to 4.3.1 from 4.2.1 plz do any work for this
Ale on April 10, 2011 at 3:27 pm said:

Update this Tweak for 4.3 Please! (:
SNYPE on April 10, 2011 at 10:08 pm said:

I could definitely use a 4.3.1 patch. I received my 3Gs on 4.3.1 so I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
J on April 11, 2011 at 11:46 am said:

this tweak is great, please update to 4.3.1 :D
Derek Ngo on April 11, 2011 at 10:39 pm said:

I could use an update to 4.3.1 also!! This was a necessary feature for me on 4.1! Thanks!
Trey on April 12, 2011 at 4:37 am said:

Hi,

I’ve been a happy recipient of your software before to enable HD on the iPhone. I’m somewhat technical; is there anything I or anyone else in the community can do to help fix HD for 4.3.1? Thank you for your work here!
Ovi on April 13, 2011 at 1:21 pm said:

Some news about hack for 4.3.1??:(((
Nemesis7 on April 15, 2011 at 10:52 am said:

Mate, can you please look into this? Probably a few minutes of work for you. Thanks!
mike pan on April 15, 2011 at 11:16 am said:

I’ll release 4.3.1 and 4.3.2 tweaks once the unteathered jailbreak is out. Meanwhile, does anyone have experience with making cydia apps (especially Winterboard tweaks), it would be wonderful to talk to you about making a possible cydia app for this.
Nemesis7 on April 15, 2011 at 3:31 pm said:

That would indeed be awesome, but unfortunately I can’t help you with that. There is an untethered out for 4.3.1, and 4.3.2 is on it’s way, can’t wait!! Thanks in advance.
Nemesis7 on April 19, 2011 at 3:13 am said:

Jailbreak for 4.3.2 is out! Please help us enable HD recording on our 3GS :)
ovi on April 19, 2011 at 6:41 am said:

yes,unteathered is out for bouth 4.3.1, 4.3.2.please update tweak!!!tanks
J on April 19, 2011 at 10:52 pm said:

please please :D
mike pan on April 20, 2011 at 2:20 pm said:

You can find the tweak for iOS 3 from here: http://blog.mikepan.com/enable-720p-video-recording-on-iphone-3gs/
galgani on April 20, 2011 at 2:23 pm said:

i see, all wait for this :D ..me too!!
Nemesis7 on April 21, 2011 at 3:00 pm said:

How are you progressing mate?
Brian on April 24, 2011 at 1:30 am said:

Untethered jailbreak is out for 4.3.1 and 4.3.2, please update the files because when I tried to do this my iPhone turned in to an iPod Touch. I lost my iPod app and it turned into Music and Video. I also lost my phone app and whenever someone called me it disconnected, so the files need to be updated for 4.3.x
Jekku on April 24, 2011 at 8:14 am said:

http://jervantavara.arkku.net/HDVideo3GS_432_SuperHDmod.zip

Here’s the SuperHD files for 4.3.2, with my modifications.
Feel free to comment.
Jekku on April 24, 2011 at 9:19 am said:

Hold that thought.

Epic FAIL in my part.
Jekku on April 24, 2011 at 12:11 pm said:

Could someone upload the whole N88 folder contents to somewhere? Both 4.2.1 and 4.3.2. Originals please. In case I’ve overlooked something.
When compared the 4.2 and 4.3 originals, files are exactly the same. Which should mean the hack should work oob, but it doesn’t.
I’ve tried various things but still the output is forced as normal(640×480@3mbps).
So this means maybe Apple has done other modifications?
Nemesis7 on April 25, 2011 at 12:16 am said:

Kelli, if it was that easy, don’t you think one of these people would do it themselves? Apple did modify something, but I don’t know what exactly. Mike: are you able to do it?
mike pan on April 25, 2011 at 12:28 am said:

I gave a quick run at it and as reported, it’s not working for me either. I will dig deeper when I am free, but for now, consider yourself Appled.
Jekku on April 28, 2011 at 10:46 pm said:

iPhone 4:
http://pdadb.net/index.php?m=cpu&id=a50000&c=samsung_apple_a5

Special Features: 1080p 30fps video encode, 1080p 60fps video decode

Anyone willing to try out? I would but don’t have iP4…
J on April 30, 2011 at 2:08 am said:

any good news ? :)
Whenyourmad on April 30, 2011 at 2:29 pm said:

When will the 4.3.1 tweak be out? Can you give us an approximate date when it will be done?
tolebamber on May 1, 2011 at 2:48 am said:

4.3.1, 4.3.2 plsss !!!!!
10x
mike pan on May 2, 2011 at 2:49 am said:

The firmware has changed since 4.3.x, I can not longer performs the usual tweak to get HD video working. Sorry guys. Time to splurge for an iPhone 4.
tolebamber on May 2, 2011 at 4:02 am said:

:-(
Rand on May 5, 2011 at 10:10 am said:

