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parsec-vdd

✨ Standalone Parsec Virtual Display
Create virtual display up to 4K@240Hz


ℹ About

This project demonstrates a standalone solution to create virtual displays by using Parsec VDD, without relying on the Parsec app.

The Virtual Display Driver (VDD) is required to enable virtual displays on a Windows host. Virtual displays is a feature available for Teams and Warp customers that lets you add up to 3 additional virtual displays to the host while connecting to a machine you own through Parsec.

Parsec VDD is a perfect software driver developed by Parsec. It utilizes the IddCx API (Indirect Display Driver) to create virtual displays on Windows 10+. This virtual display is particularly useful in situations where a physical monitor may not be available or when additional screens are desired.

One of the notable features of Parsec VDD is its support for a wide range of resolutions and refresh rates, including up to 4K and 240 Hz. This makes it well-suited for gaming, as it can provide a high-quality visual experience. It enables users to simulate the presence of additional screens or work without a physical monitor, enhancing flexibility and customization in display management.

📺 ParsecVDisplay App

This is a complete driver application to control the Parsec VDD, written in C# and WPF. It can show the number of virtual displays added, allows adding multiple virtual displays and removing a specific selected one. Also allows to change resolution and take screenshot, and more..

👉 Check out Releases to download it.

Full source code of this application is located in the app folder.

🚀 Using Core API

Design notes

Parsec VDD is designed to work with Parsec client-connection session. When user connects to the host, the app will start controlling the driver, it sends IO control codes and gets result. When adding a virtual display, you will get its index to be used for unplugging, the maximum number of displays could be added up to 16 per adapter. You have to ping to the driver periodically to keep added displays alive, otherwise all of them will be unplugged after a second. There's no direct way to manipulate added displays, you should call Win32 Display API to change their display mode (see the ParsecVDisplay source).

flowchart LR
  A(app)
  B(vdd)

  A <--->|ioctl| B
  A ..->|ping| B

  B --- X(display1)
  B --- Y(display2)
  B --- Z(display3)

  winapi -->|manipulate| X
Loading

Using the code

  • The core API is designed as single C/C++ header that can be added to any project, 👉 core/parsec-vdd.h
  • There is also a simple demo program, 👉 core/vdd-demo.cc

Picking a driver

You have to install the driver to make them work.

Version Minimum OS IddCx Notes
parsec-vdd-0.38 Windows 10 1607 1.0 Obsolete, may crash randomly.
parsec-vdd-0.41 Windows 10 19H2 1.4 Stable.
parsec-vdd-0.45 Windows 10 21H2 1.5 Better streaming color, but may not work on some Windows.

All of them also work on Windows Server 2019 or higher.

You can unzip (using 7z) the driver setup above to obtain the driver files and nefconw CLI.

vdd-0.45/
  |__ nefconw.exe
  |__ driver/
    |__ mm.cat
    |__ mm.dll
    |__ mm.inf

Command line method to install the driver using nefconw (admin required):

start /wait .\nefconw.exe --remove-device-node --hardware-id Root\Parsec\VDA --class-guid "4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318"
start /wait .\nefconw.exe --create-device-node --class-name Display --class-guid "4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318" --hardware-id Root\Parsec\VDA
start /wait .\nefconw.exe --install-driver --inf-path ".\driver\mm.inf"

In additional, you can run the driver setup in silent mode to install it quickly.

.\parsec-vdd-0.45.0.0.exe /S

😥 Known Limitations

This list shows the known limitations of Parsec VDD.

1. HDR support

Parsec VDD does not support HDR on its displays (see the EDID below). Theoretically, you can unlock support by editing the EDID, then adding HDR metadata and setting 10-bit+ color depth. Unfortunately, you cannot flash its firmware like a physical device, or modify the registry value.

All IDDs have their own fixed EDID block inside the driver binary to initialize the monitor specs. So the solution is to modify this block in the driver DLL (mm.dll), then reinstall it with nefconw CLI (see above).

2. Custom resolutions

Before connecting, the virtual display looks in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Parsec\vdd registry for additional preset resolutions. Currently this supports a maximum of 5 values.

SOFTWARE\Parsec\vdd
  key: 0 -> 5 | (width, height, hz)

To unlock this limit, you need to patch the driver DLL the same way as above, but 5 is enough for personal use.

😑 Known Bugs

This is a list of known issues when working with standalone Parsec VDD.

