// USER MANUAL

Formats and Specifications

Pearla Verana IV User Manual · Chapter 26 of 27 · Part VI. Reference

This chapter is the specification sheet. It states what Verana records, at what size, in what encoding, and what the resulting file is called. It does not explain how to choose between the options: each section names the chapter that does.

Two things run through all of it. Some capabilities depend on the hardware, and where a resolution, a codec or a frame rate is not offered on your iPhone it is because the device does not provide it. And photo and video hold their settings separately throughout, so a format chosen in one capture mode leaves the other as it was.

26.1 Still Output

Output Format decides whether a capture writes a raw file.

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Photo, under Output Format.

OptionResult
Raw + CompressedA raw capture, with the finished image alongside it. The default
CompressedA compressed file only

Raw Format is only live while Raw + Compressed is selected. Chapter 7 covers the choice and its consequences.

26.2 Still Raw Formats

Four raw formats. All four write one capture per frame, but they do not all write the same number of files.

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Photo, under Raw Format.

FormatWhat lands on disk48MPFlash
Apple ProRAW (12-bit)A .dng, plus a separate .heic or .jpgYesYes
Bayer (12-bit)A .dng, plus a separate .heic or .jpgNoNo
PearlaRAW (12-bit)A single .praw, carrying its finished image with itYesYes
PearlaRAW (14-bit)A single .praw, carrying its finished image with itNoNo

The install default is a PearlaRAW format, chosen on first run to suit the device.

Availability depends on the device and on the camera in use. Unavailable formats are grayed out rather than hidden, and the selection shown is always the format Verana will use. Your stored preference is kept.

Note: Bayer (12-bit) and PearlaRAW (14-bit) are unavailable while 48MP is selected, and choosing 48MP with one of them active moves the raw format to PearlaRAW (12-bit).

26.3 Compressed Still Formats

Compressed Format chooses the finished image written alongside a raw capture, and the whole of a Compressed capture.

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Photo, under Compressed Format.

OptionWritesApplies
JPEG.jpgThe more widely readable of the two. Both HDR color spaces are unavailable while it is selected
HEIF.heicThe default, and required for both HDR color spaces

26.4 Still Resolution

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Photo, under Resolution.

OptionRecords
12MP4032 by 3024
48MP8064 by 6048

48MP depends on the device and on the lens. Where it is unavailable the control is grayed out and reads 12MP.

26.5 Video Resolutions

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Formats, under Resolution.

OptionFrameRecords
HD16:91280 by 720
1080p16:91920 by 1080
4K UHD16:93840 by 2160
4K Open Gate4:33840 by 2880, the full 4:3 frame

The list is filtered to what the device provides. Open Gate is the only resolution at which Verana records raw video. Chapter 10 covers the resolutions and what Open Gate is for.

26.6 Frame Rates

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Formats, under Frame Rate.

The page offers nine rates, filtered to those the device can deliver at some resolution: 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30, 48, 50, 59.94 and 60. The default is 24.

Rate and resolution are checked against each other, and a rate the current resolution cannot reach is refused. Two codecs constrain the rate further: PearlaRAW holds it at 24 for as long as it is selected, and ProRes RAW will not exceed 60.

26.7 Video Codecs

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Formats, under Codec.

CodecRecordsRate controlAvailability
HEVCA finished image, 10-bitCompression, four levelsEvery device. The default
H.264A finished image, 8-bitNoneEvery device
ProRes 422 LTA finished image, 10-bitNoneDevices whose hardware provides ProRes
ProRes 422A finished image, 10-bitNoneDevices whose hardware provides ProRes
ProRes 422 HQA finished image, 10-bitNoneDevices whose hardware provides ProRes
ProRes 4444A finished image, 10-bitNoneDevices whose hardware provides ProRes
PearlaRAWThe sensor readout, as a .prawvQuality, three levelsEvery device, at 4K Open Gate only
ProRes RAWThe sensor readoutQuality, two levelsDevices that support it, at 4K Open Gate only, written to an external drive

Everything but PearlaRAW is written as a .mov. The row beneath the codec follows the selection: HEVC shows Compression, the two raw codecs each show their own Quality, and the rest show neither.

PearlaRAW additionally requires at least 256 GB of free space when the destination is the in-app library. Recording to an external drive removes that requirement. Both raw codecs and their conditions are covered in Chapter 10.

26.8 Compression and Quality Levels

Compression applies to HEVC. Four levels, defaulting to High. The bit rate is not fixed: it scales with the resolution and the frame rate you have selected, and the label on each level recalculates to report the rate that will actually be written.

Level1080p / 244K UHD / 244K UHD / 30Open Gate / 24
Low1 Mbps7 Mbps9 Mbps10 Mbps
Medium4 Mbps17 Mbps22 Mbps23 Mbps
High7 Mbps29 Mbps37 Mbps39 Mbps
Max10 Mbps43 Mbps54 Mbps58 Mbps

Quality, on PearlaRAW. Three levels, named for the depth each one stores, defaulting to L0.

LevelStores
L0 · 14-Bit LosslessThe sensor reading intact, with no loss at all
L1 · 12-Bit12 bits per sample
L2 · 10-Bit10 bits per sample

Quality, on ProRes RAW. Two levels, Standard and HQ, defaulting to Standard.

26.9 Audio

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Audio.

Audio selects Field or Manual, and what is available below it follows.

