dith

Ever wanted to look at yourself... in Braille?

Plug in your webcam or throw any image at it: PNG, JPEG, BMP, whatever. 5 classic dithering algorithms render it live in your terminal.

Built in Zig with native macOS camera integration. No dependencies, just vibes.

What You Can Do

Dither anything:

# Live camera feed
dith +source=cam +mode=atkinson

# Any image file
dith +source=file +mode=blue_noise +path=photo.png

5 classic dithering algorithms:

Mode	Best For
edge	Line art, sketches, outlines
atkinson	High contrast, classic Mac aesthetic
floyd_steinberg	Photos, smooth gradients
blue_noise	Organic, film-grain look
bayer	Retro 8-bit, crosshatch pattern

Fine-tune the output:

# Adjust sensitivity
dith +source=cam +mode=edge +threshold=50

# Invert colors
dith +source=file +mode=bayer +path=image.jpg +invert

Install

Requirements: Zig 0.15.1+, macOS (for camera source)

git clone https://github.com/user/dith
cd dith
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

Binary is at ./zig-out/bin/dith. Add it to your PATH or copy it somewhere convenient.

Usage

dith +source=<SOURCE> +mode=<MODE> [options...]

Sources

Camera - live feed from your webcam

dith +source=cam +mode=edge
dith +source=cam +mode=atkinson +warmup=5      # more warmup frames
dith +source=cam +mode=blue_noise +strategy=direct   # no background capture

File - PNG, JPEG, or BMP

dith +source=file +mode=floyd_steinberg +path=photo.png
dith +source=file +mode=bayer +path=~/Downloads/image.jpg +invert

Options

Option	Description	Default
+threshold=N	Sensitivity 0-255	varies by mode
+invert	Flip black/white	off
+warmup=N	Camera warmup frames	3
+strategy=	pipelined or direct	pipelined

Examples

# Sketch-like edge detection
dith +source=file +mode=edge +path=drawing.png +threshold=5

# Classic Macintosh dithering
dith +source=file +mode=atkinson +path=photo.jpg

# Smooth photo dithering
dith +source=cam +mode=floyd_steinberg +threshold=140

# Cinematic grain
dith +source=file +mode=blue_noise +path=portrait.png

# Retro game aesthetic
dith +source=cam +mode=bayer +invert

Contributing

# Run tests
zig build test

# Debug build
zig build

# Release build
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast

# Build and run
zig build run -- +source=cam +mode=edge

PRs welcome.