LENS
Deep inspection for video files.
No spreadsheets. No upload. Just analysis.
Technical Specifications
Visual Aspect Ratio
We render the actual geometry of the video frame. Instantly spot pixel aspect ratio mismatches, letterboxing, and pillarboxing without calculating SAR/DAR manually.
Smart Gauges
Bitrate quality estimation based on resolution and codec efficiency.
Codec Badges
Standardized badges for AVC, HEVC, ProRes, DNxHR, and VP9.
Local Analysis
Powered by a local FFmpeg binary. Zero latency. Zero data egress.
Get LENS
Requires 64-bit processor. FFmpeg is downloaded automatically on first run.
Questions
What is LENS Video Inspector?+
LENS is a local desktop application that analyzes video files using FFmpeg and presents technical metadata in a visual, human readable format.
Does LENS upload my videos to the internet?+
No. All video analysis happens entirely on your local machine. Files are never uploaded, streamed, or sent to any external server.
How does LENS analyze video files?+
LENS invokes FFmpeg locally and parses its output into structured metadata including video streams, audio streams, and container information.
Is FFmpeg bundled with LENS?+
LENS automatically checks for FFmpeg on first launch and installs it if required. This is a one time process.
What video formats are supported?+
LENS supports MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, WMV, FLV, WebM, M4V, MPG, and MPEG formats, depending on FFmpeg support.
Does LENS support H.264 and H.265 videos?+
Yes. LENS detects H.264 and H.265 streams and displays them using standardized names such as AVC and HEVC.
Can LENS analyze videos with multiple audio tracks?+
Yes. LENS detects all audio streams and displays codec, channel count, sample rate, and language for each track.
What happens if a video has no audio?+
LENS explicitly detects missing audio streams and reports the file as having no audio instead of failing silently.
Does LENS show real aspect ratio or just resolution?+
LENS visualizes the actual rendered aspect ratio using width, height, and aspect ratio metadata instead of relying only on resolution.
Can LENS detect letterboxing or pillarboxing issues?+
Yes. By rendering the true aspect ratio visually, LENS helps identify framing issues such as letterboxing and pillarboxing.
How does the bitrate gauge work?+
LENS maps the detected bitrate against a high end consumer reference to provide a visual quality indicator instead of raw numbers.
Does LENS support frame rate detection?+
Yes. Frame rate is extracted from the video stream metadata and displayed in the analysis view.
What video metadata does LENS display?+
LENS displays codec, profile, pixel format, color space, scan type, reference frames, bit depth, duration, bitrate, and container format when available.
Can I drag and drop video files into LENS?+
Yes. LENS supports drag and drop directly from your file system for instant analysis.
Can I export the analysis results?+
Yes. LENS allows exporting the complete analysis as a formatted JSON file.
Does LENS modify or rewrite video files?+
No. LENS never alters, re-encodes, or writes to your video files.
Is LENS useful for video editors?+
Yes. LENS is designed for editors and engineers who need fast technical inspection without opening a full editing suite.
Is LENS useful for debugging video issues?+
LENS can surface missing or malformed metadata but does not repair corrupted files. It is intended for inspection only.
Does LENS work offline?+
Yes. Once FFmpeg is available locally, LENS works fully offline.
What operating systems are supported?+
LENS is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux with native installers for each platform.
Why use LENS instead of MediaInfo?+
LENS focuses on visual clarity and workflow speed by presenting technical data as visual components instead of dense tables.
Is LENS open source?+
Hell yeah, it is.
Does LENS require an internet connection?+
No. An internet connection is only required during the initial FFmpeg setup if it is not already available.
Who is LENS built for?+
LENS is built for video editors, engineers, archivists, and anyone who needs fast and accurate video inspection.
Why does LENS exist?+
LENS exists to make video inspection fast, visual, and local without forcing users to read raw FFmpeg logs or spreadsheet style tables.