Some HEVC/H.265 video still frames copied from Quicktime Player give strange output

[geerlingguy]

For example:

This is with a video with the following format:

$ ffmpeg -i NINJAV_S001_S001_T013.MOV
ffmpeg version 7.1.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2025 the FFmpeg developers
...
Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from 'NINJAV_S001_S001_T013.MOV':
  Metadata:
    major_brand     : qt  
    minor_version   : 537199360
    compatible_brands: qt  
    creation_time   : 2025-07-25T16:36:04.000000Z
    make            : Atomos
    make-eng        : Atomos
    encoder         : NinjaV - 11.12.00   
    encoder-eng     : NinjaV - 11.12.00   
    com.atomos.hdr.gamut: Rec709
    com.atomos.hdr.gamma: Rec709
    com.atomos.hdr.monitormode: Native
    com.atomos.hdr.range: Legal
    com.apple.proapps.image.{TIFF}.Make: Atomos
    com.apple.proapps.image.{TIFF}.Model: NinjaV
    com.apple.proapps.image.{TIFF}.Software: 11.12.00
    timecode        : 00:00:00:00
  Duration: 00:40:41.94, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 49875 kb/s
  Stream #0:0[0x1](eng): Audio: pcm_s24le (in24 / 0x34326E69), 48000 Hz, stereo, s32 (24 bit), 2304 kb/s (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 2025-07-25T16:36:04.000000Z
        vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0]
  Stream #0:1[0x2](eng): Video: hevc (Rext) (hvc1 / 0x31637668), yuv422p10le(tv, unknown/bt709/unknown, progressive), 3840x2160, 47566 kb/s, SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 30k tbn (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 2025-07-25T16:36:04.000000Z
        vendor_id       : appl
        encoder         : HEVC Coding
  Stream #0:2[0x3](eng): Data: none (tmcd / 0x64636D74) (default)
      Metadata:
        creation_time   : 2025-07-25T16:36:04.000000Z
        timecode        : 00:00:00:00

It seems to happen on HEVC / H.265 content from other programs as well. This was from a Ninja V recorder. If I paste the same clipboard data (one frame copied out of QuickTime player) into Photoshop, I get the full frame correctly (so I don't think it's an issue with the clipboard data):

[geerlingguy]

For the time being, I migrated my workflow to using QuickTime Player + Preview to automatically save the current frame of a video file to disk; see https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/save-video-still-frames-quicktime-player-shortcut

I was also testing with VLC and it's save as frame option, but that workflow was a bit less streamlined.