Can I view a BetterDisplay virtual screen on another computer?

Yes, by combining a BetterDisplay virtual screen with a separate screen-sharing app that can capture that desktop. BetterDisplay creates the desktop on the source Mac. The sharing app sends its image and handles the remote session.

  1. On the source Mac, create and connect a virtual screen with the shape and resolution you need.
  2. Move the windows you want to share onto that desktop. BetterDisplay's local Picture in Picture view can help you inspect it.
  3. In the sharing app, select that desktop as the source. Check that the receiving device shows the intended screen before starting a presentation or meeting.

For Mac-to-Mac use, Apple's Screen Sharing is an option. Enable screen sharing on the source Mac, connect from the viewing Mac, and use View > Displays to choose a display when more than one is available. Follow Apple's Screen Sharing instructions for access and viewing options. Its High Performance mode can create its own virtual displays. Those are separate from a desktop you created in BetterDisplay.

You can keep the remote desktop in a window beside local apps. For example, an 8:9 virtual desktop can suit a tall window occupying half of a wide monitor. This does not require the physical monitor to accept two separate 8:9 video inputs.

If an AirPlay session offers too few HiDPI sizes, a virtual desktop shared through a separate screen-sharing session can provide different resolution choices. The virtual desktop’s selected resolution does not prove the receiver displays every rendering pixel unchanged: transport quality, fitting and compression still matter. A higher-resolution session can also be less responsive. Compare the result at your intended size. A large HiDPI source still needs a suitable sharing app, receiver and connection to produce a sharp, responsive image.

For the rendering background, see how macOS scaling, HiDPI and LoDPI work.

BetterDisplay's Stream Display and Picture in Picture features present images locally. They do not supply a browser receiver, WebRTC session or VNC server. For an iPad, browser-only receiver or internet session, the sharing app must provide that receiver and connection method. Capture selection, permissions, image quality and latency depend on that app and the network.

BetterDisplay's HTTP or CLI integration can connect or disconnect a virtual screen, but the HTTP API is not a video feed. See Integration and virtual screens, mirroring and streaming for the separate roles.