"PAL is a television video format used in many countries and regions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America." That sentence is Apple's, word for word, and it is the entire official explanation for the two strange entries sitting at the bottom of your iPhone's recording format list.
It appears as a Note in "Record a video with your iPhone camera" in the iPhone User Guide. Most articles about this setting skip straight to advice; this one starts with what Apple actually wrote, then separates that from everything the official pages do not cover.
Where the PAL options show up
The same User Guide page describes the recording formats like this:
"Depending on your iPhone model, you can record video in high-quality formats, like HD, 4K, HD (PAL), and 4K (PAL). Also depending on your model, you can change the fps rates to 24, 25, 30, 60, or 120."
Two things in that sentence do real work and are easy to lose:
- "Depending on your iPhone model" appears twice. It qualifies the format list and the frame-rate list separately. If you do not see
HD (PAL)or4K (PAL)on your phone, that is inside the scope of Apple's own qualifier. - PAL is presented as a peer of HD and 4K, in the same list, chosen the same way — not as a toggle bolted onto a resolution.
So the setting is a recording format you pick, and Apple's only description of what that format is is the regional television definition quoted above.
What Apple's note does and does not tell you
Read the note again with care, because the wording is narrower than people assume:
"Note: PAL is a television video format used in many countries and regions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America."
That is a description of what PAL is in the world — a television format associated with a set of regions. The pages we could find do not go on to spell out which frame rate, colour behaviour, or encoding the HD (PAL) and 4K (PAL) entries produce on iPhone. If you need that level of detail for a broadcast delivery spec, check the official documentation rather than a forum answer.
What you can anchor to is the frame-rate list Apple publishes next to it. The User Guide gives the selectable rates as 24, 25, 30, 60, or 120, again model-dependent. Apple's tech-specs pages describe recording the same way — by resolution and frame rate. The iPhone 17 Pro page lists 4K Dolby Vision at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, 60 fps, 100 fps (Fusion Main), or 120 fps (Fusion Main), while the iPhone 17 page lists 4K Dolby Vision at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps. The (Fusion Main) qualifier matters: those top rates are tied to that one camera.
For reference, Apple states the starting point plainly: "By default, iPhone records video at 30 frames per second (fps)." And the camera can move off your chosen rate on its own — Apple says iPhone "can improve the video quality in low-light situations by automatically reducing the frame rate to 24 fps."
Don't confuse this setting with the Formats setting
This is the mistake that sends people in circles. Settings > Camera > Record Video is where HD, 4K and the PAL entries live. Settings > Camera > Formats is a different screen controlling the codec, and Apple describes it like this:
| Formats setting | Photos captured as | Video encoded as |
|---|---|---|
| High Efficiency | HEIF | HEVC (also known as H.265) |
| Most Compatible | JPEG | H.264 |
Apple's wording on that screen: "All new photos and videos will now use JPEG or H.264 format." It also notes that the Most Compatible option "is available only on iPhone and iPad devices that can capture media in HEIF or HEVC format."
Picking a PAL recording format and picking H.264 are unrelated choices on unrelated screens. If playback compatibility is your real problem, the Formats screen is the lever — walked through in detail in High Efficiency vs Most Compatible.
Getting a PAL recording to play elsewhere
Whatever resolution and frame rate you shot, the file still has to survive the trip off the phone. Apple's guidance on compatibility is stated in terms of numbers, not format names: "Resolutions of 1080p or lower and frame rates of 60 fps or lower are more broadly compatible with older devices." That is a useful line, because it tells you the two variables that actually decide whether an old laptop or TV chokes.
Apple also documents that sharing route changes the file. Via iCloud Photos, "the media is preserved in its original format, resolution, and frame rate." Via other routes, "if sharing this media using other methods, such as AirDrop, Messages, or email, and the receiving device doesn't support the newer media formats, the media might automatically be shared in a more compatible format, such as JPEG or H.264." Note the word might — Apple does not promise a conversion, and the trigger is the receiving device's lack of support.
If the file that lands on your computer is a .mov and your editor or player refuses it, the fastest move is to rewrap or re-encode it yourself instead of hoping a share sheet does it for you.
Try it right here
Runs in your browser. Your file is not uploaded anywhere.
This runs entirely in your browser tab — the video is read from disk, converted locally, and handed back. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no second file-size ceiling to fight on the way to fixing the first problem. The same conversion is available on its own page at MOV to MP4 if you would rather bookmark it.
Two side effects of frame rate worth knowing
Apple documents two consequences of shooting at a higher rate, and both are relevant if you are shopping around the recording-format list:
- File size. "Faster frame rates and higher resolutions result in larger video files." Apple's only published per-minute figure covers 1080p at 30 fps — roughly 65 MB, with "approximately" in the original wording. There is no equivalent published figure for 4K in the pages we could find, so treat any 4K-per-minute number you see elsewhere with suspicion. More on that in how much storage iPhone video uses per minute.
- Slow motion later. "Videos you record at faster frame rates can be played back at slower speeds in the Photos app." Apple adds a caveat in the editing guide: "The playback options available depend on the format of the video you captured. The larger the format you capture, the more options are available."
The practical read
If you have no delivery requirement pointing at PAL, there is nothing in Apple's documentation telling you to switch to it — the note describes a television format tied to regions, not a quality upgrade. If you do have such a requirement, the options are there on supported models, and the exact technical behaviour is worth confirming in the official documentation before you shoot something you cannot reshoot.
FAQ
What does PAL mean in iPhone camera settings?
Apple's User Guide answers this in one Note: "PAL is a television video format used in many countries and regions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America." That is the official definition, and Apple presents HD (PAL) and 4K (PAL) as recording formats alongside plain HD and 4K.
Is 4K PAL better quality than 4K? Apple does not frame it as a quality difference. The User Guide lists both as recording formats and describes PAL only as a television video format tied to those regions. For anything beyond that description, check the official documentation.
Why can't I find the PAL option on my iPhone? Apple's own sentence is qualified: "Depending on your iPhone model, you can record video in high-quality formats, like HD, 4K, HD (PAL), and 4K (PAL)." The available formats and the available frame rates both depend on the model.
Does shooting 4K PAL make bigger files? Apple states the general rule — "Faster frame rates and higher resolutions result in larger video files" — but publishes a per-minute figure only for 1080p at 30 fps. Do not trust an unsourced 4K megabytes-per-minute number.
Will a PAL recording play on my Windows PC or older TV? Apple's compatibility guidance is framed by numbers, not names: 1080p or lower and 60 fps or lower are described as "more broadly compatible with older devices." If a file still refuses to open, converting it is the reliable fix — see all Clapr tools for the full set, or browse more iPhone and video format guides.
All quotations are from Apple's iPhone User Guide and support pages, checked 24 September 2026. Apple revises these pages between iOS versions — verify against the official page before relying on them.
