Dither

Color

Applies dithering to reduce color banding using ordered (Bayer), error-diffusion (Floyd-Steinberg, Atkinson), or stochastic (White Noise, Blue Noise) algorithms.

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The Dither node's Bayer (2x2/4x4/8x8), Floyd-Steinberg, Atkinson, and Blue Noise methods, each quantized to 8 colors, shown as magnified detail crops beside the original.

Dither reduces an image to a limited set of colors and uses a pattern or diffused error to simulate the gradients in between. Colors sets how many: in color mode the node picks the most representative colors from the image, and with Grayscale on it uses evenly spaced gray levels. Connect a Palette to dither to an exact color set instead, such as a retro console palette; Use Palette turns on by itself when you do.

The two noise methods add a Seed so the pattern is reproducible across re-cooks and exports, plus Phase X/Y to offset the pattern in pixels (positive X moves it right, positive Y down).

Parameters

Pins

↳ImageImage

InputRequired

↳PalettePalette

InputOptional

↦ImageImage

Output

Dither

MethodChoice

Default: Bayer 4x4

Dithering algorithm

• Bayer 2x2Smallest ordered dither pattern, with a visible grid and strong retro feel.
• Bayer 4x4Medium ordered dither, balanced between pattern visibility and smoothness.
• Bayer 8x8Largest ordered dither, with smoother gradients and a subtler pattern.
• Floyd-SteinbergError-diffusion dithering with natural-looking results and no visible grid pattern.
• AtkinsonClassic Macintosh error diffusion, slightly more contrasty than Floyd-Steinberg, with a distinct vintage look.
• White NoiseStochastic threshold with a flat, untuned noise spectrum. Irregular where Bayer is regular, at the same speed, with a grainier result than Blue Noise.
• Blue NoiseStochastic threshold weighted toward high frequencies, so the dither reads as even fine grain with no clumping and no visible grid. The best default when you want the pattern itself to disappear.

ColorsInteger

Default: 16 Range: 2–256

Number of output colors. In color mode, extracts this many colors from the image via k-means. In grayscale mode, evenly-spaced luminance levels. 2 = 1-bit.

Strength (%)Number

Default: 100 Range: 0–100

Controls the dither pattern or propagated-error amount.

• 0%: the image is still quantized to the selected colors, with no dithering applied.
• 100%: the full method is applied.

GrayscaleToggle

Default: false

Dither to grayscale luminance levels instead of extracting colors from the image

Use PaletteToggle

Default: false

Auto-enabled when a Palette is connected (drives the color set)

SeedInteger

Default: 0 Range: -1–2147483647

White Noise / Blue Noise only

Seed for the White/Blue Noise threshold pattern. Same seed, same output. -1 gives each node and each batch frame its own pattern

Phase X (px)Integer

Default: 0 Range: -4096–4096

White Noise / Blue Noise only

Offsets the noise pattern in pixels

Phase Y (px)Integer

Default: 0 Range: -4096–4096

White Noise / Blue Noise only

Offsets the noise pattern in pixels

Usage Tips

• Floyd-Steinberg gives the most natural results on photographs.
• Bayer gives the classic retro, 8-bit look with its cross-hatch pattern.
• Blue Noise suits images where a Bayer grid is too obviously a grid and Floyd-Steinberg’s worm patterns are too obviously worms.
• Strength is not a blend back toward the source: at 0% the image is still reduced to the selected colors, just without dithering.
• Change the Seed for a different noise pattern, or hold it fixed so a batch dithers identically frame to frame.
• With no Palette connected, the automatic colors are reproducible: re-cooking or re-exporting the same image yields the same colors.

Related Nodes

• Posterize
• Quantize
• Pixelate