PCoIP (PC over IP) provides an optimized desktop experience for the delivery of a published application or an entire remote desktop environment, including applications, images, audio, and video content for a wide range of users on the LAN or across the WAN. PCoIP can compensate for an increase in latency or a reduction in bandwidth, to ensure that end users can remain productive regardless of network conditions.

The PCoIP display protocol can be used for published applications and for remote desktops that use virtual machines, physical machines that contain Teradici host cards, or shared session desktops on an RDS host.

PCoIP Features

Key features of PCoIP include the following:

  • Users outside the corporate firewall can use this protocol with your company's virtual private network (VPN), or users can make secure, encrypted connections to a security server or Access Point appliance in the corporate DMZ.
  • Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption is supported and is turned on by default. You can, however, change the encryption key cipher to AES-256.
  • Connections to Windows desktops with the Horizon Agent operating system versions listed in Requirements and Considerations for Horizon Agent are supported.
  • Connections from all types of client devices.
  • Optimization controls for reducing bandwidth usage on the LAN and WAN.
  • 32-bit color is supported for virtual displays.
  • ClearType fonts are supported.
  • Audio redirection with dynamic audio quality adjustment for LAN and WAN.
  • Real-Time Audio-Video for using webcams and microphones on some client types.
  • Copy and paste of text and, on some clients, images between the client operating system and a remote desktop or published application. For other client types, only copy and paste of plain text is supported. You cannot copy and paste system objects such as folders and files between systems.
  • Multiple monitors are supported for some client types. On some clients, you can use up to 4 monitors with a resolution of up to 2560 x 1600 per display or up to 3 monitors with a resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160) for Windows 7 remote desktops with Aero disabled. Pivot display and autofit are also supported.

    When the 3D feature is enabled, up to 2 monitors are supported with a resolution of up to 1920 x 1200, or one monitor with a resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160).

  • USB redirection is supported for some client types.
  • MMR redirection is supported for some Windows client operating systems and some remote desktop operating systems (with Horizon Agent installed).

For information about which desktop operating systems support specific PCoIP features, see the Horizon 7 Architecture Planning document.

For information about which client devices support specific PCoIP features, go to https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-Client/index.html.

Recommended Guest Operating System Settings

1GB of RAM or more and a dual CPU is recommended for playing in high-definition, full screen mode, or 720p or higher formatted video. To use Virtual Dedicated Graphics Acceleration for graphics-intensive applications such as CAD applications, 4GB of RAM is required.

Video Quality Requirements

480p-formatted video
You can play video at 480p or lower at native resolutions when the remote desktop has a single virtual CPU. If you want to play the video in high-definition Flash or in full screen mode, the desktop requires a dual virtual CPU. Even with a dual virtual CPU desktop, as low as 360p-formatted video played in full screen mode can lag behind audio, particularly on Windows clients.
720p-formatted video
You can play video at 720p at native resolutions if the remote desktop has a dual virtual CPU. Performance might be affected if you play videos at 720p in high definition or in full screen mode.
1080p-formatted video
If the remote desktop has a dual virtual CPU, you can play 1080p formatted video, although the media player might need to be adjusted to a smaller window size.
3D rendering
You can configure remote desktops to use software- or hardware-accelerated graphics. The software-accelerated graphics feature enables you to run DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.1 applications without requiring a physical graphics processing unit (GPU). The hardware-accelerated graphics features enable virtual machines to either share the physical GPUs (graphical processing unit) on a vSphere host or dedicate a physical GPU to a single virtual machine desktop.

For 3D applications, up to 2 monitors are supported, and the maximum screen resolution is 1920 x 1200. The guest operating system on the remote desktops must be Windows 7 or later.

Hardware Requirements for Client Systems

For information about processor and memory requirements, see the "Using VMware Horizon Client" document for the specific type of desktop or mobile client device. Go to https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-Client/index.html.