Configure VMware Blast Options

You can configure H.264 decoding and network condition options for remote desktop and application sessions that use the VMware Blast display protocol.

You can configure H.264 decoding before or after you connect to a server.

You can change the network condition to any type before you connect to a server. After you connect to a server, you can switch the network condition between Typical and Excellent. You cannot change the network condition from Poor to another type, or from another type to Poor, after you connect to a server.

Prerequisites

To use this feature, Horizon Agent 7.0 or later must be installed.

Procedure

Select VMware Horizon Client > Preferences from the menu bar and click VMware Blast.

Configure the decoding and network condition options.

Option	Action
Allow H.264 decoding	Configure this option to allow H.264 decoding in Horizon Client. When this option is selected (the default setting), Horizon Client uses H.264 decoding if the agent supports H.264 software or hardware encoding. If the agent does not support H.264 software or hardware encoding, Horizon Client uses JPG/PNG decoding. Deselect this option to use JPG/PNG decoding.
Select your network condition for the best experience	Select one of the following network condition options: Excellent - Horizon Client uses only TCP networking. This option is ideal for a LAN environment. Typical (default) - Horizon Client works in mixed mode. In mixed mode, Horizon Client uses TCP networking when connecting to the server and uses Blast Extreme Adaptive Transport (BEAT) if the agent and Blast Security Gateway (if enabled) support BEAT connectivity. This option is the default setting. Poor - Horizon Client uses only BEAT networking if the BEAT Tunnel Server is enabled on the server, otherwise it switches to mixed mode. Note: In Horizon 7 version 7.1 and earlier, Connection Server and Security Server instances do not support the BEAT Tunnel Server. Unified Access Gateway 2.9 and later supports the BEAT Tunnel Server. Blast Security Gateway for Connection Server and Security Server instances do not support BEAT networking.

Option

Action

Allow H.264 decoding

Configure this option to allow H.264 decoding in Horizon Client.

When this option is selected (the default setting), Horizon Client uses H.264 decoding if the agent supports H.264 software or hardware encoding. If the agent does not support H.264 software or hardware encoding, Horizon Client uses JPG/PNG decoding.

Deselect this option to use JPG/PNG decoding.

Select your network condition for the best experience

Select one of the following network condition options:

Excellent - Horizon Client uses only TCP networking. This option is ideal for a LAN environment.
Typical (default) - Horizon Client works in mixed mode. In mixed mode, Horizon Client uses TCP networking when connecting to the server and uses Blast Extreme Adaptive Transport (BEAT) if the agent and Blast Security Gateway (if enabled) support BEAT connectivity. This option is the default setting.
Poor - Horizon Client uses only BEAT networking if the BEAT Tunnel Server is enabled on the server, otherwise it switches to mixed mode.

Note: In Horizon 7 version 7.1 and earlier, Connection Server and Security Server instances do not support the BEAT Tunnel Server. Unified Access Gateway 2.9 and later supports the BEAT Tunnel Server.

Blast Security Gateway for Connection Server and Security Server instances do not support BEAT networking.

Close the Preferences dialog box.

Results

Changes take effect the next time a user connects to a remote desktop or application and selects the VMware Blast display protocol. Your changes do not affect existing VMware Blast sessions.