Remote Display

Remote Display has been withdrawn on 2007/07/16.

Introduction and description
System Requirements
Installation And Removal
Usage
Screen shots
Version History

1. Introduction and description

Welcome to Remote Display, which enables desktop extension and mirroring using networked Macs and Windows PCs. Remote Display consists of Remote Display Server (abbreviated to RDS from here on) and Remote Display Client (abbreviated to RDC from here on).

RDS shares any one or more displays of the computer it runs on with other networked computers that use RDC. RDC uses the shared displays of RDS computers to display its desktop by sending display information over the network, as shown in this diagram:

The RDC computer can use the shared displays of the RDS computer to either duplicate local displays (which is known as mirroring) and/or extend its desktop onto the shared displays (which is known as extending).

Here are some possible uses for RDS/RDC:

you have an older notebook computer or computer with an integrated display that is otherwise unused and you would like to have more desktop space to be more productive; RDS/RDC can extend your desktop and make use of the older machine
you visit another workplace which has a computer available for use but your programs and data are on a notebook you bring with you; you would like to temporarily use the workplace’s computer display but want (or need) to keep your programs and data on the notebook. RDS/RDC can allow you to keep your notebook as your main computer but also let you use the workplace’s display to increase your productivity
you are a computer professional such as a software developer, a website designer/developer, or a graphics designer and need as much desktop space as possible; RDS/RDC can increase your productivity by allowing you to have more desktop space for your work
you wish to have a larger desktop, but your current computer cannot have any more displays physically connected to it; RDS/RDC can extend your desktop using networked computers to increase your effective desktop space

Note: unlike Apple’s Remote Desktop and Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection, RDS/RDC is not designed to control another computer remotely, but rather it is designed to increase productivity by increasing a computer’s desktop space. In other words, the keyboard and mouse that are attached to the RDC computer control the RDC computer and not the RDS computer (which is what ARD and MRDC do).

2. System Requirements

a. Computer hardware and software:

Remote Display Server:

Apple Macintosh: PowerPC G3 233MHz or better, or Intel Core Solo 1.5GHz or better. Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later. 256MB RAM or more.
Windows PC: Pentium II 233MHz or better running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1. Vista is currently unsupported. 256MB RAM or more. Each display that is to be shared must be driven by a video card that supports DirectX 7.0 or better (ATI Rage series or Radeon series, nVidia RIVA TNT or GeForce series, most Matrox video cards, most 3dfx cards). Most PCs of the last 6 years will have a video card capable of supporting RDS.
the maximum display resolution that RDS supports is 3840 x 2400. The actual display resolutions supported depend on the capabilities of your video cards and the monitors that they drive
RDS supports display depths of 8 bits per pixel (“256 colors”), 15 or 16 bits per pixel (“thousands of colors” or “high color”) and 32 bits per pixel (“millions of colors” or “true color”).

Remote Display Client:

Apple Macintosh: PowerPC G3 233MHz or better, or Intel Core Solo 1.5GHz or better. Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later. 256MB RAM or more. System memory will be used for any remote displays that are used to extend the desktop (however, none is needed for mirroring displays). This memory will be taken at system startup time and cannot be used for other purposes. Because this memory is unavailable for other uses, RDC allows you to configure how much memory to use for remote display purposes. RDC for Macintosh supports display depths of 8/15/16/32 bits per pixel (256 colors, thousands of colors, and millions of colors).
Windows PC: Pentium II 233MHz or better running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003 SP1. Vista is currently unsupported. 256MB RAM or more. Most PCs of the last 6-7 years will be capable of supporting RDC. System memory will be used for any remote displays (whether it be for mirroring or extending the desktop). This memory will be taken when RDC actually mirrors or extends the desktop, and is returned for general use when RDC stops mirroring or extending the desktop. RDC for Windows supports display depths of 15/16/32 bits per pixel (High Color and True Color).

b. Network hardware:

The RDC and RDS computers can communicate over any networking technology that supports TCP/IP, for example, via Ethernet, I.E.E.E. 1394 (a.k.a. FireWire), and I.E.E.E. 802.11 (a.k.a. wireless a.k.a. Airport).

The recommended minimum speed is 50 Mbps, which in effect means "fast ethernet" (100 Mbps), "wireless 802.11g" (up to 54 Mbps), or any variant of I.E.E.E. 1394 (100 Mbps). Because of their bandwidth requirements, it is recommended that RDS/RDC are used over a local area network (LAN).

More exotic connectivity, such as TCP-over-USB, should work but is untested and unsupported.

3. Installation And Removal

Installation:

Macintosh: RDS and RDC are shipped as applications which should be copied to your Mac’s Applications folder and then run from there. Advanced users may also run them directly from the disk image but you will need to mount the disk image again should you log out or reboot your Mac - if this does not make any sense, then you should copy them into your Mac’s Applications folder and run them from there. When running RDC for the first time, you will be given the option of configuring and installing the extension video driver, which is a special video driver that RDC uses to extend your Mac’s desktop. Installing the driver requires restarting your Mac.

Windows: RDS and RDC are shipped as Windows installer files which must be opened by Windows Installer to correctly install the programs on your Windows system. After installing, RDS and RDC can be used immediately (no restart is needed).

Uninstallation:

Macintosh: for RDS, first stop sharing displays by clicking Stop from the main window of RDS, then select the “Remove Firewall Entry” menu item from the “Remote Display Server” menu in the menu bar (if it’s disabled then skip this step), then quit RDS and drag its application icon to the Trash. If you copied RDS to the Applications folder, then open the Applications folder and drag the RDS icon from there to the trash. For RDC, click Stop if you are using shared displays, then click Options. Click the Video Cards tab and if the “Uninstall Driver” button is enabled (that is, it can be clicked on) then click it and authenticate as administrator, and then wait until your Mac restarts. If the “Uninstall Driver” button is disabled, click Close, then quit RDC and drag its application icon to the Trash. If you copied RDC to the Applications folder, then open the Applications folder and drag the RDC icon from there to the trash.

Windows: for both RDS and RDC, first click Stop to stop sharing displays (RDS) or to stop using shared displays (RDC), then exit the programs, and then click the Windows Start button on the Windows taskbar, then click Programs, then click “Remote Desktop Server” or “Remote Desktop Client”, and then click the “Uninstall Remote Desktop Server” (RDS) or “Uninstall Remote Desktop Client” (RDC) menu item. For RDS, no restart is necessary, for RDC, a restart is required to remove the video drivers.

4. Usage

After installing, open RDS, configure it, and start sharing your displays. For simple networks and computers with only one display, you will probably just need to click the Start button.

If you have a more complex computer or network, or you need help, select the help item from the Help menu. From the help start page, select the topic that most closely matches your need. In the Mac OS X version, use the search box to search for a topic matching your query. For Windows users, look at the index to see a list of all the topics available.

When RDS is sharing your displays, then open RDC, configure it, and start using the shared displays. For simple networks and computers, this will probably need one drag and drop from the remote display shown in the remote displays list to the model of the desktop, and then click the Start button.

Again, if you have a more complex computer or network, or you need help, select the help item from the Help menu. From the help start page, select the topic that most closely matches your need. In the Mac OS X version, use the search box to search for a topic matching your query. For Windows users, look at the index to see a list of all the topics available.