Hello, attentive habrachitatel.
After the publication of the topic with , I still waited for the reaction to the "Easter egg" in the photo of my cluttered workplace, namely questions like: βWhat is this Windows tablet and why does it have such small icons?β
The answer is similar to the βdeath of Koshcheevaβ - after all, the tablet (regular iPad 3Gen) in our case acts as an additional monitor on which a virtual machine with Windows 7 is running in full screen mode, and all this works for complete happiness over Wi-Fi. Such a second small IPS-monitor with high resolution.
Read on to learn how to quickly and easily teach your Android/iOS tablet/smartphone to work as an additional wireless display for Windows/Mac OS X.
Since at home I often have devices running a variety of mobile operating systems, the main selection criterion for βprograms for turning a tablet / smartphone into a second monitorβ for me was:
- support for Android and iOS;
- support for both Windows and Mac OS X;
- acceptable speed;
A pleasant surprise for me was the fact that the iDisplay program chosen as a result is being developed by the well-known SHAPE company, whose products on Habrahabr I (of my own free will and on my own initiative) already and even .
Looking ahead, I would note that I would estimate the level of comfort from using the program as 80-85%, but alternative solutions from the well-known AirDisplay and other manufacturers disappointed me much more.
The description of the advantages of the program from the official website is quite concise, the only thing that can drive you into a stupor is the mention of the possibility of simultaneously connecting 36 (!) devices running iOS if you use Mac OS X version of iDisplay.
It is difficult for me to imagine other use cases, except for holding a flash mob with the display of βlong-koteβ on 36 iPads placed in a row. Well, or you can build a "plasma" from the iPhone π
By the way, this functionality is not declared in the description of the Windows version.
As with any additional monitor, the work area can be extended to a second monitor or the image can be mirrored. There is support for choosing the orientation of the device - just expand the tablet or smartphone. Among other things, the mode of "doubling" pixels is possible - i.e. 2048x1536 screen works like 1024x768.
I did not feel the charms of such a decision - of course, the image is four times larger, but the clarity is lost.
To work, the program must be installed both on a tablet/smartphone and on a laptop/desktop. Well, both devices must be in the same Wi-Fi network.
At this stage, I ran into completely unexpected difficulties.While the Windows version worked flawlessly, after installing iDisplay on Mac OS X (by the way, the installation requires a reboot), I encountered a surprising βbugβ - Drag-and-Drop stopped working on a laptop. Yes Yes! You can grab something, but you can't let it go.
Correspondence with support allowed me to find out the reason for this amazing effect - only MacBooks with switchable Nvidia graphics (9400M / 9600M GT) are affected. When installing an alternative video driver, in any version of Mac OS X, there is such an amazing problem.
Fortunately, there was also a simple solution - just put the system into sleep mode for a second - and the problem miraculously disappears (until the next reboot). Perhaps, this bug does not pull on a feature, but, alas, I did not find any solutions.
Unlike the Windows version, which hides in the tray and is unremarkable except for a small menu, the Mac version is more beautiful and convenient. In particular, there is a separate window with performance settings and even the icon of the device that is currently connected.
All settings are remembered automatically, there is an autoload at system startup. The program works with Windows XP (only 32-bit version), Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) and even Windows 8. Compatible with Mac OS X - from version 10.5 and higher . The default language of the program is English, but the support service promised to add a Russian translation in the new release.
As for compatibility with devices, I checked the performance on Android 2.3 and 4.0, and on iOS 5 and 6 versions. There were no problems, and new versions of the application were released quite regularly.
Performance, of course, is not enough, say, to watch a video (there are other applications for this), but as a place where you can βdragβ a messenger, a browser with Habrahabr or an iTunes window, it works great.
I hope my experience will be useful to all owners of tablets - and with the advent of the Nexus 10, everyone will be able to get themselves an inexpensive additional screen with ultra-high resolution. By the way, the Nexus 7 also works very well in this capacity. I will not give links to the program - anyone who is interested can easily find it in the App Store and Google Play.
Despite the shortcomings described, I consider it the most convenient of those personally tested. If you have read this far, thank you, it means that you did not try in vain.
UDP: I forgot to mention - of course, the touchscreen on the tablet-smartphone works. So you get not just a second monitor, but also an additional monitor with a touchscreen.
Source: habr.com