So if there’s no hope for 4.3.x, could you fix the aspect ratio problem in rev5 for those of us still using 4.2.1 firmware? Rev 5 seems to distort the aspect ratio and save the file at 1280×720 (16:9) instead of 1080×800 (4:3).
mickel on May 6, 2011 at 9:31 pm said:

i wouldn’t be surprised if they just changed the location of the plist and left the old ones seeing as there are many “unused ” files scattered all over the iphones nand . i found one particularly interesting file at this location : /System/Library/Frameworks/AVFoudation.framework/n88
avcapturesession.plist has what appears to be the same settings as avcapture.plist in the old folder only each mode is under different headers . i wonder if the iphone might be defaulting to these instead.

some food for thought…
Raul on May 7, 2011 at 4:20 pm said:

have any hope?
to 4.3.3
michi on May 9, 2011 at 11:44 am said:

Hey guys, I copied the files on my firmware 4.3.3, and i think it changed something, but not sure, so i want to go back to the original ones, but i hadn’t saved my original files, can someone upload those for an 3gs at 4.3.3?
Jekku on May 10, 2011 at 6:40 am said:

@Raul

No hope for any 4.3.x firmwares, for now…
Though the findings by Rand gives at least some hope, imo.

I tinkered them but no luck still. Though now, I’ve managed to record audio only with the videorecording function. :D
Shen Long on May 14, 2011 at 7:59 am said:

mickel
May 6, 2011 at 9:31 pm
i wouldn’t be surprised if they just changed the location of the plist and left the old ones seeing as there are many “unused ” files scattered all over the iphones nand . i found one particularly interesting file at this location : /System/Library/Frameworks/AVFoudation.framework/n88
avcapturesession.plist has what appears to be the same settings as avcapture.plist in the old folder only each mode is under different headers . i wonder if the iphone might be defaulting to these instead.

some food for thought…mickel
May 6, 2011 at 9:31 pm
i wouldn’t be surprised if they just changed the location of the plist and left the old ones seeing as there are many “unused ” files scattered all over the iphones nand . i found one particularly interesting file at this location : /System/Library/Frameworks/AVFoudation.framework/n88
avcapturesession.plist has what appears to be the same settings as avcapture.plist in the old folder only each mode is under different headers . i wonder if the iphone might be defaulting to these instead.

some food for thought…
======================================================

Yes the iPhone 3GS iOS 4.3.x is now using the above mentioned .plist files as discovered by @Mickel (WELL DONE BUDDY)

OK my problem now is that i didnt back my original up & i have totally lost all camera capability :(

Anyone want to upload the AVCaptureSession.plist file found in the above mentioned N88 folder would be kindly appreciated & i will get back to configuring the settings, otherwise Mike Pan could you please tinker with the settings found in this file & see what you can come up with.
Shen Long on May 14, 2011 at 8:02 am said:

i do apologise for double copying @mickel original post, it was accidental. On another note my email address is shen_long75@hotmail.com if anyone cares to email me the above mentioned files. You can also add me to msn messenger if you desire & i will accept it from there (but i am not always on MSN)

thanks once again :)
Fig Tree Guy on May 14, 2011 at 3:14 pm said:

Hello I’m not sure why but hmm I’m using Springtomize 1.4-4 with Rev 5 HD for 3GS, and the AVCaptureSession.plist in the AVFoundation.framework. 3GS running 4.3.3, and it seems to work nicely. Anybody else can confirm that? The only reason why Apple is holding back is because of how the processor could eat into the battery life. Just be sure to watch that, and use cautiously.
Fig Tree Guy on May 14, 2011 at 3:24 pm said:

My bad.. I got too excited. The AVCaptureSession.plist shouldn’t be installed. I was recording at great FPS that I had before upgrading to 4.3.3 (don’t ask: I was fine with 4.0.1 and then 4.2.1.. I guess it’s bad karma from my addiction to tweaking). I reinstalled the original AVCaptureSession.plist, and that fixed the video that was saved in the Camera Roll and in iMovie (hacked for 3GS). However, the video quality did decrease. I liked how it was shooting before I reinstalled the original plist.
Marcos on May 14, 2011 at 7:28 pm said:

ok so the hack does work BUT the hd videos are extremly low on color. like when i compared a normal video to a hd video the color difference was really noticable. it looked almost black and white on the hd recording. i dont know if its the phone or what. also what i noticed is that while the hd recording is low on color, normal pictures are ULTRA HIGH in color!!!! like orange in a picture looks orange red, while orange in a hd video looks really low on lighting and color. i could send you some videos and pictures to compare them. again idk if its my 3gs or the way im entering the files or the files themselves. please help me. i reeeeaaaaaalllllllyyyy want nice hd recording on my iphone :(
Fig Tree Guy on May 14, 2011 at 7:34 pm said:

Here tonight I just tweaked around with the AVCaptureSession.plist and it seems to be working a little better, not really a big “Eureka”. I’m a novice and wish someone who is more experienced would take a look at this and let me know what needs to be redone in order to perfect it. Install the four Celestial.Framework files from Rev 5 HD into iPhone 3GS firmware 4.3.3, and add this one more file, which is AVCaptureSession.plist which should go into /System/Library/Frameworks/AVFoundation.framework/N88:

