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DeskPad – A virtual monitor for screen sharing

github.com

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Re: DeskPad – A virtual monitor for screen sharing

#31

Post by tasn »

neallindsay wrote: post #13
neilv wrote: post #6

The title could clarify it's for MacOS X.

Linux users probably already have some weird workflow with X11 virtual buffers to do this.

This is how I do it under Sway (Wayland):

#!/bin/bash

swaymsg create_output OUTPUT=$(swaymsg -r -t get_outputs | jq '.[].name' | grep HEADLESS | tr -d '"')

# No need to reduce res, it defualts to 1080p #swaymsg output "$OUTPUT" resolution 1280x720

wl-mirror "$OUTPUT"

swaymsg output "$OUTPUT" unplug

When I was still in X11 land I used to just use Xephyr.

Re: DeskPad – A virtual monitor for screen sharing

#34

Post by conductr »

I think the problem I have is more so that people want my font sizes to be 3x what I have them. Usually I’m presenting a spreadsheet (financial statements and such) and people ask me to zoom in. Which I can but it breaks the whole thing and throws me off because I can no longer read my document anymore and I’m trying to present it. For that reason, I evangelize that attendees use the Zoom feature on their device if it’s too small.

As I understand the issue it’s not that font is too small on my device, it’s that Teams has a tiny viewport and so it gets shrunk down. Most people aren’t doing full screen. They have a sidebar for chat and such and a top bar of other options. These don’t leave much real estate for my presentation.

Would something like this help my problem or anyone know a better solution?

Re: DeskPad – A virtual monitor for screen sharing

#35

Post by rcarmo »

conductr wrote: post #34

I think the problem I have is more so that people want my font sizes to be 3x what I have them. Usually I’m presenting a spreadsheet (financial statements and such) and people ask me to zoom in. Which I can but it breaks the whole thing and throws me off because I can no longer read my document anymore and I’m trying to present it. For that reason, I evangelize that attendees use the Zoom feature on their device if i…

OK, I have a series of steps you can follow:

- Start DeskPad

- Go to System Settings and set the resolution of the virtual display to 1920x1080 (just to be a standard size/resolution and not retina, saves on resources and hassle)

- Still in System Settings, set Accessibility Zoom to render a magnified version on the virtual display:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/zoom-in-on-whats-on....

- Resize the DeskPad window to be a nice little preview on the corner of your screen.

- Start your call, share the virtual display (which will be the zoomed version of what you are pointing at with your mouse)

Re: DeskPad – A virtual monitor for screen sharing

#36

Post by LorenPechtel »

conductr wrote: post #34

I think the problem I have is more so that people want my font sizes to be 3x what I have them. Usually I’m presenting a spreadsheet (financial statements and such) and people ask me to zoom in. Which I can but it breaks the whole thing and throws me off because I can no longer read my document anymore and I’m trying to present it. For that reason, I evangelize that attendees use the Zoom feature on their device if i…

I ended up buying a bigger monitor for screen share. For most purposes I prefer my setup with multiple 19" monitors running at 1280x1024 but it's a nightmare if someone with a higher desktop wants to share. I have found the bigger monitor nice for games also.

Re: DeskPad – A virtual monitor for screen sharing

#39

Post by mleo »

This is great; though I have less need for it day to day now.

I used to have 49" 5120x1440 display. We started with Zoom, which under Advanced would allow partial desktop sharing. I would draw a 1920x1080 box and move windows in and out of the box.

We moved to Teams and Teams only supports Window or Screen sharing. DeskPad would work great for that situation. Create a virtual display, share it and then use it on right part of the physical screen, moving windows in and out as needed.

Currently, I use 2 Studio Displays instead of the 1 Wide Screen. When I need to share screens, I press a button on Stream Deck that calls displaypacer to set the resolution on the second display to 1600x900. When done, I press the button again and it toggles the resolution back to 5K. The resolution switching is instantaneous with Apple Silicon/Studio Display making it hassle free.

Re: DeskPad – A virtual monitor for screen sharing

#40

Post by madhias »

conductr wrote: post #34

I think the problem I have is more so that people want my font sizes to be 3x what I have them. Usually I’m presenting a spreadsheet (financial statements and such) and people ask me to zoom in. Which I can but it breaks the whole thing and throws me off because I can no longer read my document anymore and I’m trying to present it. For that reason, I evangelize that attendees use the Zoom feature on their device if i…

I am presenting SAP t-codes on a daily basis and can relate – especially for presentations I tried to show always only the most important things and use fonts like 2 or 3 times bigger, especially with monospace fonts not so easy to find good readable narrow fonts.
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