Bug 510261 - Video dates (times) Are Incorrect Because the Timezone Is Not Considered
Summary: Video dates (times) Are Incorrect Because the Timezone Is Not Considered
Status: REPORTED
Alias: None
Product: digikam
Classification: Applications
Component: Metadata-Date (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 8.7.0
Platform: Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Digikam Developers
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-10-05 12:05 UTC by vincent07ab
Modified: 2025-10-10 12:45 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
sample image (3.33 MB, image/jpeg)
2025-10-05 14:09 UTC, vincent07ab
Details
sample video (3.61 MB, video/mp4)
2025-10-05 14:10 UTC, vincent07ab
Details
Screenshot Digikam (1.62 MB, image/png)
2025-10-05 14:12 UTC, vincent07ab
Details

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Description vincent07ab 2025-10-05 12:05:40 UTC
SUMMARY
If a video file has no UTC offset set, Digikam defaults to the user's local timezone, which produces incorrect timestamps for media captured in a different timezone.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE

1. Locate a picture and a video taken in a different timezone, captured within a short time of each other.
2. Compare the timestamps of the picture and the video.

OBSERVED RESULT
The video displays an incorrect timestamp.

EXPECTED RESULT
The video should display the same timestamp as the corresponding picture.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Windows: Windows 11 Home 23H2
macOS:
(available in the Info Center app, or by running kinfo in a terminal window)
Linux/KDE Plasma:
KDE Plasma Version:
KDE Frameworks Version:
Qt Version:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This issue could potentially be resolved using geolocation data. The recorded location could be used to determine the correct timezone offset for the media.
Comment 1 Maik Qualmann 2025-10-05 12:31:49 UTC
Please provide a sample image and video with a different time.
What camera device was used? I can't imagine at the moment that the video metadata doesn't contain a correct UTC offset, apart from geolocation.

Maik
Comment 2 vincent07ab 2025-10-05 14:09:43 UTC
Created attachment 185530 [details]
sample image
Comment 3 vincent07ab 2025-10-05 14:10:24 UTC
Created attachment 185531 [details]
sample video
Comment 4 vincent07ab 2025-10-05 14:12:14 UTC
Created attachment 185532 [details]
Screenshot Digikam
Comment 5 Maik Qualmann 2025-10-05 18:30:10 UTC
Thanks for the sample files. Yes, there's no time zone offset information in the video. Ultimately, you'd have to use the GPS location; perhaps you could submit it as a feature request to ExifTool, since ExifTool recently added a geolocation API.
However, that would also require digiKam to support time zone offsets. We'll see; we'll start supporting this in one of the next digiKam versions.

At the moment, I would subtract an hour using the Time Adjust Tool with the ExifTool option enabled in the tool. It also adjusts the QuickTime date.

Maik
Comment 6 vincent07ab 2025-10-10 12:45:08 UTC
(In reply to Maik Qualmann from comment #5)
> Thanks for the sample files. Yes, there's no time zone offset information in
> the video. Ultimately, you'd have to use the GPS location; perhaps you could
> submit it as a feature request to ExifTool, since ExifTool recently added a
> geolocation API.
> However, that would also require digiKam to support time zone offsets. We'll
> see; we'll start supporting this in one of the next digiKam versions.
> 
> At the moment, I would subtract an hour using the Time Adjust Tool with the
> ExifTool option enabled in the tool. It also adjusts the QuickTime date.
> 
> Maik
Sorry for the late response, and thanks for supporting it in a future version. I’ll look into submitting a feature request to ExifTool. I’ve used the Time Adjust tool in the past to “correct” the time, but this causes problems in other apps like Immich or DigiKam when it supports timezone offsets with geolocation, which results in the wrong time.