AVCaptureDevices

AVCaptureSessionPreset640x480

Description
VGA Video
LiveSourceOptions

Capture

Height
720
Width
1280

MaxFrameRate
30
MinFrameRate
30
Preview

Height
480
Width
640

Sensor

Height
1080
Width
1920

TemporalNoiseReductionMode
0

VideoCompressionProperties

AverageDataRate
4375000
ConvergenceDurationForAverageDataRate
60
DataRateLimits

10000000
19

FrameLevelRateControl
2
MaxKeyFrameIntervalDuration
1
ProfileLevel
H264_Baseline_3_1

AVCaptureSessionPreset960x540

Description
960×540 Video
LiveSourceOptions

Binned

Capture

Height
540
Width
960

MaxFrameRate
30
MinFrameRate
15
Preview

Height
270
Width
480

Sensor

Height
540
PixelFormatType
420v
Width
960

TemporalNoiseReductionMode
1

VideoCompressionProperties

AverageDataRate
738282
ConvergenceDurationForAverageDataRate
60
DataRateLimits

16875000
19

FrameLevelRateControl
2
MaxKeyFrameIntervalDuration
1
ProfileLevel
H264_Baseline_3_1

AVCaptureSessionPresetCommon

LiveSourceOptions

Capture

PixelFormatType
420v

FullResolutionPreview

Preview

PixelFormatType
420v

Sensor

PixelFormatType
yuvs

OverridePrefixes
V:,V_ALL:
PresetName
v
VideoCodec
avc1

AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh

Description
VGA Video
LiveSourceOptions

Capture

Height
720
Width
960

MaxFrameRate
30
MinFrameRate
24
Preview

Height
480
Width
640

Sensor

Height
720
Width
960

TemporalNoiseReductionMode
0

VideoCompressionProperties

AverageDataRate
738282
ConvergenceDurationForAverageDataRate
60
DataRateLimits

10000000
19

FrameLevelRateControl
2
MaxKeyFrameIntervalDuration
1
ProfileLevel
H264_Baseline_3_0

AVCaptureSessionPresetLow

Description
Low Quality Video
LiveSourceOptions

Capture

Height
144
Width
192

MaxFrameRate
30
MinFrameRate
15
Preview

Height
144
Width
192

Sensor

Height
480
Width
640

TemporalNoiseReductionMode
1

VideoCompressionProperties

AverageDataRate
16000
ConvergenceDurationForAverageDataRate
60
FrameLevelRateControl
2
MaxKeyFrameIntervalDuration
1
ProfileLevel
H264_Baseline_3_0

AVCaptureSessionPresetMedium

Description
Medium Quality Video
LiveSourceOptions

Capture

Height
360
Width
480

MaxFrameRate
30
MinFrameRate
15
Preview

Height
360
Width
480

Sensor

Height
480
Width
640

TemporalNoiseReductionMode
1

VideoCompressionProperties

AverageDataRate
87500
ConvergenceDurationForAverageDataRate
60
FrameLevelRateControl
2
MaxKeyFrameIntervalDuration
1
ProfileLevel
H264_Baseline_3_0

AVCaptureSessionPresetPhoto

Description
3MP Photo
ExcludedOutputs

AVCaptureAudioDataOutput

ConnectionMediaTypes

soun

AVCaptureMovieFileOutput

ConnectionMediaTypes

vide
soun

LiveSourceOptions

AFScoreBracketing

Capture

Height
1536
PixelFormatType
420f
Width
2048

ChromaNoiseReduction

MaxFrameRate
30
MinFrameRate
24
Preview

Height
384
PixelFormatType
420f
Width
512

Sensor

Height
1536
PixelFormatType
420f
Width
2048

OverridePrefixes
P:
PresetName
p

AVCaptureSessionPresetiFrame

Description
iFrame Video
LiveSourceOptions

Binned

Capture

Height
540
Width
960

MaxFrameRate
30
MinFrameRate
30
Preview

Height
270
Width
480

Sensor

Height
540
PixelFormatType
420v
Width
960

TemporalNoiseReductionMode
1

VideoCompressionProperties

AverageDataRate
3125000
ConvergenceDurationForAverageDataRate
60
DataRateLimits

0
0

FrameLevelRateControl
2
MaxKeyFrameIntervalDuration
0.01
ProfileLevel
H264_Baseline_3_1

ExposureCenterWindowSize
0.75
ExposurePointOfInterestWindowSize
0.34999999999999998
FocusCenterWindowSize
0.40000000000000002
FocusPointOfInterestWindowSize
0.25
exposureModes

0
2

exposurePointOfInterestSupported

focusModes

0
1
2

localizedName
Camera
mediaType
vide
modelID
com.apple.avfoundation.avcapturedevice.built-in_video:0
position
1
uniqueID
com.apple.avfoundation.avcapturedevice.built-in_video:0
whiteBalanceModes

