Ultra-lightweight, low-resource video wallpaper for Linux, designed for low-end and old hardware.
A minimal Bash script around mpv, with automatic pausing when the wallpaper is not visible.
- Lightweight / low resource: ~2% of one CPU core while playing, 0% when covered. See Measured.
- Runs on low-end, old hardware: tested on a Core2 Duo with no hardware video decoding.
- Minimal: one bash script, no daemon, no GUI, no Electron.
- Built on mpv: a mature, light player does the decoding; lowpaper only places and pauses it.
- Video wallpaper, image or slideshow: mp4/webm/gif/jpg/png, or a whole folder.
- X11 and Wayland: XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, Sway, Hyprland, KDE.
- Pauses itself when a fullscreen or maximized window covers the desktop.
sudo apt install mpv
git clone https://github.com/Meinianda-L/lowpaper-live-wallpaper.git
install -Dm755 lowpaper-live-wallpaper/lowpaper ~/.local/bin/lowpaperlowpaper ~/Videos/rain.mp4
lowpaper ~/Pictures/sky.jpg
lowpaper -i 600 -s ~/Pictures # folder = slideshow; -i image interval in seconds, -s shuffle
lowpaper -f fit video.mp4 # fill (default, crop) | fit (letterbox) | stretch
lowpaper -o HDMI-1 video.mp4 # one monitor only
lowpaper # show what is playing
lowpaper pause | resume | toggle | next | stop | status | restore
lowpaper fit fill|fit|stretch # change scaling live
lowpaper autopause on|off # pause while the focused window is fullscreen/maximized (default on)
lowpaper startup on|off # start at login, restoring the last wallpaperSettings live in ~/.config/lowpaper/config (FIT, INTERVAL, AUTOPAUSE, CACHE_MB, ICONS, HWDEC).
| Environment | Needs |
|---|---|
| all | mpv |
| X11 desktop (XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon, … — anything with a desktop window) | python3, xprop, xrandr, xkill (preinstalled on Debian/Ubuntu/Mint) |
| Wayland with layer-shell (Sway, Hyprland, KDE, …) | mpvpaper |
Optional: gcc keeps XFCE desktop icons above the video. OpenBSD nc (default on Debian/Ubuntu) is used for mpv IPC (~3ms per call); without it lowpaper falls back to python, which is much slower on old CPUs.
GNOME Wayland has no layer-shell; use the Hanabi extension there. Bare window managers (i3, openbox) without a desktop window are not supported.
Linux Mint 22.3 XFCE/X11, Core2 Duo P8600, GeForce 320M (nouveau, no usable hwdec), 1080p display, 1280×962 10fps H.264 clip (3s).
| CPU (% of one core) | RAM | |
|---|---|---|
| playing: mpv (short clip, decoded once and replayed from RAM) | 2.1% | 138MB |
playing: mpv (decoding every loop, CACHE_MB=0) |
13.9% | 94MB |
| playing: Xorg + xfwm4 compositor, icons above the video | ~12–14% | — |
| watcher (bash + 2 × xprop) | ~0% | 8MB |
| covered by a fullscreen/maximized window | 0% | same |
| single image on XFCE | 0 | 0 |
single image through mpv (--mpv or slideshow) |
0 | ~200MB |
- After a resolution or monitor change, or if xfdesktop restarts on its own, run
lowpaper restore.