AnimeEnhancer — Anime4K Without MPV

One-click real-time anime upscaling for any fullscreen browser video on Windows.

Hey! I’m picki, and this is the Windows app I’ve built.

I made AnimeEnhancer because anime can look surprisingly soft when a browser or video player is stretched across a high-resolution screen. The app captures the fullscreen window, runs an Anime4K-based enhancement chain on the GPU, and puts the improved frame back on screen through a click-through overlay.

Everything runs locally. There is no account, cloud processing, recording, or automatic frame saving.

Important

Start with a 720p source at minimum. 1080p or higher is recommended for the cleanest result. Very low-resolution or heavily compressed video does not contain enough real detail to reconstruct perfectly, so strong processing can make blur, ringing, blocks, or halos more noticeable.

Quick start

1. Download the portable ZIP from Releases.
2. Extract the ZIP anywhere you want.
3. Open AnimeEnhancer.exe — there is no installer.
4. Pick a GPU and preset, then press Start Enhancement.
5. Switch to your browser or player and enter fullscreen.

After the three-second countdown, a small side notification confirms that enhancement is active. Move the pointer to temporarily reveal the original browser surface, then click, pause, or drag the timeline normally; the enhanced output returns automatically when pointer activity stops. Use the top-right close control or press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Q for an emergency stop.

Windows SmartScreen or antivirus warning

AnimeEnhancer is a new, independently distributed app and its release binaries are not currently signed with a commercial code-signing certificate. Windows SmartScreen builds reputation from signing and download history, so it may show "Windows protected your PC" or "Unknown publisher" even when a file is not malware.

AnimeEnhancer also performs actions that heuristic antivirus scanners watch closely: it captures a fullscreen window, creates a topmost GPU overlay, registers global hotkeys, and uses a low-level mouse hook to let the browser receive pointer input while enhancement is running. These features are required for the app to work, but they can occasionally cause a false positive. The app does not upload video, record playback, inspect browser URLs, or save captured frames.

Before running the app:

1. Download it only from the official GitHub Releases page.
2. Compare the file's SHA-256 hash with the included SHA256SUMS.txt. For the beta ZIP, run Get-FileHash .\AnimeEnhancer-1.1.0-beta.1-win-x64.zip -Algorithm SHA256 in PowerShell.
3. You can inspect the complete source code here or build it yourself.
4. If the hash matches and SmartScreen shows the blue warning, select More info, confirm the publisher is listed as unknown, then choose Run anyway.

Do not disable Microsoft Defender or add a broad antivirus exclusion. If Defender reports a specific detection instead of a SmartScreen reputation warning, leave the file blocked and open an issue with the exact detection name, antivirus version, and file hash so it can be investigated.

Presets

• Balanced — lighter processing for smoother playback and lower GPU use.
• Quality — the full Anime4K CNN S restore and x2 upscale chain. This is the best starting point for most videos.
• RTX Quality — adds a second restoration pass before upscaling for stronger reconstruction on faster GPUs.
• Ultra Detail — keeps the RTX Quality pipeline and adds stronger edge-aware clarity and micro-contrast at display resolution.

Warning

Ultra Detail is intentionally aggressive. It can make line art look sharper, but it can also emphasize compression artifacts or ringing in a weak source. If that happens, switch back to Quality.

Saturation and contrast update live. Stream Cleanup and Smooth Gradients are optional and disabled by default, since they help compressed video but can soften clean sources. Split view makes it easy to compare the original and enhanced image.

AnimeFlow 60 FPS beta

The 1.1 beta adds optional RIFE/ncnn Vulkan frame interpolation for NVIDIA RTX systems. AnimeFlow derives presentation timing from the captured video timestamps, skips already-high-frame-rate content automatically, and keeps the normal Anime4K reconstruction path active for interpolated frames.

AnimeFlow is still experimental. Fast cuts, subtitles, hair, particles, and heavy camera motion can produce temporary warping or uneven motion. Leave it disabled for the most predictable image quality, and please report the source site, GPU, display refresh rate, and a short description of the scene when filing feedback.

Lossless Scaling Frame Generation

AnimeEnhancer includes an LS FrameGen output mode. It makes AnimeEnhancer's processed output visible to external capture without repeatedly forcing the enhancement overlay above Lossless Scaling or stealing focus from the source video.

1. Enable LS FrameGen output in AnimeEnhancer.
2. Start AnimeEnhancer and wait for the captureable AnimeEnhancer LS Source window to appear.
3. Activate LSFG while that source window is in the foreground.
4. In Lossless Scaling, use WGC capture and leave scaling off so LS only adds generated frames.

The intended chain is browser -> AnimeEnhancer -> LSFG -> display. Lossless Scaling is proprietary software and is not bundled with AnimeEnhancer.

What is actually happening

The live path is:

Windows Graphics Capture -> Direct3D 11 -> Anime4K shader passes -> flip-model overlay

Balanced and Quality use the complete Anime4K CNN S restore network (4 passes) and CNN S x2 upscale network (5 passes, including depth-to-space). Intermediate textures use FP16. RTX Quality runs another complete restoration and blends it conservatively before the same upscale chain. Ultra Detail adds two display-resolution clarity passes without building a giant temporary 8K frame.

Automatic mode detects fullscreen windows by geometry rather than a browser allow-list. A browser may already give Windows a 4K-composited frame even when the stream itself is 1080p, so the source-resolution readout is an estimate rather than stream metadata.

Requirements and limits

• Windows 10 version 2004 or newer
• A Direct3D 11-capable GPU
• 720p minimum input; 1080p or higher recommended
• HDR processing is currently disabled
• Protected video may capture as a black frame; the app does not bypass DRM
• Performance depends on the chosen preset, GPU, display resolution, and source application

Building from source

You need the .NET 10 SDK and Git. Clone with submodules, then run:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/picki1/AnimeEnhancer.git
cd AnimeEnhancer
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/bootstrap.ps1
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/build.ps1
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/test.ps1

For a self-contained portable package and WiX installer:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/package.ps1

The portable build is created under artifacts/portable. The MSI is optional and requests elevation because it installs per machine.

Privacy

AnimeEnhancer processes frames in GPU memory on your PC. It does not upload video, record playback, inspect browser URLs, or save captured frames automatically.

Feedback and support

Found a bug, have feedback, or need help? Feel free to message me directly on Discord: picki95.

Credits and license

AnimeEnhancer was created by picki. This repository is source-available and the original AnimeEnhancer code, interface, branding, artwork, packaging, and documentation remain proprietary; see LICENSE.

The project uses third-party work including Anime4K, Vortice.Windows, Microsoft sample-derived interop, and Serilog. Those projects belong to their respective authors and keep their original licenses. Full notices are in licenses/THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md and docs/SOURCES.md.

That’s basically it — press one button, go fullscreen, and let the GPU do its thing.