SIX to XV Converter

Turn DEC terminal images into XV images for free online

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Quick Turnaround

Most SIX files convert to XV within moments. Server-side processing ensures speed regardless of your device capabilities.

Any Device Works

Convert SIX to XV from a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone. Any device with a modern browser and internet connection works.

Browser-Based Tool

No downloads or plugins needed — convert SIX to XV directly in your web browser on any operating system or device.

How to convert SIX to XV

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose xv or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your xv file right afterwards

About formats

SIX is a file extension for SIXEL (Six Pixel) graphics data, a bitmap graphics format developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1983 and introduced with the LA50 dot matrix printer. SIXEL encodes images as a sequence of printable ASCII characters, where each character represents a column of six vertical pixels (a 'sixel') — the character's ASCII value minus 63 provides a 6-bit binary pattern, with each bit controlling one pixel in the vertical column. The encoding is structured as a series of sixel bands (each six pixels tall) across the image width, with control sequences for color selection (up to 256 registers with HLS or RGB specification), repeat counts (run-length encoding for efficiency), carriage return, and newline commands. SIXEL data is transmitted to the output device using DEC's standard escape sequence protocol, embedded within the text stream alongside regular character output. Originally designed for DEC's line of printers and later supported by DEC VT-series terminals (VT240, VT330, VT340), SIXEL has experienced a remarkable revival in modern terminal emulator software. One advantage is terminal-native image display: SIXEL allows images to be rendered directly within a text terminal session without requiring a graphical window system, enabling command-line tools to display graphs, photographs, and previews inline with text output. This capability has driven adoption in modern terminals like mlterm, xterm, WezTerm, and foot. SIX/SIXEL data can be generated by ImageMagick, libsixel, and chafa, and viewed in any SIXEL-capable terminal emulator.
Initial release: 1983
XV is an alternate file extension for the VIFF (Visualization Image File Format) developed by Khoral Research as part of the Khoros scientific image processing environment, which originated at the University of New Mexico around 1990. The .xv extension and the .viff extension refer to the same underlying format — a container with a 1024-byte header encoding image dimensions, data type (from single-bit to double-precision float and complex numbers), color space, band count, and optional spatial location metadata, followed by color map data and pixel values. The XV extension became common on systems where Khoros was installed alongside other X Window System tools, and in some research communities .xv was preferred over .viff as a shorter alternative. Khoros itself was a pioneering visual programming system where scientists assembled image processing pipelines by wiring together processing nodes in a graphical canvas — an approach that predated and influenced similar environments in MATLAB, LabVIEW, and commercial remote sensing packages. One advantage of the VIFF/XV format is its ability to store data at scientific precision levels — floating-point and complex number pixel values preserve measurement accuracy that would be lost in photographic formats limited to 8-bit or 16-bit integers, making it valuable for spectral analysis, computational physics output, and satellite imagery. The multi-band architecture provides another strength, allowing a single file to hold dozens of spectral channels from multispectral or hyperspectral sensors without splitting data across multiple files. XV files are supported by ImageMagick and can be converted to modern image formats for visualization or publication.
Developer: Khoral Research
Initial release: 1990

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert SIX to XV?

SIX encodes images as text for DEC terminals — useless outside that environment. Converting to XV yields a standard image you can use anywhere.

What programs can open XV?

The XV image viewer (Unix) displays XV thumbnails natively. ImageMagick and GIMP can import XV visual schnauzer thumbnail images.

Will I lose image quality converting SIX to XV?

Since XV supports lossless storage, the pixel data carries over without degradation. The result faithfully represents the source SIX image.

How quickly can I convert SIX to XV?

Conversion is handled on cloud servers and usually completes in a few seconds. Larger or higher-resolution SIX images may take slightly longer.

Can I queue several SIX files for conversion?

Absolutely. Add several SIX images at once, set XV as the output, and the converter processes them all in parallel for maximum efficiency.

Can I convert SIX from any terminal type?

As long as the file contains valid SIXEL-encoded data, Convertio can process it regardless of which terminal originally created it.