Dither
A drifting field of value noise quantised with a Bayer matrix into two tones, so light and shadow break into the ordered crosshatch of early screens, with a ripple from the pointer.
- Category: Backgrounds
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Dither
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
cell | number | 4 | Pixel size in px. |
speed | number | 1 | |
color | string | "var(--foreground)" | |
contrast | number | 1.2 | |
interactive | boolean | true | |
className | string | — |
About Dither
Dither quantises a drifting noise field with a Bayer matrix into two tones, so light and shadow break into the crosshatch of early screens, with a ripple from the pointer.
Dither is an animated background for React 19, styled with Tailwind CSS 4 and animated with Motion. It drops into Next.js, Vite, Remix or Astro through the shadcn CLI as a single file you own.
When to use Dither
- Retro and Game Boy aesthetics.
- Print and editorial brands.
- Art portfolios.
- Section textures.
How it works
Pixels are written into an ImageData buffer one byte at a time and scaled up crisp. It pauses off screen and holds still under reduced motion.
The whole layer is decorative and aria-hidden, sits behind your content without taking pointer events it does not need, and pauses when scrolled off screen. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Dither
Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.
The Customize panel next to the preview lets you change cell, speed, contrast, interactive live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.
- cell (number, default 4): Pixel size in px.
- speed (number, default 1).
- color (string, default "var(--foreground)").
- contrast (number, default 1.2).
- interactive (boolean, default true).
Goes well with Dither
These backgrounds pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Ember Field: An animated React ember background: glowing embers drift up and flicker as they cool
- Smoke: A slow React smoke background: blurred plumes drifting over dark sections, CSS only
- Aurora: An animated React aurora background: soft light bands drifting across a section
- Grid Beams: A React grid background with beams of light running along its lines
- Meteors: A React meteor shower background: streaks falling diagonally, CSS only
Install Dither
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/ditherDither is part of Charcoal UI Pro. One seat unlocks all 300 Pro components, 107 landing-page sections and 100 full templates, for every personal and client project, with updates included. Add the @charcoal registry once with your access token, then the command above copies dither.tsx into components/ui and installs clsx, tailwind-merge.
You own the file you install: no runtime package, no lock-in, nothing to keep in sync. Change it however your product needs.
See Charcoal UI Pro pricing · Pro setup
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Bayer dither?
- A Bayer dither uses a small repeating threshold matrix to turn shades into on and off pixels in a regular crosshatch, the look of early computer screens.
- How do I install Dither?
- Dither is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/dither. It copies dither.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Dither free for commercial use?
- Dither needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.
- Does Dither work with Next.js?
- Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.
- Can an AI coding agent install Dither?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Dither's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.