mirror of
https://github.com/nomi-san/parsec-vdd.git
synced 2026-08-07 05:20:44 +00:00
Nguyen Duy
306 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
306 lines
13 KiB
Markdown
<!-- tracking -->
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<img src="https://i.imgur.com/dDUa6GH.png" width="0" height="0" />
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<p align="center">
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<picture>
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<source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/74e7db71-6166-49ae-b6c5-7543b15c60eb">
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<img alt="Parsec Virtual Display Driver" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/57202381-021c-428a-ae38-0fc4b2e0ee0c">
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</picture>
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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✨ Perfect <strong>virtual display</strong> for game streaming
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</p>
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<p align="center">
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<a href="#">
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<img src="https://img.shields.io/github/stars/nomi-san/parsec-vdd?style=for-the-badge&logo=github" />
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</a>
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<a href="https://github.com/nomi-san/parsec-vdd/releases">
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<img src="https://img.shields.io/github/downloads/nomi-san/parsec-vdd/total?style=for-the-badge" />
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</a>
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</p>
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<br>
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## ℹ About
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This project provides a **standalone solution for creating virtual displays** on
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a Windows host using the **Parsec Virtual Display Driver** (VDD), independent of
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the **Parsec app**.
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The Parsec VDD enables virtual displays on Windows 10+ systems, a feature
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available to Parsec Teams and Warp customers. With VDD, users can add up to
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three virtual displays to a host machine they connect to, ideal for setups where
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physical monitors may be unavailable or when additional displays are beneficial.
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Built by Parsec, the VDD leverages the IddCx API (Indirect Display Driver) to
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generate virtual displays with support for high resolutions and refresh rates,
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including up to 4K and 240 Hz. This capability makes it a versatile tool for
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gaming, streaming, or remote work, allowing users to simulate multiple screens
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for an enhanced, flexible visual experience.
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## 💡 Use cases
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- **Game streaming** with [Parsec](https://parsec.app),
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[Sunshine](https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine) /
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[Moonlight](https://moonlight-stream.org), or Steam Remote Play — host at
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the exact streaming resolution and refresh rate without depending on a
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physical monitor's spec.
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- **Headless hosts and cloud VMs** — Windows machines with no monitor attached
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(build servers, gaming VMs, cloud GPU instances). VDD gives them a real
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desktop session so capture tools, launchers, and benchmarks that refuse to
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run without an active display keep working.
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- **AR / XR workspaces** — feed several virtual monitors into AR glasses or
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headset-based desktop projects (see [Verto_XR](https://github.com/rohitsangwan01/Verto_XR) below).
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- **Multi-monitor productivity** — extend a laptop without docking; preview /
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test multi-display layouts without buying physical screens.
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- **Hyper-V / GPU-PV guests** — the hypervisor's built-in Hyper-V monitor
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can't be disconnected, which prevents Parsec / Sunshine from falling back
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to their own virtual display. Adding VDD inside the guest gives the streaming
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host a controllable target.
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- **High-refresh capture & recording** — record at the exact resolution and
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refresh rate the encoder wants (e.g. 1080p@240Hz, 4K@120Hz) without
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cropping or rescaling from a physical monitor's native mode.
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- **Privacy mode** — pair a virtual display for the remote session with the
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physical monitor for local use, keeping the two desktops independent.
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## 📺 ParsecDisplay App
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ParsecDisplay is a virtual display manager for Parsec VDD, built with C# and
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WPF. It provides a tray-based interface to add and remove virtual displays,
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change their resolution, refresh rate, and orientation, capture screenshots,
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and more.
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👉 Check out [Releases](https://github.com/nomi-san/parsec-vdd/releases) to
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download it.
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<p align="center">
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<img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2c014dbb-2358-4906-90fb-f94a62087065" />
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</p>
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## 🚀 Using Core API
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### Design notes
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Parsec VDD is designed to work with Parsec client-connection sessions. When
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the user connects to the host, the app starts controlling the driver —
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sending IO control codes and receiving results. Adding a virtual display
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returns an index, used later to unplug it; up to 16 displays can be added
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per adapter. The driver must be pinged periodically to keep added displays
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alive, otherwise all of them will be unplugged after about a second. There
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is no direct way to manipulate added displays — call the Win32 Display API
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to change their display mode (see the ParsecDisplay source).