1. Incompatible with Parsec Privacy Mode

Alt text

If you have enabled "Privacy Mode" in Parsec Host settings, please disable it and clear the connected display configruations in the following Registry path.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers\Connectivity

This option causes your main display to turn off when virtual displays are added, making it difficult to turn the display on and disrupting the remote desktop session.

2. // todo

🤔 Comparison with other IDDs

The table below shows a comparison with other popular Indirect Display Driver projects.

Project Iddcx version Signed Gaming HDR H-Cursor Tweakable Controller
usbmmidd_v2 ✅ ❌ ❌ ❌
IddSampleDriver 1.2 ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
RustDeskIddDriver 1.2 ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Virtual-Display-Driver (HDR) 1.10 ❌ ✅ ❌
virtual-display-rs 1.5 ❌ ❌ #81 ✅ ✅
parsec-vdd 1.5 ✅ ✅ ❌ ✅ 🆗 ✅

✅ - full support, 🆗 - limited support

Signed means that the driver files have a valid digital signature. H-Cursor means hardware cursor support, without it you will get double cursor on some remote desktop apps. Tweakable is the ability to customize display modes. Visit MSDN IddCx versions to check the minimum supported Windows version.

📘 Parsec VDD Specs

Preset display modes

All of the following display modes are set by driver default.

Resolution Common name Aspect ratio Refresh rates (Hz)
4096 x 2160 DCI 4K 1.90:1 (256:135) 24/30/60/144/240
3840 x 2160 4K UHD 16:9 24/30/60/144/240
3840 x 1600 UltraWide 24:10 24/30/60/144/240
3840 x 1080 UltraWide 32:9 (2x 16:9 FHD) 24/30/60/144/240
3440 x 1440 21.5:9 (43:18) 24/30/60/144/240
3240 x 2160 3:2 60
3200 x 1800 3K 16:9 24/30/60/144/240
3000 x 2000 3:2 60
2880 x 1800 2.8K 16:10 60
2880 x 1620 2.8K 16:9 24/30/60/144/240
2736 x 1824 60
2560 x 1600 2K 16:10 24/30/60/144/240
2560 x 1440 2K 16:9 24/30/60/144/240
2560 x 1080 UltraWide 21:9 24/30/60/144/240
2496 x 1664 60
2256 x 1504 60
2048 x 1152 60/144/240
1920 x 1200 FHD 16:10 60/144/240
1920 x 1080 FHD 16:9 24/30/60/144/240
1800 x 1200 FHD 3:2 60
1680 x 1050 HD+ 16:10 60/144/240
1600 x 1200 HD+ 4:3 24/30/60/144/240
1600 x 900 HD+ 16:9 60/144/240
1440 x 900 HD 16:10 60/144/240
1366 x 768 60/144/240
1280 x 800 HD 16:10 60/144/240
1280 x 720 HD 16:9 60/144/240

Notes:

  • Low GPUs, e.g GTX 1650 will not support the highest DCI 4K.
  • All resolutions are compatible with 60 Hz refresh rates.

Adapter info

  • Name: Parsec Virtual Display Adapter
  • Hardware ID: Root\Parsec\VDA
  • Adapter GUID: {00b41627-04c4-429e-a26e-0265cf50c8fa}
  • Class GUID: {4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}

Monitor info

  • ID: PSCCDD0
  • Name: ParsecVDA
  • EDID:
00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00  42 63 D0 CD ED 5F 84 00
11 1E 01 04 A5 35 1E 78  3B 57 E0 A5 54 4F 9D 26
12 50 54 27 CF 00 71 4F  81 80 81 40 81 C0 81 00
95 00 B3 00 01 01 86 6F  80 A0 70 38 40 40 30 20
35 00 E0 0E 11 00 00 1A  00 00 00 FD 00 30 A5 C1
C1 29 01 0A 20 20 20 20  20 20 00 00 00 FC 00 50
61 72 73 65 63 56 44 41  0A 20 20 20 00 00 00 10
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 01 C6
02 03 10 00 4B 90 05 04  03 02 01 11 12 13 14 1F
8A 4D 80 A0 70 38 2C 40  30 20 35 00 E0 0E 11 00
00 1A FE 5B 80 A0 70 38  35 40 30 20 35 00 E0 0E
11 00 00 1A FC 7E 80 88  70 38 12 40 18 20 35 00
E0 0E 11 00 00 1E A4 9C  80 A0 70 38 59 40 30 20
35 00 E0 0E 11 00 00 1A  02 3A 80 18 71 38 2D 40
58 2C 45 00 E0 0E 11 00  00 1E 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 A6

Visit http://www.edidreader.com/ to view it online or use an advanced tool AW EDID Editor