no bug HEIC image - Displays as completely black

[Coprita]

Greetings,

I believe I may have found a bug when opening HEIC images on my machine.

When opening HEIC files, I am provided with only a black rectange. This is unlike the other cases reported on the forums where users had a transparent background or black-on-black content. Attached is a screenshot of the Batch menu showing the entirely black content of the image.

I understand some extra Windows content is required to read/write HEIF/HEIC images; it appears I have it installed either through a Windows update or manually. My "Photos" app (the default Windows photo app) can correctly open and display the image.

Usual bug reporting info:
OS
Windows 10 1909 build 18363.1016

IrfanView
Portable version (extracted from the zip)
Version 4.54, 32bit
RIOT plugin manually installed (dropped into plugins folder)

Hardware
Dell laptop, Quadro K1100M

Recipe for reproducing:
- Open any HEIC I have (so far, all coming from the same iPhone it seems)
- ... that is all.

I am sorry, I do not know what else to provide that could be helpful; I literally just tried to open HEICs.

Thanks!

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

We need a few sample files. Archive them and attach the archive to the forum.

[Coprita]

Here's three sample files. I notice that those files cannot be displayed in Photos (Win10 app, "IMG_0033.HEIC We can't open this file"). I have confirmed the files are not corrupt by using a photo editing software (Affinity Photo) which displayed correctly the pictures. With IrfanView, I get the same as described above (all black).

I have stripped metadata from the files (before uploading).

Thanks

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

I can confirm your results. Image information tells me they only have one colour. FastStone Viewer also displays them as black. Send them to Irfan Skiljan (email in Help, About IrfanView), and let us know what he says.

[JendaLinda]

I've found a solution. I've installed CopyTrans HEIC for Windows. It's a commercial software, which is free for personal use. IrfanView now displays the HEIC photos with no problem.

[mmortal03]

I've found a solution. I've installed CopyTrans HEIC for Windows. It's a commercial software, which is free for personal use. IrfanView now displays the HEIC photos with no problem.

For whatever reason, this did not work for me, even after installing and restarting the computer, uninstalling CopyTrans and re-installing it, rebooting again, etc. I ended up having to buy the HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and then I was able to open HEIC photos in IrfanView.

[JendaLinda]

I later discovered that CopyTrans breaks AVIF support, so I don't recommend CopyTrans anymore.

[Nestea_Zen]

... rebooting again, etc. I ended up having to buy the HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and then I was able to open HEIC photos in IrfanView.

well you dont pay for it. You just download it off https://www.microsoft.com/p/av1-vide...n/9mvzqvxjbq9v

I'm on latest version 4.59, with all plug-ins, and only after installing it over the ms store, is irfan displaying it. same goes for windows photos.

[JendaLinda]

AV1 and HEVC are two different codecs. AV1 is used for displaying AVIF images, HEVC is used for displaying HEIC images. AV1 is for free, HEVC is not.

[IrfanUserGuyxyx]

I downloaded CopyTransHEICforWindowsv1.007.exe for free and my IV opens those 3 files just fine.

[petesimon]

For whatever reason, this did not work for me, even after installing and restarting the computer, uninstalling CopyTrans and re-installing it, rebooting again, etc. I ended up having to buy the HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store, and then I was able to open HEIC photos in IrfanView.

HEIC / HEIF (for photos) should be free from Microsoft https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/he...ot:overviewtab
and HEVC (for video) should be free from the Free-Codecs site or another codec related software site https://www.free-codecs.com/hevc_vid...n_download.htm
- both of those 'extensions' will install into the Windows 10 (or 11) system.

[hugalafutro]

Hello,
I face the same issue, I installed both HEIF and HEVC extensions from the Store, restarted PC, but IrfanView still displays .heic as black and Windows Photos says the picture is too large to open (it's 4096x1834).

The phone is OnePlus 10T eu version, here's a sample picture I just took: https://turbomrak.o5.ddns.net/s/ByZ8yz4y3QpDS4d

Is there a plugin for IrfanView to make .heic work? I'd hate to have to switch from Irfan, but lately viewing .heic become more relevant to me and having to switch to different viewer or convert to .jpg and lose pixels is becoming troublesome.

Thanks for any advice and Happy New Year!

[JendaLinda]

IrfanView is depending completely on Windows' ability to decode HEIC. If Windows Photo app can't open the HEIC file, IrfanView won't open it either.
The file may be too large or in incompatible subformat. I'd suggest to go to the settings of your camera and set the file format to JPEG. That will save you from lots of problems.

[hugalafutro]

As an update: I bought the HEIF and HEVC things from microsoft and it still didn't work, the only thing that displays heic in win11 in any app was this (I am not affiliated, just sharing what worked for me): https://www.copytrans.net/copytransheic/