Why Punktfunk ships its own virtual display driver

A headless streaming PC needs a virtual display. Punktfunk's Windows driver matches your client's mode and HDR, shows the lock screen, and encodes the frames itself.

Streaming at your device's exact resolution, or from a PC with no monitor, needs a virtual display. On Windows, Punktfunk installs its own: Punktfunk Virtual Display.

What it gives you

• Your client's mode. Each device gets a display at its own resolution and refresh rate, so games render for your screen. See ultrawide and 32:9 streaming.
• No monitor or dummy plug on a headless PC.
• The secure desktop. Sign-in, lock and UAC screens show in the stream.

Why our own

Other hosts pair a virtual display driver with a screen-capture API: Apollo bundles SudoVDA, Sunshine-Foundation bundles ZakoVDD, Vibeshine ships its own. Owning the driver lets Punktfunk go further:

• Capture and encode in the driver. Windows hands each composed frame to the driver, which encodes it on the GPU. See IDD-push.
• HDR per client. The driver takes Windows' FP16 HDR desktop, and each paired client gets a monitor identity carrying its screen's HDR brightness. The host switches HDR on for an HDR session; you never touch Use HDR.

The driver

An Indirect Display (IddCx) user-mode driver written in Rust. It needs Windows 11 22H2 (build 22621) or newer; setup refuses anything older. It is signed with Punktfunk's own certificate, which setup trusts on install, and loads with Secure Boot on. The installer updates host and driver together, as the two must match.

Install steps: Windows host.