ShaderGlass
A downloadable tool for Windows
ShaderGlass
Overlay applying retro shaders on top of Windows desktop and Wine
- applies shader effects on top of any window on the desktop in realtime
- includes 1,200+ shaders from RetroArch library covering:
- CRT monitor simulation
- image upscaling
- TV / VHS simulation
- softening, denoising, blur and sharpen
- works with most emulators and retro platforms (in windowed/borderless modes) including DOSBox FS-UAE Altirra ScummVM AGS any many more
- excellent companion for pixel art showing shaded and/or aspect-ratio corrected preview
- you can even use it on top of YouTube, Twitch or modern games
- import of external .slangp/.slang shaders
- high customizability with various options, operating modes and shader parameters
- works with OBS (in Game Capture mode)
Check out README and Online Manual for detailed instructions.
Source code and older versions on GitHub.
Also available on Steam!
New in v1.3 stable (19 Mar 2026):
- desktop/window capture under Linux/Wine (see manual for more info)
- shader search function
- shader library update
- minor enhancements
Copyright © 2026 Mausimus. All Rights Reserved.
Download
Development log
- ShaderGlass 1.3.0Mar 19, 2026
- ShaderGlass 1.2.5 beta - better Linux support!Feb 28, 2026
- ShaderGlass 1.2.3Dec 07, 2025
- ShaderGlass 1.2.2Aug 29, 2025
- ShaderGlass 1.2.1Aug 19, 2025
- ShaderGlass 1.2.0 released!Aug 08, 2025
- ShaderGlass 1.1.6 betaAug 02, 2025
- ShaderGlass 1.1.5 betaJul 23, 2025
Comments
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I made a similar application for a mac(+12.5), if anyone is interested let me know! It is beta currently
what is it called
it's called"retroized" it used to be called PhosphorVision
it is free for you to test now it's on my page /retroized
Could we get a new setting inside pixel size labeled "custom" where we can input the exact resolution we want shaderglass to downsample the game/video/app to?
For instance, some games, like CrossCode, use a weird arbitrary resolution like 568x320 that none of the pixel size presets in shaderglass lines up properly with no matter what i do. However, if i could go into pixel size and pick 'custom' and enter 568 x 320 it would downsample to that and it should work with games like that.
and as a bonus, perhaps an X and Y offset input box for those pesky games whose entire pixel grid is centered funny on the output and ALL the pixels are like, 'halfway off' the grid.. shovel knight kinda is like that.
in general, it can be like shooting in the dark when it comes to figuring out the resolution purely by 1x, 2x, 4x etc.. especially since there's no indication on what resolution any of those are actually downsampling to.
There's been a discussion on GitHub about this, the crux of the matter is that if you don't have integer pixel size it might be difficult for ShaderGlass to match the source scaling logic exactly (as you say it might require having additional offset settings etc.); for games in weird resolutions running them windowed at x1 pixel and then Input -> Window mode in ShaderGlass + fullscreen through ShaderGlass is the preferred route atm.
Is there any progress on Steam Deck support for this? Would love it at my TV :)
the Have few problems that i hop to fix.
1. problem 1 every time close the app and re open it it add random filter (Shader) instead off the 1 i have last time also the the change the aspect ratio to 3X every time instead 1X i have put it.
2. problem 2 the don't work for my in game that is full screen for some reason it's any way to fix this.
3. the software don't have option to change the shortcuts or i haven't found i way to do that.
other then that this software works but please fix those because if you don't i will probably not use this software.
1 more feedback please add the option to add your on filter on list and shortcut to aplay this filter for example to press ctrl + F1 for example or whatever i have apply add the filter ctrl + F2 filter 2 ect...
1. Use Processing -> Set as default profile to persist settings when you restart.
2. Depends on the game, exclusive fullscreen is not supported (only borderless fullscreen). For exclusive fullscreen games the options are to run game in windowed mode and use Input -> Window, or use an app like dgVoodoo2 on the game to force it to use borderless fullscreen.
3. You can change global shortcuts under Processing -> Global Hotkeys menu.
Noted on the request to have shader hotkeys, I will add it to the list.
This is such a cool program. Thank you for this. I was wondering if it would be possible for you to make an arcade cabinet border? It would be neat to play games as if you were playing through an arcade machine.
Would love a Mac release too! Great work
I made a similar app for macs if you're interested let me know
any chance of this being made for 32 bit?
Best app of the year for me <3 would be perfect if we could finetune "colors / lum / contarst / sat" externaly as a lot of shaders have pre-cooked extreme color shifts.... And a way to keep the modified settings for each shader. At the moment it resets each time I use a different one.
this is awesome thank you so much! :)
Would you mind if I ported this to the mac? Will fork it or whatever and include links to donate to you, would just love to have this on my mac.
Sure, it's unlikely I will work on a Mac port myself, I have no experience on Macs. A fork is fine of course, it's free software after all, just please respect project and shader licenses. There's already been an attempt to make a similar app for Mac, https://dirkwhoffmann.github.io/RetroVisor/
YES please <3 It's really à game changer for emu and gaming
I made a similar app for a mac (+12.5) let me know if you're interested
I am ! Please send a link
can you connect with me via either discord or email? my discord user name:ryo9700
you can also contact me at email address:phosphorvision.support@gmail.com
since it's beta
I've been using res-independent-scanlines.glsl shader with cnc-ddraw to play old windows games, it's my favorite shader and it works great! But running the shader from ShaderGlass the performance is horrendous.
