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Sixel is nice (and I use it all the time), but we do have better nowadays. iterm's image handling [1] is superior: it just encodes a modern and more efficient
by thatsaguy 8y ago
Sixel is nice (and I use it all the time), but we do have better nowadays.
iterm's image handling [1] is superior: it just encodes a modern and more efficient image format and sends it inbound to be decoded by the terminal. png was always at least equal if not more efficient than sixel at indexed colormaps. You can send jpegs for drastically more efficient true-color images.
The "OSC1337" is not unique to iterm. mlterm also supports it, and I do remember a few others as well. You can use "ranger" to have image previews on a remote server without having to jump through hoops.
[1] https://iterm2.com/documentation-images.html https://iterm2.com/documentation-images.html
- csdvrx 8y agosome terminal emulators support specific formats, but sixel strength is that I don't have to specifically install there emulators. Also, what if I use an OS where they don't work? (Windows 10?)
- thatsaguy 8y agoI have nothing against sixel, of course. But to put things in perspective, Sixel support by itself is not great. Definitely more supported than iterm's, but not universal. But when developing a new program that wants to output graphics to the terminal, OSC1337 is damn easy (you'll likely not need any new dependency or image handling routines), while for sixel you'd probably need libsixel or write your own encoder. As a developer, I vastly edge towards iterm's handling. (and to be honest, as a user as well. png encoding is faster too!)