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```mermaid
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flowchart LR
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A(app)
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B(vdd)
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A <--->|ioctl| B
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A ..->|ping| B
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B --- X(display1)
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B --- Y(display2)
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B --- Z(display3)
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winapi -->|manipulate| X
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```
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### Using the code
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For detailed instructions and usage examples, refer to the [VDD_LIBRARY_USAGE](./docs/VDD_LIBRARY_USAGE.md).
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- The core API is designed as a single C/C++ header that can be added to any
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project, 👉 [core/parsec-vdd.h](./core/parsec-vdd.h)
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- There is also a simple demo program, 👉 [core/vdd-demo.cc](./core/vdd-demo.cc)
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### Picking a driver
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You have to install the driver before any virtual displays can be created.
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| Version | Minimum OS | IddCx | Notes |
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| :---------------- | :-------------- | :---: | :-------------------------------------------------------- |
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| [parsec-vdd-0.38] | Windows 10 1607 | 1.0 | Obsolete, may crash randomly. |
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| [parsec-vdd-0.41] | Windows 10 19H2 | 1.4 | Stable. |
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| [parsec-vdd-0.45] | Windows 10 21H2 | 1.5 | Better streaming color, but may not work on some Windows. |
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[parsec-vdd-0.38]: https://builds.parsec.app/vdd/parsec-vdd-0.38.0.0.exe
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[parsec-vdd-0.41]: https://builds.parsec.app/vdd/parsec-vdd-0.41.0.0.exe
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[parsec-vdd-0.45]: https://builds.parsec.app/vdd/parsec-vdd-0.45.0.0.exe
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> All of them also work on Windows Server 2019 or higher.
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You can unzip (using 7z) the driver setup above to obtain the driver files and
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`nefconw` CLI.
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```
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vdd-0.45/
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|__ nefconw.exe
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|__ driver/
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|__ mm.cat
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|__ mm.dll
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|__ mm.inf
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```
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Command line method to install the driver using `nefconw` (admin required):
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```
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start /wait .\nefconw.exe --remove-device-node --hardware-id Root\Parsec\VDA --class-guid "4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318"
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start /wait .\nefconw.exe --create-device-node --class-name Display --class-guid "4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318" --hardware-id Root\Parsec\VDA
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start /wait .\nefconw.exe --install-driver --inf-path ".\driver\mm.inf"
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```
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In addition, you can run the driver setup in silent mode to install it quickly.
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```
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.\parsec-vdd-0.45.0.0.exe /S
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```
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## 😥 Known Limitations
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> This list shows the known limitations of Parsec VDD.
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### 1. HDR support
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Parsec VDD does not support HDR on its displays (see the EDID below).
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Theoretically, you can unlock support by editing the EDID to include HDR
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metadata and a 10-bit+ color depth. Unfortunately, you cannot flash its
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firmware the way you would a physical monitor — there is no registry
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setting to toggle either.
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All IDDs have their own fixed EDID block inside the driver binary to initialize
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the monitor specs. So the solution is to modify this block in the driver DLL
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(mm.dll), then reinstall it with `nefconw` CLI (see above).
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### 2. Custom resolutions
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Before connecting, the virtual display looks in the `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Parsec\vdd`
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registry for additional preset resolutions. Currently this supports a maximum
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of 5 entries.
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```yaml
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HKLM\SOFTWARE\Parsec\vdd:
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- key: [0 -> 5]
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value: { width, height, hz }
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```
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To unlock this limit, you need to patch the driver DLL the same way as above,
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but **5 is enough** for personal use.
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## 😑 Known Bugs
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> This is a list of known issues when working with standalone Parsec VDD.
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### 1. Incompatible with Parsec Privacy Mode
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If you have enabled "Privacy Mode" in Parsec Host settings, please disable it
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and clear the connected display configurations in the following Registry path.
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```
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HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Connectivity
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```
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This option causes your main display to turn off when virtual displays are
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added, making it difficult to turn the main display back on and disrupting
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the remote desktop session.
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### 2. Windows 10 Connectivity registry quirk
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Windows 10 caches display arrangements keyed by the _combination_ of attached
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display IDs. When a middle display is unplugged, the remaining subset
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(e.g. `DISP001_DISP003`) is a new combo Windows hasn't seen — those displays
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fall back to default mode and arrangement.
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The app works around this by always unplugging **right-to-left** (latest
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driver index first) during sleep, exit, and `vdd remove all`. See
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[issue #23](https://github.com/nomi-san/parsec-vdd/issues/23)
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for the full write-up.
