How can I feature-detect CSS filters?

So called UPDATED answer:

As the OP mentioned a good point I'm updating the answer but this does not have anything related or in contradict with my previous answer, this is simply a browser detection.

Alan H. mentioned that IE, prior to its 10th. version, supports filter css property but not in the way we all know about it (CSS3 filter I meant).

So If we want to feature detect CSS3 filters only, we should go ahead and use a little browser-detection. As I mentioned in my comments.

Using documentMode property, and combining it with our simple feature-detect we can exclude so called false positives in IE.

function css3FilterFeatureDetect(enableWebkit) {
    //As I mentioned in my comments, the only render engine which truly supports
    //CSS3 filter is webkit. so here we fill webkit detection arg with its default
    if(enableWebkit === undefined) {
        enableWebkit = false;
    }
    //creating an element dynamically
    el = document.createElement('div');
    //adding filter-blur property to it
    el.style.cssText = (enableWebkit?'-webkit-':'') + 'filter: blur(2px)';
    //checking whether the style is computed or ignored
    //And this is not because I don't understand the !! operator
    //This is because !! is so obscure for learning purposes! :D
    test1 = (el.style.length != 0);
    //checking for false positives of IE
    //I prefer Modernizr's smart method of browser detection
    test2 = (
        document.documentMode === undefined //non-IE browsers, including ancient IEs
        || document.documentMode > 9 //IE compatibility moe
    );
    //combining test results
    return test1 && test2;
}

Original Modernizr source


if(document.body.style.webkitFilter !== undefined)

or

if(document.body.style.filter !== undefined)

Extra information:

For just a simple feature detection use my codes above. For a list of supported functions, take a look at here:

  • Filter Effects 1.0
  • Filter Effects 1.0 functions

For a live demonstration of filters in Chrome, take a look at here:

  • CSS Filter Effects

And 2 more resources for you:

  • CSS Filter Effects Landing in WebKit
  • When can I use CSS Filter Effects?

As I'm writing this answer, you must use webkit vendor prefix to make it to work.


To build off of @Sepehr's answer, but to modernize it a bit and to remove extra lines:

var supportsFilters = (function() {
  var filterEl = document.createElement('div');
  filterEl.style.cssText = 'filter:blur(2px)';
  return filterEl.style.length != 0 && (document.documentMode === undefined || document.documentMode > 9);
})();

You can now use CSS' build-in @support to conditionally apply styles. Note that the browser support for @support is good but not perfect. This is a nice article explaining how it works with several examples: https://iamsteve.me/blog/entry/feature-detection-with-css

For instance, you can do something like this (see it live):

@supports (filter: grayscale(1)) or (-webkit-filter: grayscale(1)) {
  h3 {
    -webkit-filter: grayscale(1);
    filter: grayscale(1);
  }
}

@supports not (filter: grayscale(1)) and not not (-webkit-filter: grayscale(1)) {
  h3 {
    color: #808080;
  }
}