A lightweight, high-quality DDS encoder and decoder. TexInspect is a zero-dependency application for handling LDR DirectDraw Surfaces.

• Tiny Footprint: Under 128KB, portable even if you use floppy disks.
• Compatibility: Only requires .NET 4.7.2, no extra redistributables. Compatible with Windows 7 SP1 - 11.
• Full LDR Support: Supports encoding and decoding BC1-5, Legacy DXT1-5, ATI1, ATI2, and BC7.
• MipMaps: Automated chain generation using Catmull-Rom downsampling.
• CubeMaps: Automated detection, encoding, and decoding CubeMaps with full 3D preview (GUI only).
• Normal Maps: Specialized alternative encoders for Normal Maps using DXT5n or BC7n.
• Quality Analysis: Supports assessing MSE, PSNR, and SSIM.
• Headers: Supports Legacy FourCC and modern DX10 (DXGI_Format) extended headers.
• Reporting: Capable of reading and validating DDS headers, and generating full reports.

• Operating System: Windows 7 SP1 (x86) with .NET Framework 4.7.2
• Processor: Dual-Core CPU (e.g., AMD Athlon 64 X2 / Intel Core2 Duo)
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Storage: >128 KB available space
• Graphics: Integrated Graphics or any DirectX 9.0c compatible GPU with 128MB of VRAM

• Operating System: Windows 10 / 11 (x64)
• Processor: Quad-Core CPU or better
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Storage: Any SSD (SATA or NVMe)
• Graphics: Any Dedicated GPU (e.g. GTX 600 Series with 1GB VRAM)

GPU requirements are recommended minimums for the OS. TexInspect is GPU-agnostic.

Comparison testing was done on a i9-9980HK (2019), strictly on the CPU. Results are taken from a 50-run average. While encoding BC7, Texconv was run in 'Quick' mode. Decoding was benchmarked while exporting to BMP.

Kodak Lossless TrueColor Image Suite Benchmarks (24 Images)

MSE Reference: 0 = Lossless | <2 = Indistinguishable | <20 = Excellent | <65 = Acceptable

PSNR Reference: 128 = Lossless | >45 dB = Indistinguishable | >35 dB = Excellent | >30 dB = Acceptable

SSIM Reference: 1.0 = Lossless | >0.98 = Indistinguishable | >0.95 = Excellent | >0.90 = Acceptable

Usage: TexInspectCLI.exe <input_path> [options]
Options:
 -fmt <format> Target Format (e.g., BC7_UNORM, DXT1, ATI2). Default: BC7_UNORM_SRGB
 -m Generate Mipmaps
 -ndx, --nodx10 Force legacy DDS header (Implicitly enabled for DXT/ATI formats)
 -o <path> Output file or directory
 -ext <extension> Output extension for batch decoding (e.g., .jpg, .bmp). Default: .png
 -r, --recursive Search subdirectories when processing a folder
 -f, --force Suppress warnings and overwrite files
 --info Show header info for the target file(s) without processing
 -q, --quality <path> Compare input to reference path and print average MSE, PSNR, & SSIM
 -qv, --qualityverbose <path> Compare input to reference path and print average & per-channel metrics
Examples:
 Encode PNG to BC7 DDS:
 TexInspectCLI.exe texture.png -fmt BC7_UNORM_SRGB -m
 Encode PNG to legacy DXT5 DDS:
 TexInspectCLI.exe texture.png -fmt DXT5
 Encode a folder of images to DDS into a specific output folder:
 TexInspectCLI.exe "C:\InputImages" -o "C:\OutputDDS" -fmt BC7_UNORM_SRGB -m -f
 Decode a folder of DDS files to JPEGs:
 TexInspectCLI.exe "C:\InputDDS" -o "C:\OutputJPEGs" -ext .jpg -f
 View header data of a specific file:
 TexInspectCLI.exe texture.dds --info
 Generate quality metrics between two files:
 TexInspectCLI.exe texture.dds -q texture.png

If you would like to use TexInspect's engine, usage is simple. Drop DDS_Common.vb, DDS_Encoder.vb, and/or DDS_Decoder.vb (or compile and add TexInspect.dll) into your project, and call it like this:

'SourcePath, DXGI_Format, MipMaps, LegacySupport
Using Encoder As New DDS_Encoder("input.png", DXGI_Format.DXGI_FORMAT_BC7_UNORM, False, True)
 Encoder.Save("output.dds")
End Using

Using Decoder As New DDS_Decoder("input.dds")
 Decoder.Save("output.png", ".png")
End Using