0
2

AVCaptureSessionPreset1280x720

AVCaptureSessionPreset640x480

AVCaptureSessionPreset960x540

AVCaptureSessionPresetCommon

AudioCodec
aac
Description
Audio Recording
PresetName
a

AVCaptureSessionPresetConferencing

AudioPreset
Preset_AAC_22kHz_Mono_24kbit

AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh

AVCaptureSessionPresetLow

AudioPreset
Preset_AAC_22kHz_Mono_24kbit
Description
Low Quality Audio

AVCaptureSessionPresetMedium

AVCaptureSessionPresetPhoto

AVCaptureSessionPresetVoicemailGreeting

AudioCodec
samr
Description
Voicemail
FormatWriterOptions

FileFormat
AMRAudioFile

AVCaptureSessionPresetiFrame

mediaType
soun
modelID
com.apple.avfoundation.avcapturedevice.built-in_audio:0
uniqueID
com.apple.avfoundation.avcapturedevice.built-in_audio:0
HypeZ on May 16, 2011 at 3:11 am said:

people, i got it working back in 4.3.3 :D
i don’t know if its unstable or if we can have problem, just try it by yourself and post here result:
- download the official package in this post for 4.2
- overwrite the 4 files in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Celestial.framework/N88/ (a backup of these files can be useful! backup before overwrite!), i used the HD files, not the SuperHD
- go in /System/Library/Frameworks/AVFoundation.framework/N88
- i changed 2 voices, but probably it works editing only the second. the 2 parts is AVCaptureSessionPreset640x480 and AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh. I just uploaded the new file here: http://localhostr.com/file/cO5HkwW/AVCaptureSession.plist
- overwrite the AVCaptureSessions.plist file (backup it too!)
- respring
- it works for me, post result!

nb: in my AVCaptureSessions.plist i used 1080×800 resolution with 0,8mbps (almost 50mb per minute), i think it’s the better solution for a good quality/space ratio.
HypeZ on May 16, 2011 at 3:22 am said:

update: with the AVCaptureSession i posted every application that uses camera crash or can’t record video, solved with this new AVCaptureSession.plist!
http://localhostr.com/file/3W0hG1o/AVCaptureSession.plist
Raul on May 16, 2011 at 6:43 am said:

On my 3G with the latter in conjunction with 5HD plist, not run with 1080×800 but with 800×1080.
Raul on May 16, 2011 at 6:45 am said:

sorry it was right, depends on how this turned the iphone.
James Rodell on May 17, 2011 at 10:29 am said:

Ey HypeZ… i want to install on my iphone but i want to knwo if really works well on 4.3.3 or give you some problem? Anyway, thanks for finding an option to make it work!
azharhamzahya on May 18, 2011 at 12:52 pm said:

Hello guys,I got it work on 4.3.2.:).But supposedly it works on 4.3.3 as well.Thanks for @Mike Pan and @HypeZ.Now,you can decide if you want 800×1080 0r 720×1080 resolution.I used 720×1080 resolution and works perfect to me. Download file from here : http://www.mediafire.com/file/j1llu9wjbf3cctr/HDVideo3GS%204.3.2%20Awesome%20%20.zip.
azharhamzahya on May 18, 2011 at 12:57 pm said:

hd 4.3,2 test 1 800×1080 :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oew3muuuGlg

hd 4.3.2 test 2 720×1280 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c0QaE3DGyM
azharhamzahya on May 18, 2011 at 1:19 pm said:

update download : http://www.mediafire.com/file/y19ijss1yylgc1u/HDVideo3GS%204.3.2%20Awesome%20%20.zip

sorry guys
Shen Long on May 18, 2011 at 10:27 pm said:

thanks, i can now confirm that it works with iPhone 3GS 32GB iOS 4.3.3

Well done there to all that helped & to those who actually got it working on 4.3.x :)
Fig Tree Guy on May 19, 2011 at 5:49 am said:

Thumbs up to all making it happen for 4.3.x!! I’m a little sad now because my Camera.app won’t record anymore. It does open, and taking pictures work. But in Record mode, I click on the record button, and nothing happens. It doesn’t start recording. I tried putting back original 4.3.3 AV p.list and 4 N88 files and rebooting, but still get the same results. :( Any help?
HypeZ on May 19, 2011 at 12:37 pm said:

@FigTreeGuy: i had the same problem while testing particoular option in AVCaptureSession.plist, you can download the one i linked before and edit the resolution/bitrate for a working one :D Remember to edit only the values under the “AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh” tab, the camera application use that preset!

@james rondell: i tested with both camera app and other app, it works very well without any crash, stutter while recording or stretched image ;) Remember that this patch will only change video resolution and bitrate with the native camera app! Seems like other app uses other preset in AVCaptureSession.plist so i left those value like the original one for avoid compatibility issue

thanks to all who helped with this :D
Fig Tree Guy on May 19, 2011 at 1:02 pm said:

EUREKA! It took me two entire days of research and homework to find out that it was only a bug with FASTSNAP.app (turn off Silent Shutter for the Camera.app to work normally).
http://www.iphone4jailbreak.org/forum/video-recording-not-working.html?replytocom=8280
Fig Tree Guy on May 19, 2011 at 4:47 pm said:

and.. I forgot (me bad) to THANK you, HypeZ, for helping, too. Confirmed, it works with both your settings and two of Azharhamzahya’s settings. I’m trying to find the one that won’t turn choppy in the shadows, but it seems all of them do anyway. If the lighting is good, then it’s smooth video.
Ron Jeremy on May 20, 2011 at 12:23 am said:

Guys ! If you’d be nice blondies with titties I would mostdef shag you for free ! Thank you soo much for figuring out that issue on 4.3.(2)3 !! Good (b)job !!!
Shen Long on May 20, 2011 at 1:37 am said:

Has anyone noticed that you are now able to zoom in & out???

