Video to GIF Converter

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gif color banding dithering palette

GIF with color bands or flicker: dithering, palette and color count

In Advanced options, with GIF selected, you find Dithering, Palette colors, Palette and Optimize repeated pixels. Each has a hint right below it, and the estimated size changes with every switch, so you can see the cost of each choice before generating.

Where bands come from and how dithering hides them

A video has millions of possible colors and a GIF only 256 per palette. In a sky or a wall with a soft gradient, several neighboring tones land on the same palette color and visible steps appear, the bands. Dithering swaps the step for a pattern of pixels in two neighboring colors, which the eye blends into an intermediate tone. The tool implements two, because the GIF library used does no dithering: Bayer and Floyd-Steinberg.
Bayer adds to each pixel a threshold taken from a fixed 8x8 matrix of 64 values before choosing the nearest color. The threshold amplitude is 255 divided by the cube root of the color count, capped at 96: about 40 with 256 colors and 96 with 16, because the fewer the colors, the bigger the steps to hide. Since the pattern is fixed, a still pixel gets the same result on every frame, and that helps compression. Floyd-Steinberg spreads each pixel error to its neighbors, 7/16 to the right, 3/16 and 5/16 to the row below and 1/16 diagonally, scanning in a serpentine order. It looks more natural on photos, but the noise changes from frame to frame and the file weighs more.
Flickering colors almost always come from the palette. With One per frame, each image picks the 256 colors that represent it best, and scenes whose colors vary a lot change the whole palette from one frame to the next. With One for all, the tool samples up to 8 evenly spaced frames of the clip, computes a single palette and uses it on all of them, which removes the flicker. In that mode, Optimize repeated pixels reserves a transparent index (255 colors plus 1) and makes every pixel that did not change from what is already on screen transparent, with a small color tolerance in the modes other than Floyd-Steinberg.

Checked examples

Bayer matrix

Input: 8×8
Expected output: 64

There are 64 distinct thresholds, from 0 to 63, normalized before being added to the pixel.

Floyd-Steinberg weights

Input: 7 + 3 + 5 + 1
Expected output: 16 / 16

The whole pixel error is shared among the four neighbors, neither losing nor creating brightness.

Bayer amplitude with 256 colors

Input: 255 / ∛256
Expected output: 40

The cube root of 256 is about 6.35, and 255 divided by it gives 40 rounded.

Bayer amplitude with 16 colors

Input: 255 / ∛16
Expected output: 96

255 divided by the cube root of 16 exceeds 100, but the amplitude is capped at 96.

Colors with optimization on

Input: 256 colors + optimize
Expected output: 255 + 1

One palette index becomes the transparent one, leaving 255 real colors.

Full tool FAQ

How do I convert a video to GIF without uploading the file?

Pick the file, mark the clip and click Generate. The tool extracts frames with the browser's own player, draws each one on a canvas and builds the GIF in memory, all on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, so there is no queue, no upload limit and no copy of your video anywhere.

What FPS and width should I use?

Why is the GIF so heavy?

What is the difference between None, Bayer and Floyd-Steinberg dithering?

Global or per-frame palette? What is optimizing repeated pixels?

How do I add a caption to the GIF?

GIF, animated WebP or short video: which one?

What is the maximum clip length?

How do I make the GIF play once, repeat or ping-pong?

Does it work on phones and in any browser?

Frequently asked questions

Which dithering should I use by default?

Bayer is the default: it is stable between frames, compresses well and hides most bands. Switch to Floyd-Steinberg for photos and long gradients if you accept a larger file, and to None for flat-color drawings, where dithering only adds noise.

Is reducing the number of colors worth it?

It is in simple content such as interfaces, drawings or logos: 64 or 32 colors suffice and the file shrinks. On photos and camera video, below 128 colors the bands show even with dithering. The weight does not fall linearly, because the cost per pixel depends on the log of the color count.

Why does optimization help little with Floyd-Steinberg?

Because Floyd-Steinberg noise changes from one frame to the next even in still areas, so few pixels repeat the previous frame value. In Bayer and no-dithering modes, still pixels get the same index frame after frame, and the optimization turns those stretches into transparency.

Next steps

Where bands come from and how dithering hides them

A video has millions of possible colors and a GIF only 256 per palette. In a sky or a wall with a soft gradient, several neighboring tones land on the same palette color and visible steps appear, the bands. Dithering swaps the step for a pattern of pixels in two neighboring colors, which the eye blends into an intermediate tone. The tool implements two, because the GIF library used does no dithering: Bayer and Floyd-Steinberg.

Bayer adds to each pixel a threshold taken from a fixed 8x8 matrix of 64 values before choosing the nearest color. The threshold amplitude is 255 divided by the cube root of the color count, capped at 96: about 40 with 256 colors and 96 with 16, because the fewer the colors, the bigger the steps to hide. Since the pattern is fixed, a still pixel gets the same result on every frame, and that helps compression. Floyd-Steinberg spreads each pixel error to its neighbors, 7/16 to the right, 3/16 and 5/16 to the row below and 1/16 diagonally, scanning in a serpentine order. It looks more natural on photos, but the noise changes from frame to frame and the file weighs more.

Flickering colors almost always come from the palette. With One per frame, each image picks the 256 colors that represent it best, and scenes whose colors vary a lot change the whole palette from one frame to the next. With One for all, the tool samples up to 8 evenly spaced frames of the clip, computes a single palette and uses it on all of them, which removes the flicker. In that mode, Optimize repeated pixels reserves a transparent index (255 colors plus 1) and makes every pixel that did not change from what is already on screen transparent, with a small color tolerance in the modes other than Floyd-Steinberg.

Checked examples

Bayer matrix

Input: 8×8
Expected output: 64

There are 64 distinct thresholds, from 0 to 63, normalized before being added to the pixel.

Floyd-Steinberg weights

Input: 7 + 3 + 5 + 1
Expected output: 16 / 16

The whole pixel error is shared among the four neighbors, neither losing nor creating brightness.

Bayer amplitude with 256 colors

Input: 255 / ∛256
Expected output: 40

The cube root of 256 is about 6.35, and 255 divided by it gives 40 rounded.

Bayer amplitude with 16 colors

Input: 255 / ∛16
Expected output: 96

255 divided by the cube root of 16 exceeds 100, but the amplitude is capped at 96.

Colors with optimization on

Input: 256 colors + optimize
Expected output: 255 + 1

One palette index becomes the transparent one, leaving 255 real colors.

Full tool FAQ

How do I convert a video to GIF without uploading the file?

What FPS and width should I use?

Why is the GIF so heavy?

What is the difference between None, Bayer and Floyd-Steinberg dithering?

Global or per-frame palette? What is optimizing repeated pixels?

How do I add a caption to the GIF?

GIF, animated WebP or short video: which one?

What is the maximum clip length?

How do I make the GIF play once, repeat or ping-pong?

Does it work on phones and in any browser?

Frequently asked questions