plugview

$ plug in. play.

$brew install plugview/tap/plugview

macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple silicon & Intel · free and open source (MIT)
or download the binary · build from source

0Frames copied

2.7 msAudio buffers

~250 KBNative binary

0Dependencies

CH 01How it works

No scenes. No sources. Just signal.

Your Switch, PlayStation, Xbox or camera in a resizable window with sound, as fast as the Mac can draw it. No streaming setup.

A connector waiting next to an empty HDMI port

01Plug in

Connect any USB capture card. Before or after launching, it doesn’t matter.

$ plugview

02Type

It finds the card, its audio input and the smoothest mode. 1080p60 beats 4K30.

The plugview mark with a live signal running through it

03Play

Picture and sound, straight from the driver to the screen. Press F for full screen.

CH 02Features

Small on purpose.

Low latency

Frames go straight from the capture driver to the GPU compositor. plugview never copies a frame.

Sound included

Finds the card’s own audio input and plays it on your current output. Never your microphone.

Plug and play

Unplug and replug and it re-attaches. It also recovers after the Mac wakes from sleep.

Smooth by default

Prefers the highest frame rate and locks it, in the card’s native pixel format.

Stays awake

The display won’t sleep while you play with a controller.

Zero dependencies

One native binary, Apple frameworks only. brew install and go.

CH 03Latency

Measured, not claimed.

plugview --measure reports the frame rate your card really delivers and the delay at every step, then tells you what to fix.

plugview --measure

$ plugview --measure
Video    UGREEN 25773 · 1920×1080 · uncompressed 4:2:2 (native)
         device set to 60.0 fps, delivered 60.0 fps (272 frames)
         frame interval  median 16.7 ms · p95 16.7 ms · worst 16.7 ms
         capture → app   median 19.1 ms · p95 19.3 ms · worst 19.6 ms
Audio    UGREEN 25773 · buffer 128 frames
         capture → app   median 4.3 ms · p95 4.3 ms · worst 5.3 ms
Output   MacBook Pro Speakers · reports 19.3 ms
Display  100.0 Hz

To lower latency:
  • The display runs at 100 Hz, not a multiple of 60 fps, …

NATIVE 4:2:2No pixel format conversion. 22.7 → 18.0 ms per frame, about 17 % less CPU.
FRAME RATE LOCKEDStops macOS resetting the card to its default rate. 20 → 60 fps on the test card.
128-FRAME AUDIOCard audio from 12.4 ms down to 4.3 ms.

Read the measurements →

CH 04Keys

Six keys. That’s the manual.

FToggle full screen

EscLeave full screen

MMute / unmute

↑↓Volume ±10 %

⌘MMinimize

QQuit

Plug in. Play.

Free, open source, and about 250 KB.

$brew install plugview/tap/plugview