PCX to VIFF Converter
Processing entirely on your device — large files may take a moment.
Convert legacy VIFF datasets to PNG for modern viewing and notebooks. If your files are still in PCX format, this page is the shortcut: PCX was THE DOS-era image format: ZSoft Paintbrush's RLE-compressed raster that every 1990s game, scanner and clipart CD shipped in. Simple enough that its spec fits on one page.
This converter runs entirely in your browser using WebAssembly — your files never leave your device, nothing is uploaded, and there are no watermarks, sign-ups or queues. Drop in several files at once to convert them as a batch.
How to convert PCX to VIFF
- 1
Select your files
Drag & drop your PCX files onto the area above, or click to browse. You can add multiple files at once for batch conversion.
- 2
Convert instantly
Click "Convert to VIFF". The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly — no upload, no queue, no waiting.
- 3
Download results
Download each converted VIFF file individually, or grab everything at once as a ZIP archive.
About the PCX format
PCX was the image format of the DOS decade: ZSoft Paintbrush's run-length-encoded raster that every scanner, game and clipart CD adopted because it was published, simple and fast on 286 hardware. The header is a fixed 128 bytes, the palette hides in the final 769, and the whole file can be decoded by one while-loop.
Retro gaming archives and 90s clipart collections are full of PCX files. Converting them to PNG or JPG finally makes them viewable — the pixels were always fine, the container was just ancient.
+Strengths
- ✓Decoded by a single RLE loop — no dependencies
- ✓Ubiquitous in DOS-era archives
- ✓Supports paletted and 24-bit variants
!Limitations
- −Effectively dead since Windows 95
- −Rows padded — some files have alignment quirks
- −256-color ceiling for most real-world files
About the VIFF format
VIFF is the image format of the Khoros software system, a visual-programming environment built for scientific image processing in the late 1980s and 1990s. Its files carry raster data plus optional attribute lists, and it survives today mostly in older academic datasets and image-processing course material.
Modern software rarely opens VIFF without help. Converting VIFF to PNG puts legacy research imagery into a format every viewer, notebook and browser understands — useful when reviving old datasets or coursework.
+Strengths
- ✓Holds multi-band scientific raster data
- ✓Attribute lists travel with the image
- ✓Simple, fully documented binary layout
!Limitations
- −Tied to discontinued Khoros tooling
- −No browser or OS support
Why convert PCX to VIFF?
Think of it as moving your file to the container that fits the job. Effectively dead since Windows 95 VIFF works differently: Holds multi-band scientific raster data If any of that sounds like your task, run the conversion — it takes seconds and nothing leaves your device.
Frequently asked questions
Is this PCX to VIFF converter really free?
Yes — completely free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no daily conversion limits. The site is supported by advertising.
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely inside your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device — that is what makes it instant and private.
Does it work on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android?
Yes. Anything with a modern browser works: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. No software installation is required.
Will I lose quality converting PCX to VIFF?
No — VIFF is a lossless format, so every pixel of the converted image matches your original PCX file. You can also adjust the quality/size balance before converting when the target format supports compression.
What happens to EXIF data and other metadata?
Conversions here re-encode the image, and re-encoding generally does not carry the original metadata over. If the EXIF data of your PCX files matters (camera model, GPS, timestamps), keep the original file as the master and treat the converted copy as the shareable version.
Will transparent areas survive the conversion to VIFF?
Transparency is kept whenever VIFF actually supports an alpha channel. If the target format has none (like JPG), transparent areas are flattened onto a white background — that is a property of the format, not of this tool.