diff --git a/kitty.py b/kitty.py
index 979de70..18394b7 100755
--- a/kitty.py
+++ b/kitty.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import fcntl
 
 async def draw_to_terminal(buffer: BytesIO) -> None:
     """Display a PNG image in the terminal."""
-    await _write_chunked(a="T", i=1, f=100, q=2, data=buffer.getvalue())
+    await _write_chunked(a="T", i=1, f=100, q=2, data=buffer)
 
 
 async def get_terminal_cell_size() -> tuple[int, int]:
diff --git a/terminalplotter.py b/terminalplotter.py
index d8e031d..88c6dd9 100644
--- a/terminalplotter.py
+++ b/terminalplotter.py
@@ -21,15 +21,20 @@ class TerminalPlotter(pv.Plotter):
         self.width = width
         self.height = height
         self._running = True
+        # setup vtk rendering chain
         self.w2i_filter = vtk.vtkWindowToImageFilter()
         self.w2i_filter.SetInputBufferTypeToRGBA()
         self.w2i_filter.ReadFrontBufferOff()
         self.w2i_filter.SetInput(self.ren_win)
+        self.writer = vtk.vtkPNGWriter()
+        self.writer.WriteToMemoryOn()
+        self.writer.SetInputConnection(self.w2i_filter.GetOutputPort())
+        # enable transparency
         self.set_background([0.0, 0.0, 0.0])
-        # transparency
         self.ren_win.SetAlphaBitPlanes(1)
         self.ren_win.SetMultiSamples(0)
 
+
     async def initialize(self):
         h_pix, _ = await kitty.get_terminal_cell_size()
         self.rows, _ = kitty.get_terminal_size()
@@ -84,22 +89,8 @@ class TerminalPlotter(pv.Plotter):
             # Update the filter to grab the current buffer
             self.w2i_filter.Modified()
             self.w2i_filter.Update()
-
-            vtk_image = self.w2i_filter.GetOutput()
-
-            width, height, _ = vtk_image.GetDimensions()
-            vtk_array = vtk_image.GetPointData().GetScalars()
-            arr = numpy_support.vtk_to_numpy(vtk_array)
-
-            # Reshape the array to height x width x channels (probably 3 or 4)
-            arr = arr.reshape(height, width, -1)
-
-            # Flip vertically because VTK's origin is bottom-left
-            arr = np.flip(arr, axis=0)
-            img = Image.fromarray(arr)
-            buffer: BytesIO = BytesIO()
-            img.save(buffer, format="PNG")
-            await kitty.draw_to_terminal(buffer)
+            self.writer.Write()
+            await kitty.draw_to_terminal(self.writer.GetResult())
             kitty.set_position(self.start_y, self.start_x)
             self.camera.Azimuth(1)