Or is this just me?
Fig Tree Guy on May 20, 2011 at 7:20 am said:

Shen, I had that before updating from 4.2.1 to 4.3.3 and I think it was an added tweak from Cydia. I had to rebuild manually, for the sake of avoiding conflicts. It’d be nice to find it again. :)
Mickel on May 20, 2011 at 9:27 am said:

Do you think you guys could get 1152x 864 working? I have done an edit on the avcapturesession.Plist and it works however when you finish recording it doesn’t play back. I then looked at the file in ifile
And it was only a few kbytes I then found it only saved the audio and not the video. Any suggestions?
Francisco on May 21, 2011 at 12:42 pm said:

Anyone able to run on 4.3.3?

works in 4.3.3?
Fabio on May 21, 2011 at 4:27 pm said:

Yes, Francisco it runs smoothly on 4.3.3. I’m just trying to find a good aspect ratio that keeps the 720 and doesn’t look too stretched like 1280×720 does.
Greetings from Brazil!
ulmo on May 23, 2011 at 7:22 am said:

Hi guys,

First thank you! Than…

HypeZ
May 16, 2011 at 3:11 am
people, i got it working back in 4.3.3 :D
i don’t know if its unstable or if we can have problem, just try it by yourself and post here result:
- download the official package in this post for 4.2
- overwrite the 4 files in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Celestial.framework/N88/ (a backup of these files can be useful! backup before overwrite!), i used the HD files, not the SuperHD
- go in /System/Library/Frameworks/AVFoundation.framework/N88
- i changed 2 voices, but probably it works editing only the second. the 2 parts is AVCaptureSessionPreset640x480 and AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh. I just uploaded the new file here: http://localhostr.com/file/cO5HkwW/AVCaptureSession.plist
- overwrite the AVCaptureSessions.plist file (backup it too!)
- respring
- it works for me, post result!

It works for me ass well with the updated AVCaptureSession.plist.

Is there any way to change the resolution higher than 800×1080?

If yes how?

I’ll give you a chocolate :)

peace
Francisco on May 23, 2011 at 7:42 am said:

me da uma Ajuda aew, eu naum estou conseguindo ativar no meu iphone 3Gs 4.3.3 , sou de são paulo :D

deixa eu te falar, consegui ativar o HDR da foto, mais o video eu substituo os arquivos, e quando abro o video pelo windows media player e vou em propriedades ele esta com 640×480.

msn: jr.suzano@hotmail.com

Help me of a aew, I do not I’m able to activate my iphone 3Gs
4.3.3, I’m from sao paulo: D

let me tell you, I could activate HDR photo, plus video I substitute
files, and when I open windows media player for video and go on
properties he is with 640×480
Francisco on May 23, 2011 at 8:21 am said:

Consegui, esse arquivo AVCaptureSession.plist ele esta filmando com 30 FPS ?

It worked.
this file AVCaptureSession.plist he is filming with 30FPS?
Francisco on May 23, 2011 at 9:04 am said:

more detail, does not like watching video on iphone filmed in 1080p?

mais um detalhe, não tem como ver o video filmado em 1080p no iphone ?
Mickel on May 23, 2011 at 10:39 am said:

My question is how to get the 3GS to output 720p through component
Or even 1080p:)
SHIMO on May 25, 2011 at 4:55 am said:

1280*720 makes the image stretched horizontally.
Would you like something?
HypeZ on May 26, 2011 at 2:18 am said:

@ulmo: yeah you can edit the resolution and the bitrate :D
Just open the AVCaptureSession.plist, if you have a mac just double click to open it, if you have windows you need a tool called “plist Editor for Windows” from here http://www.icopybot.com/download.htm
Search in the plist the string “AVCaptureSessionPresetHigh” and after that you’ll find Capture with Height and Width values. Remember that you can use higher resolution, but always in 4:3 aspect ratio or you will have stretched image. If you use a too high resolution the video recording can stutter or your camera app can bug itself not allowing you to record (until you re-edit the resolution value). I still think the 1080×800 is the best resolution for our iphones ;)
Remember to respring after any editing!

