You can adjust the image quality of your remote desktop display to improve the user experience. Improving image quality is helpful in maintaining a consistent user experience when network connection is less than optimal.

Video Encoders Used for Desktop Sessions

The video encoder used for a desktop session depends on the capabilities of both the desktop and client systems. When a user opens a session, Horizon 8 evaluates the hardware and software capabilities of the desktop and client and selects the highest-priority encoder that is supported by both.

For example, Horizon 8 uses HEVC if all the following components are configured to support or allow HEVC:

  • The Linux desktop system
  • Horizon Agent on the Linux desktop
  • The client system
  • Horizon Client on the client system

If any one of the components does not support HEVC, Horizon 8 selects the next encoder on the priority list that is supported by all the components.

For a session that uses vGPU technology, Horizon 8 selects from the following encoders listed in order of priority:

  1. HEVC YUV 4:4:4
  2. H.264 YUV 4:4:4
  3. HEVC
  4. H.264
  5. Switch Encoder
  6. BlastCodec

For a non-vGPU session, Horizon 8 selects from the following priority list of encoders:

  1. Switch Encoder
  2. H.264
  3. BlastCodec

Example VMware Blast Extreme Protocol Settings

VMwareBlastServer and its related plug-ins use the configuration file /etc/vmware/config.

Table 1. Example Blast Configuration Options in /etc/vmware/config
Option name Parameter High-speed LAN LAN Dedicated WAN Broadband WAN Low-speed WAN Extremely Low speed
Bandwidth settings RemoteDisplay.maxBandwidthKbps 1000000 (1 Gbps) 1000000 (1 Gbps) 1000000 (1 Gbps) 5000 (5 Mbps) 2000 (2 Mbps) 1000 (1 Mbps)
Max FPS RemoteDisplay.maxFPS 60 30 30 20 15 5
Audio Playback RemoteDisplay.allowAudio TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE
Display Quality (JPEG/PNG) RemoteDisplay.maxQualityJPEG 90 90 90 70 60 50
Display Quality (JPEG/PNG) RemoteDisplay.midQualityJPEG 35 35 35 35 35 35
Display Quality (JPEG/PNG) RemoteDisplay.minQualityJPEG 25 25 25 20 20 20
Display Quality (H.264 or HEVC) RemoteDisplay.qpmaxH264 28 36 36 36 36 42
Display Quality (H.264 or HEVC) RemoteDisplay.qpminH264 10 10 10 10 10 10