Design and Implement RemoteFX Display Drivers (Compact 7)
3/12/2014
Microsoft RemoteFX adds both server-side and client-side functionality to the remote desktop experience. RemoteFX is a feature in the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and also in the Windows Embedded Compact 7 implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 7.1. RemoteFX introduces a set of enhancements to RDP that benefit the users of your devices. These enhancements provide a full desktop environment over a local area network (LAN) to users of a range of devices, including rich client, thin client, and ultrathin client devices.
A thin client device running Compact 7 with RemoteFX enabled provides a full remote desktop experience when you use your thin client device together with a RemoteFX-enabled server running Windows Server 2008 R2. RemoteFX uses complete server-side rendering of a remote desktop session, which enables a RemoteFX-enabled device running on Compact 7 to provide users with a full remote desktop experience, such as high-quality, full-screen video and the Windows Aero theme.
When you use RemoteFX and Compact 7 on a thin client device, you receive these benefits:
- Client-side hardware acceleration.
- Minimal hardware requirements for the device, which provides the opportunity for a category of extremely low-cost devices.
- Easy integration into existing Microsoft network infrastructures (for example, integration into a secure enterprise network).
- The ability to create customized device-based software.
This section provides OEMs, especially driver developers in OEMs, with guidelines and code examples for designing and implementing a RemoteFX display driver on a thin client device running Compact 7. When you implement the RemoteFX display driver, you perform an essential step in deploying RemoteFX on thin client devices. RemoteFX technology uses the hardware on servers running Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 to efficiently encode display data before the data is sent to the thin client device running Compact 7. The display data is decoded on the device by the display driver before being displayed.