@francisco: yeah, the iphone try to record on 30 fps, but in some too dark ambient it really can’t :( in the AVCaptureSession.plist i set the “MinFrameRate” value to 30, but seems like sometime the fps is under that value :(

@SHIMO, i’m a newbie and maybe i’m saying something not true, but the camera sensor on our iphone is “physically” in 4:3, so when you try to record a 16:9 you’ll have always a stretched image :( The only way to record a non stretched image is to ignore some pixel on the sensor, 2 bars of pixel on top and bottom, leaving to the recording job only a real 16:9 sensor. Sadly thats not easy to do, and i think the only way is to write a brand new kext (driver) for the camera sensor. Not an simple task! :(
Hende on May 27, 2011 at 7:21 am said:

Hi!
Can anybody make .rar file with necessary files and readme file and upload? (with good resulution and bitrate and good fps)
And is it possible to use hdr then I overwrited these files or I can’t use hdr?
Is it possible to use hdr and hd video in same time? And can anybody make files which include hdr and hd video?
Thanks for help!
Denis on May 28, 2011 at 4:54 pm said:

is this possible to put on 4.0?
i wrote a comment about “will it kill my autofocus and camera?”
and how much could i record with this modification?
in matter of minutes?
i tried to put it on 4.0 and it worked.
but i’m still trying to figure out how much with this modification could i record without killing my camera.
or this problem is solved in Rev5?
ulmo on May 29, 2011 at 6:33 am said:

Hey HypeZ!

Thank you for the information :)

Peace
ulmo on May 29, 2011 at 8:18 am said:

Hey HypeZ!

There’s something wrong, or I’m just stupid…. :)

I’m not a big hackr, I don’t know what to do.
I have 3GS 4.3.3 and I would like to maximalize the video capability.

Please do it for meee and upload it, if you have time.

Many thanks!

Ulmo
s4iko1337 on June 6, 2011 at 8:40 am said:

hey people,

i just have found a way to record 16:9 widescreen on 4.3.3 with a resolution of 960×540 WITHOUT stretching !!!!!!!

here are my modified files:
http://www.file-upload.net/download-3486920/960×540-Widescreen-30-FPS.rar.html

put AVCaptureSession.plist in:
/System/Library/Frameworks/AVFoundation.framework/N88

and the other 4 plist files in:
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Celestial.framework/N88

don’t forget to backup your original files ;)

if you open up camera app and switch to video mode, the video is zoomed in. you can zoom out by double tapping the screen :)
Derek on June 10, 2011 at 12:49 am said:

Hi s4iko1337, can you upload a test to view how it see?Many thanks!
s4iko1337 on June 10, 2011 at 7:51 am said:

here is a sample video:
http://www.file-upload.net/download-3497094/IMG_0382.MOV.html
Jamesavilalfa on June 12, 2011 at 5:54 pm said:

s4iko1337, are you able to control sharpening and noise? Seems like there is too much of them on your sample video, compared to the videos recorded with my iPhone 3GS.

Also, I checked the video info, and it’s true! No streching at 960×540!
s4iko1337 on June 13, 2011 at 3:19 am said:

i played around with the settings and it’s a bit sharper but noisier when i turn off temporal noise reduction. i also raised the bitrate to about 7.5 mbit/s.
sorry but it’s not possible to make the quality better ^^

24 fps version:
http://www.file-upload.net/download-3503585/960×540-Widescreen-24-FPS.rar.html

30 fps version:
http://www.file-upload.net/download-3503584/960×540-Widescreen-30-FPS.rar.html
Chris Erick on June 21, 2011 at 2:28 pm said:

I tried all the versions, but none of them is working on my 4.3.3 3GS…
werty on June 30, 2011 at 1:13 am said:

this guy figured it out:

http://www.inspiredgeek.com/2011/05/21/how-to-enable-720p-hd-video-recording-on-iphone-3gs-updated-for-ios-4-3-3/

but he uses wrong ratio, so the video is streched

but you can still edit and make it nice & hd on 4.3.3!
Werner Ruotsalainen on July 1, 2011 at 8:50 pm said:

Please see http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/new-vastly-enhanced-iphone-3g-s-video-recorder-enhancer-released-source-code for a completely and fully working(!) Cydia version compatible with both 4.3.x and iOS versions prior to 4.3.

The dedicated articles (there’re a lot of them in my blog at http://www.iphonelife.com/werner.ruotsalainen ) also explain a LOT of hacks and other goodies I’ve implemented / found out not available anywhere else.
Werner Ruotsalainen on July 2, 2011 at 2:46 pm said:

I’ve played a lot with hacks and have written a Cydia app for both iPhone 3GS (all 4.x versions – yes, 4.3.x too!) and iPhone 4. Posted a full summary on all these to howardforums.com/showthread.php/1723145-iPhone-3G-S-4-HD-video-camera-enhancers-released-(full-source-code!) . (Sorry, non-clickable link, you’ll need to copy/paste – I’d like to receive feedback ASAP and, consequently, don’t want to wait for the moderation.)
Werner Ruotsalainen on July 4, 2011 at 6:38 pm said:

New version released for both the iPhone 3G S and the iPhone 4. Change description and a LOT of resolution chart shots (both photos and original videos) at iphonelife.com/blog/87/iphone-3g-s-4-video-camera-enhancement-news . As you can see, I thoroughly examine all the different “hacks” the hacking community has produced.