I don't know if it's because it's a slang shader or my pc is old (using xeon cpu with ddr3) or both, or it needs optimizations for older cpus.
Are there optimizations planned for older pcs or any advice on how to make it perform better?
1.3.0 crashes when trying to change the size of the window. maximizing and minimizing works fine but crashes on any in-between drag size. Windows 11, xps dell laptop, 64gb RAM, nvidia gtx 4070 laptop gpu.
Just resizing the window causes a crash? Never seen this, do you have any injector or overlay apps running? Maybe try switching the GPU that ShaderGlass uses if you have iGPU (using Windows Settings), and try updating GPU drivers.
No overlay or injector apps that I am aware of. Just started out of the blue. Never happened with prior versions. I'll update GPU drivers and see about switching GPU. Is it common to get slow down issues when using shader glass with games like Morrowind or Forever Winter? Are there some settings I should tweak to minimize stuttering? I have figured a few workarounds but they either lower fidelity in the extreme or only work for a short time.
If i try to do a 4:3 aspect ratio from the Output menu on a 16:9 screen, the app aligns the image to the left of the screen. Is there any way to maybe center the image?
I'm glad it finally works on Linux!
Great work, an all time favorite. Can't wait to try the new version.
Awesome app. works like a charm on windows 10 22h2
Clone mode is working great on Linux. I assume glass mode is not currently possible in Linux since the option is greyed out. Saw some saying they're having trouble getting this application to run on Linux. In case any of those folk check the comments here, remember that this requires installing DX11 in Windows so for wine you'll need to install DXVK.
Is there a way to apply Shaderglass to a video/image and export the result?
For image you can use built in Take Snapshot function, for video you'll need to recapture using OBS.
I used shader glass and instantly topped the leaderboard on my favorite retro game. Coincidence? Maybe...
mac version pleaseee!!!
I made a similar app for macs OS +12.5 if you're interested let me know
Can you make a mac version?
At 1:1 pixel quality, It works great for Deltarune, Sonic Adventure 1 ’n 2, and Omori! It reminds me of camp, when we had modern concles, but not so modern games :]
it doesnt work that good on deltarune, tricky toby loves his mixels
Is there any way to allow this software to allow transparency when uploading a file and taking a snapshot?
One of the best software I eve used! :D Nostalgia hit hard with this one! I have one request tough. Is it possible to make the yellow frame of fullscreen black? It would be amazing if I could hide it. Thanks again for this amazing application!
no it's a "safety feature" of windows 10 that you can't turn off unfortunately
Your work is incredible dude but goodness gracious Microsoft is the devil for not letting you disable that shit
Just downloaded this from steam, i love it but it has so many presets, trying to find the sega genesis preset now to see if my sprites look authentic
Any chance to get this app to the android? Android handheld gaming is growing up and this is essential for any retro gamer on any platforms!
I think the border might cover up a third of the screen (yes this image was generated by ai)
vs simply just
When I start the program, a black window appears... What should I do?
Are on an old version of Windows 10 by any chance?
try messing around in the settings, like just changing what window it's focused on
this is the only thing that makes me jealous of windows users right now.
Having a crt filter for everything you do on your pc sounds so sick....
You and me both, I made my own crt viewer for linux meanwhile, still waiting for ShaderGlass Linux https://luxae.itch.io/lux-crtinted-glasses/devlog/1187645/shaderglass-weird-linu...
For people having troubles with OBS, try enabling SLI/Crossfire capture in the property window. Maybe this should be added in the documentation! Anyway, really nice app. I will definitely use it for all my videos !
This app is really cool, the ultimate for watching SD content or playing pixel art indie games. Better than reshade as it has access to retroarch's superior shaders.
I just wish we had one thing:
* a "CUSTOM" pixel size setting that lets us input an exact resolution to downsample to/simulate. Some games and content don't fit the 1x, 2x, 3x, 4.5x etc system. Also, when we pick one of those-- it doesn't tell us what resolution is being simulated either. I would like to input , say, 640x360 and it will downsample and simulate that exact resolution. Same with 480x240, or weird games like Blazing Chrome or CrossCode which use very unique 'internal' resolutions. Would be nice if the preset ones we have now also told us somewhere what resolution is being simulated (as it can vary based on content being cloned).
Hopefully we can get something like this!
This is such an incredible tool, I can assure you that everyone in the retro gaming community was waiting for something like it! I hope a Linux/Wayland port of this comes up in the future too, as per the advent of the Steam Machine and Steam Deck ecosystem <3
I have a problem where my screen gets a yellow border when i use the app, any idea what is causing this? (Windows 10)
Only Win 11 allows removing yellow border, there are some workarounds on Win 10 but limited, check the docs and FAQ.
question: what level of retro_palettes is perfect for pizza tower cyop?
Is there a linux version in the works? i just dove away from Win11 and this would be perfect!
bro it looks like i am using windows 11 on a old Monitor
DOSBOX: I am trying to create a script to run DOSBox games with ShaderGlass. So that shaderglass launches before the game, then closes after dosbox game closes. So far I get various results when trying different parameters. None work entirely yet. Any input?
Yo this is absolutely incredible. Thank you!
Awesome to try out!
This is fantastic! Is there any resource where people can share ideal settings for specific games? I think some more advanced users might be able to give tips for newcomers.