Pixel Lens

Place a lens, and watch any video turn into pixel art in real time.

■ Overview

Pixel Lens is a real-time conversion tool that overlays a "pixel-art lens" on top of your desktop.

Just drop the lens over a video or game, and our in-house lightweight AI turns the image into pixel art on the spot. Anime, YouTube, web browsers, gameplay — anything on your screen, only the area you choose.

Audio plays through unchanged, so you can add the fun of "watching in pixel art" without compromising your viewing experience.

* A DirectX 12-compatible GPU is required. Please see the system requirements below for details.

■ Features

▷ Ultra-light, fast in-house AI

  The model is just 3 MB. Runs in real time at about 24 FPS on an RTX 3060-class GPU, and about 30 FPS on RTX 3090-class hardware.

  * Measurement conditions: Full HD (1920×1080) input / Target FPS = 30 / Dot size = 4

▷ Overlays on any app

  Works with video players, browsers, games, and any other window or screen region.

▷ Adjustable Dot size and Sharpness

  Five-step control to match your preferred pixel-art feel.

▷ Screenshot capture

  Save the perfect moment in one click.

▷ Stream mode (OBS integration)

  Send the pixel-art image to OBS through a virtual camera, ready for streaming or recording.

  You can also record pixel-art videos to file via OBS.

■ How to use

[Lens mode]

1.  Launch the app
2.  Select "Lens" mode
3.  Place the lens over the area you want, and adjust its size
4.  Watch the pixel-art image directly

[Stream mode]

1.  Launch the app and select "Stream" mode
2.  Pick the window you want to capture
3.  In OBS, add a "Video Capture Device" source → choose "Pixel Lens Virtual Camera"
4.  4. Stream or record as usual in OBS

■ Tips

• If pixels look smudged, try widening the lens. Expanding it toward Full HD (1920×1080) makes things sharper.
• Lens size directly affects rendering load. To raise the FPS, make the lens smaller.
• Anime and illustration-style high-contrast content works best. Live-action footage may lose fine detail.
• If "(restart app for fast mode)" appears in the title bar, restarting the app will give a small speed boost.

■ Notes

• DRM-protected content (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, etc.) cannot be captured by design and will appear as a black screen. This is expected behavior of content protection, not a bug in Pixel Lens.
• We recommend using Pixel Lens at Full HD (1920×1080) or below. Higher resolutions still work, but the processing load grows with the square of the resolution, so the FPS will drop.
• The lens window does not support click-through. Since it cannot coexist with mouse-driven gameplay, we recommend using it with games controlled by keyboard or gamepad.
• Stream mode is not compatible with Discord screen sharing (please go through OBS / OBS Virtual Camera instead).

■ Examples

The following video was recorded using PixelLens's Stream mode.

■ Support

For the full manual, please visit the official PanzerSoft website.

For feedback, feature requests, and bug reports, please use the E-mail or official Discord.