Feedback is, as usual, more than welcome so that I can finalize the two projects and upload them to a common Cydia repo!
Werner Ruotsalainen on July 5, 2011 at 6:07 pm said:

New version, with vastly enhanced backup / restore capabilities, released to Cydia (of the iPhone 4 version too). I’ve elaborated very thoroughly on the backup / restore algorithm. I also present some information on minimizing “clicking” using my live view-less 4.3.x Full Sensor mode by using 1.75 Mbps data rate.

Please see iphonelife.com/blog/87/ios-programming-making-backup-copies-system-files-and-restoring-them-iphone-3gs-4-video-came for the article. Feedback welcome!
Werner Ruotsalainen on July 8, 2011 at 3:54 pm said:

I’ve uploaded new iPhone 4 / 3GS-specific app versions (1.5 / 1.7, respectively) in Cydia. The major change is that I’ve moved permission setting in an install-time script (and the docs directory removal into uninstall-time one). Now, it doesn’t require the root password to be “alpine” as these scripts are run as “root”, not as “mobile” (the restricted user Cydia apps are run). With uninstall-time directory deletion, I’ve also eliminated the need to manually tap the “Restore Original Configuration” button before uninstallation to remove the docs directory.

Please see http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/other-tips-programming-cydia-or-just-system-hacks-new-iphone-3gs4-video-camera-enhancer-tool for more info (warning: highly technical info, mostly for programmers or hackers!)
me on July 26, 2011 at 9:47 am said:

i have 3gs with 4.2.1 and worked the hd recording… but the preview on album only shows a thumbnail and not playable… I returned to the old settings. :_(
me on July 26, 2011 at 10:08 am said:

its me again… i think the problem is im using “ihpone explorer” for put the files in my iphone. it makes something wrong.
me on July 26, 2011 at 10:20 am said:

me again! i edited the files with PlistEdit and changed some keys in CameraRollValidator.plist and AVCapture.plist. Now working good in 4.2.1 @ 1080×800, previews working fine and all ok! P.D. Sorry for my poor english.
me on July 28, 2011 at 3:24 am said:

Hey… its me! now i experimented some problems with that hack… I installed some more apps using video, like Cartoonatic, or Camera Genius. When i used that apps recording at 640x480and returned to the iphone camera that crashed or recorded only 1 second and crashed… Im thinking one solution will be to edit the settings about some app and keep the settings of the oficial cam at default. For example; edit the recording settings to HD of the Camera Genius app.

It’s possible? someone knows where can i find that .plist’s ?

P.D. sorry for my english
Mickel on August 12, 2011 at 8:18 pm said:

Update: iOS 5beta 5
In iOS 5 all of the plists related to audio and video capture have been
moved to a single folder (yay!)
this should make things easier
I hope mikepan updates his video hack when the final build comes out
File path is :
/system/library/privateframeworks/mediatoolbox.framework/n88
admin on September 20, 2011 at 4:01 pm said:

Thanks for the research. Will look into it.
hashman27 on October 22, 2011 at 3:37 pm said:

Hey, is there any chance of getting this tweak for ios5?
admin on October 22, 2011 at 4:32 pm said:

Not yet. But for iOS 4x, there is a much easier-to-install tweak available as a Cydia app from http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/87/new-vastly-enhanced-iphone-3g-s-video-recorder-enhancer-released-source-code
mickel on October 23, 2011 at 12:22 am said:

how does this look
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?p2bsuz7n6l1kxyb
mickel on October 23, 2011 at 12:37 am said:

i only have one problem the camera clicks
how did you solve it before?
HypeZ on October 23, 2011 at 2:54 pm said:

here the mod ported on iOS 5.0

http://localhostr.com/file/uF3zwXj/hdvideoios50.zip

i not experienced any camera “click” but video is upside down if you hold the phone with home-button on the left.

Still nothing for 16:9, the only way to get that native 16:9 is use 960×540 resolution, but video quality become real crap with this for unknown reason.
abs on October 24, 2011 at 12:27 pm said:

the ios 5 port seems ok. the recording is a little dark but i suppose we can live with that. well done HypeZ
abs on October 24, 2011 at 3:53 pm said:

mod of hypez mod. 3gs ios 5 fixed low light issue
http://www.mediafire.com/?hdh8bclewqv5hot
Mickel on October 25, 2011 at 10:34 am said:

To get 1280×720 without stretch
You have to set “binned” to false
The only issue I face is the camera lag /clicking of the auto focus
I think it to due with the massive amount of compression that the phone has to do now that apple has capped the bitrate to 1.75mbps
It seems to be just a bit too much for the processor .i know this because if the default data limits are reduced from 30mbps it tends to happen less and if you lower the framerate aswell .the noise canclation is far toomuch for it now
.i only hope some finds the source of the capped Bitrate or a way to boost the clock speed (though it gets very hot as it is)
HypeZ on October 26, 2011 at 4:50 pm said:

sorry Mickel, i just tried a lot and googled more about that but no-one can have native 16:9 even with this Binned set to false. Can you provide us a working AVCaptureSession.plist in 16:9 mode?
Mickel on October 29, 2011 at 12:49 pm said:

