Apple Remote Desktop ARD Multiple Monitors
Is there a way to stretch a MacOS (M1 Mini) via ARD across more than 1 monitor? I have a 2x2 monitor setup (each just 1080p) and would like to take advantage of two monitors when connecting from my PC. So far I tried stretching the popped out window across two screens manually, but it maintains ratio and resolution. Would like to make it 3840x1080. Thanks!
All Comments (2)
Hello
Currently it's not possible I'm afraid. Apple Remote Desktop prior to version 4.0 doesn't support this: the resolution given for the session is the resolution of the display configured on the remote machine. This is a protocol limitation. RDM does let you abandon the fixed aspect ratio and stretch the image to arbitrary sizes, but I can't believe it would look acceptable (stretching from 1920 to 3840).
You might find success with some third-party software that lets you configure arbitrary resolutions on your Mac (one example would be SwitchResX, but there are others). However I haven't tried it and I'm not sure it would allow you to configure the resolution you want, or work in the context of screen sharing.
That said, Apple Remote Desktop 4.0 (which was released with macOS 14 / Sonoma) does allow more flexibility here. It allows the client to both request arbitrary resolutions (which Apple calls Dynamic Resolution) as well as create "virtual" displays of arbitrary resolutions. That feature would allow you to do what you want. However, I need to explain that while Apple Remote Desktop is based on the open RFB (VNC) protocol, these features are proprietary Apple extensions to the protocol and are closed (both the protocol specification and source code). Our ARD implementation is built by reverse-engineering Apple's protocol which is an extremely difficult and laborious task. We would like to add support for these new features but it's technically very difficult. I don't doubt that we'll be able to achieve it, but I simply cannot offer a timeframe for that. I have noted your interest, however, and certainly if there was enough demand it would be easier to allocate resources on this.
I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer for you right now. Please don't hesitate to post back if something isn't clear or you have further questions.
Kind regards,
Richard Markievicz
Thank you Richard for the very comprehensive explanation. Given ShareResX is shareware product with full features for 10 days, I may try it. If it works, I will report back here.
Otherwise, I can just hope that others wish for the same!