ModeMicrophoneFormatChannelsSample rate
FieldBuilt-in onlyFixedFixed48 kHz
ManualAny listed inputYour choiceYour choiceYour choice

Field is the default on devices that provide it, and offers no format controls because there are no choices to make. The three Manual controls:

ControlValuesDefault
FormatAAC, LPCM 16, LPCM 24, LPCM 32FAAC
ChannelsMono, Stereo, Dual MonoStereo
Sample Rate48 kHz, 44.1 kHz48 kHz

AAC is compressed. The three LPCM values are uncompressed, at 16, 24 and 32 bits, the last of them floating point. Mono writes one channel and the other two write two.

A PearlaRAW video recording writes its own audio track and the format controls do not reach it. Chapter 11 covers audio in full.

26.10 Log Profiles

Where to change it: Settings → Image Processing → Log.

Sixteen profiles, each carrying its own gamut. All sixteen are available on every device, in photo and in video alike, and the list does not change from one iPhone to another. Pearl-Log is the default in both capture modes.

Listed in the order the picker uses.

ManufacturerProfileGamut
PearlaPearl-LogPearla Wide Gamut
AppleApple LogBT.2020
AppleApple Log 2Apple Wide Gamut
ARRILogC3ARRI Wide Gamut 3
Blackmagic DesignBMD Film Gen 5BMD Wide Gamut Gen 4/5
CanonC-LogCinema Gamut
CanonC-Log2Cinema Gamut
CanonC-Log3Cinema Gamut
DJID-LogD-Gamut
FujifilmF-Log2F-Log Gamut
Insta360I-LogBT.2020
LeicaL-LogBT.2020
NikonN-LogBT.2020
PanasonicV-LogV-Gamut
SonyS-Log2S-Gamut
SonyS-Log3S-Gamut3.Cine

Where a manufacturer has more than one, they are separate encodings rather than revisions of a single one. Chapter 15 covers choosing a profile and monitoring a log signal.

26.11 Output Color Spaces

Photo and video carry their own lists, and each sits with the rest of its capture settings. Chapter 14 covers the choice.

Where to change them: Settings → Camera → Photo and Settings → Camera → Video, both under Color Space.

PhotoNotes
sRGBThe default
Display P3
HLG BT.2020HDR. Requires HEIF
HDR Gain MapHDR. Requires HEIF
VideoNotes
Rec.709-AThe default
HLG BT.2020HDR

While Compressed Format is set to JPEG the two HDR photo spaces are grayed out, and switching to JPEG with one of them active returns Color Space to sRGB.

26.12 File Names

A capture is named from three parts: a prefix you set, an optional date, and a five-digit number. Empty parts fall out, and the rest are joined with underscores. Two controls decide the first two parts. Both live on the System tab, which also carries the thermal warning threshold, covered in Chapter 27.

Where to change it: Settings → System.

File Name Prefix

The prefix leads every file name. It defaults to PRL. Characters that cannot appear in a file name are dropped as you type, so what the field shows is always a name Verana can write. An empty prefix is valid, and that segment simply falls out of the name.

File Name Date Format

Nine options, controlling the date segment between the prefix and the number. Photo defaults to NO DATE and video to YYYY_MM_DD.

OptionProduces
NO DATENothing. The segment is omitted
YYYY_MM_DD_HH_mm2026_07_31_14_08
YYYY_MM_DD2026_07_31
MM_DD_HH_mm07_31_14_08
MM_DD07_31
YYYYMMDDHHmm202607311408
YYYYMMDD20260731
MMDDHHmm07311408
MMDD0731

The two-digit segments are month, day, hour and minute in that order, on a 24-hour clock, in the phone’s own time zone.

Both settings are held per capture mode

The System tab edits the capture mode you were in when you opened settings. Open it from photo mode and you are setting the photo name; open it from video mode and you are setting the video name. Nothing on the page says which, so check the capture mode before you change either control on a job that depends on the naming.

The number

The number runs from 00001 and counts up. It is kept per prefix and per capture mode, so photos and videos number independently, and changing the prefix starts a fresh count. A number is never reused, whether a capture goes to the library or to a folder, so two files from one shoot never collide.

What that produces

A live example sits at the foot of the page showing what the next capture will be called. Worked through, on the defaults:

CaptureSettingsLands on disk as
A still, PearlaRAW (14-bit)Prefix PRL, NO DATEPRL_00001.praw
A recording, HEVCPrefix PRL, YYYY_MM_DDPRL_2026_07_31_00001.mov
A still, Apple ProRAW (12-bit) with HEIFPrefix ACAM, MMDDACAM_0731_00042.dng and ACAM_0731_00042.heic

The last row is the general rule for a capture that writes two files: both take the same name and differ only in what follows the dot.

26.13 Where Files Are Written

Stills always land in Verana’s own media library. There is no file destination control on the Photo page.

Video is written to the destination set under Save To.

Where to change it: Settings → Camera → Video, under Save To.

DestinationWrites to
LibraryVerana’s own media library. The default
FilesA folder you pick, on the device or on a drive connected over USB-C

Recordings written to a folder appear under the media library’s FILES source rather than LIBRARY. ProRes RAW can only be written to a folder on an external drive. The media library is covered in Chapter 18, save destinations in Chapter 10, and export in Chapter 20.

Save Copy to Photos, on both the Photo and the Video pages, adds a copy of each finished capture to the iOS Photos library rather than choosing a destination. Raw video recordings are not copied.


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