Yes I can
Mickel on November 2, 2011 at 12:22 pm said:

i warn you this plist causes clicking among other things which may be harmful to your camera ,it is 16:9 720p 1.75mbps ,tap to focus causes clicking and stutter ,i hold no responsibility if this breaks you camera or 3gs. http://www.mediafire.com/?9g99tnuwnupwp9b
Mickel on November 2, 2011 at 12:23 pm said:

remember that to change the aspect ratio you may have to reboot
Joe on November 5, 2011 at 2:47 pm said:

I’m trying the iOS 5 files on my 3gs and not getting any changes in video quality. Anyone else having this issue?
Mickel on November 12, 2011 at 12:08 am said:

Warning iOS 5.0.1 caps the recording resolution completely
Do not upgrade if you wish to continue using the hd video modz
generalmilk on November 14, 2011 at 12:00 am said:

What does that mean?
Marcos on November 14, 2011 at 2:45 pm said:

Why is the video so low in color when inside a room, but the pictures are super high in color!?!?!?!? Is there at all any way to raise the exposure on the video camera, or make it so it takes in more light?? And also is there a way to edit the iso of the camera because it has been confirmed that the 3gs has an iso of i think 400-1600 :P
Mickel on November 16, 2011 at 3:07 pm said:

@ generalmilk it means that the hd video mod that was working on ios
5.0gm now does not on 5.0.1 at all
See about a year ago mikepan found that you could modify a plist setting to record at resolutions higher than the standard 640×480
And you could just about change every setting the camera could do
(saturation , bitrate, fps ) ect. But apple caught wind of this and in ios 4.3 they effectively crippled the 3GS(and 4) camera so if you sets the bitrate higher than 1.75Mbps it wouldn’t record and with the resolution and compression being high it would studder as the the 600mhz CPU in the 3GS just wasn’t up to the task , But it would still work and with the proper settings it would record ok with much better video than standard, this was the same for ios 5 betas and the gm. But now as I have said apple has crippled it completely setting the resolution any higher than 640×480 will not record. My conclusion is that the hd mod for the iphone 3GS is dead.
Sajam on November 22, 2011 at 2:21 am said:

@Mickel : What you saying is not right. I have a Iphone 3gs running ios 5.0.1 and i have a running HD camera…
For everybody having problems just use this :
http://www.sinfuliphone.com/showthread.php?t=93472
Mickel on December 16, 2011 at 11:44 pm said:

@Sajam the person has obviously found a way around it but using the methods post here will not yield significant results what I said is true the 3GS cannot record hd resolutions at the low bitrate ( high data compression) due to its low clock speed if you read In an earlier post you will find that I explained that some one would have to find a new method as the limits Imposed by apple were too great for the 3GS to handle using that method , so Read before you post! But thanks for the contribution to this article
generalmilk on January 2, 2012 at 7:46 am said:

@Sajam @Mickel Thank you! I almost forget this thing. Now I’m on 5.0.1, will test the files in Sajam’s link :)
wolfs on February 15, 2012 at 11:00 pm said:

It seems that I found a problem.
Unfortunately, the camera sensor of 3gs shows to work in only two modes. VGA & 320M.
I found the problem when i’m trying to modify the size of photocapture.
If you give 2048*1536?okay, you will get 2045*1536
Otherwise, the sensor outputs at VGA.
This is ture for videocapture too.
That’s why some guys said that 2047*1535 will record video fluently, the sensor works at VGA mode, and capture and outputs at the size you set.
I found few difference between 960*720 from 640*480.
wolfs on February 15, 2012 at 11:12 pm said:

In testing photocapture.
I have tried 1600*1200 1632*1224 1500*1000 1024*768 2047*1535
only the 1024*768 give me right picture size 1024*768, however, the picture is a stretched version of VGA, Owesome.
Other settings give me a normal and clean VGA picture.
when i try 2048*1536, I got normal and noisey 2048*1536.
In testing video capture
I tried 960*720 @ 7.2Mbps vs 640*480@3.6Mbps
It is very difficult to find any difference.
I will say, when you use sensor parameters other than 2048*1536, the camera will input at VGA(640*480). With this input, it can output at any parameters you set.
wolfs on February 15, 2012 at 11:16 pm said:

I mean, in testing photo capture, i set both capture and sensor at the same paras.
Still, I hope anyone can find other modes that the camera of 3gs can provide.
if it is between 1.3M to 2M, It is the best.
Since it is noisy at 3Mpixels, while very clean at 640*480.
wolfs on February 16, 2012 at 4:21 am said:

more test results
960*540 is good, a little like VGA, perhaps originally supported.
1280*720 is cropped too much
wolfs on February 19, 2012 at 8:17 pm said:

In these days, I run far more tests, almost in vain.
1024×768 at sensor 2048×1536 with 12fps is a little clear than 960×540 both with 15fps. defalut bps setting(3.6Mbps). Far more clearer than VGA.
But 720p at sony hx5 is much clearer and brighter.
If you notice that 3gs is just a phone, the improvement gives us a noticeable result.
If there is a way to add contrast and brightless, the video will be amazing.

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HD video on iPhone 3GS [4.2]

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