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### 3. Headless before user login
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The app is a GUI process and requires an interactive user session (Vista+
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session 0 isolation). On a freshly-booted headless host with no auto-login,
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nothing runs until the user signs in. Workarounds:
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- Enable auto-login on the host.
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- Or use a Task Scheduler entry that runs at logon with desktop interaction.
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- Or use the service-based fork
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[ParsecVDA-Always-Connected](https://github.com/timminator/ParsecVDA-Always-Connected)
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for fully headless single-display deployments.
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## 🤔 Comparison with other IDDs
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The table below shows a comparison with other popular Indirect Display Driver
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projects.
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| Project | Iddcx version | Signed | Gaming | HDR | H-Cursor | Tweakable | Controller |
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| :----------------------------- | :-----------: | :----: | :----: | :--: | :------: | :-------: | :--------: |
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| [usbmmidd_v2] | N/A | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | 🆗 | ❌ |
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| [IddSampleDriver] | 1.2 | ❌ | 🆗 | ❌ | ❌ | 🆗 | ❌ |
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| [RustDeskIddDriver] | 1.2 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | 🆗 | ❌ |
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| [Virtual-Display-Driver (HDR)] | 1.10 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
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| [virtual-display-rs] | 1.5 | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
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| parsec-vdd | 1.5 | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | 🆗 | ✅ |
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✅ - full support, 🆗 - limited support
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[usbmmidd_v2]: https://www.amyuni.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3030
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[IddSampleDriver]: https://github.com/roshkins/IddSampleDriver
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[RustDeskIddDriver]: https://github.com/fufesou/RustDeskIddDriver
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[virtual-display-rs]: https://github.com/MolotovCherry/virtual-display-rs
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[Virtual-Display-Driver (HDR)]: https://github.com/itsmikethetech/Virtual-Display-Driver
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**Signed** means the driver files have a valid digital signature.
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**H-Cursor** means hardware-cursor support — without it, you get a double
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cursor on some remote desktop apps. **Tweakable** is the ability to customize
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display modes. Visit
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[MSDN IddCx versions](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/iddcx-versions)
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to check the minimum supported Windows version.
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## 🔗 Projects using Parsec VDD
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Third-party libraries and apps built on top of the Parsec VDD driver:
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- [parsec-vdd-rust](https://github.com/rohitsangwan01/parsec-vdd-rust) —
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Rust port of the core VDD API. Drop-in for Rust projects that need to
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add/remove virtual displays and keep them alive.
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- [Verto_XR](https://github.com/rohitsangwan01/Verto_XR) — XR / AR-glasses
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desktop workspace that uses VDD as the source for its virtual monitors.
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- [ParsecVDA-Always-Connected](https://github.com/timminator/ParsecVDA-Always-Connected) —
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service-based fork that keeps a single virtual display alive across reboots
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and power events, aimed at headless hosts.
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Open a PR if you'd like to add your project here.
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## 📘 Parsec VDD Specs
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Common preset display modes:
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| Resolution | Common Name | Aspect Ratio | Refresh Rates (Hz) |
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| ----------- | ----------- | ------------ | ------------------ |
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| 3840 x 2160 | 4K UHD | 16:9 | 24/30/60/144/240 |
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| 3440 x 1440 | UltraWide | 21.5:9 | 24/30/60/144/240 |
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| 2560 x 1440 | 2K | 16:9 | 24/30/60/144/240 |
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| 2560 x 1080 | UltraWide | 21:9 | 24/30/60/144/240 |
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| 1920 x 1080 | FHD | 16:9 | 24/30/60/144/240 |
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| 1600 x 900 | HD+ | 16:9 | 60/144/240 |
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| 1280 x 720 | HD | 16:9 | 60/144/240 |
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Check out [docs/PARSEC_VDD_SPECS](./docs/PARSEC_VDD_SPECS.md) for the full
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list of preset display modes and driver specs.
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## 🍻 Credits
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- Thanks to Parsec for the driver
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- The app's background was from old parsecgaming.com
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<table>
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<tr>
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<td><img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/58e9a6f4-6630-437d-a758-b284c0ed41e7" /></td>
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<td>Trusted code signing on Windows provided by <a href="https://signpath.io">SignPath.io</a>, certificate by <a href="https://signpath.org">SignPath Foundation</a></td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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