Troubleshooting PCoIP Display Issues

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This article provides  general troubleshooting steps for performance issues when remoting virtual desktops.

Scenarios covered include:

  • Video slicing or tearing.
  • Screen (or parts of the screen) becomes fuzzy screen and then clears up.
  • Slow screen updates.
  • Slow desktop launch, screen flickers a couple of times.

 

Scenario 1:

Video slicing or tearing.

  • Check for network congestion and packet loss.
  • Check PCoIP zero client logs to see if hitting the 20Mbps bandwidth limit.
  • Windows media player has know slicing issues - try using alternative player for the same video (Media Player Classic, Quicktime etc).
  • Some videos are poorly encoded and can slice during playback, or consume more bandwidth than other videos, but at a fraction of the video performance.  Try an alternate encoding for the video, try a different player.
  • Under-performing client.  Check the client CPU if consistently highly loaded, consider a more powerful software client or use a PCoIP zero client.
  • Check the number of vCPU's for the desktop.  If using video, multiple vCPU or cores are recommended.

 

Scenario 2:

Screen (or parts of the screen) becomes fuzzy and then clears up.

  • Check for network congestion, lack of bandwidth and/or packet loss.  

 

Scenario 3:

Slow screen updates.

  • Check for network congestion, lack of bandwidth and/or packet loss.  
  • Consider reducing the PCoIP session variable GPO for Initial Image Quality from 90 (default) to 70 (for example).  This will increase the video frame rate in a known congested network environment.  

For information on setting up GPO variables please see:

 

Scenario 4:

Slow desktop launch, screen flickers a couple of times:

  • The Client and VM are attempting to negotiate a new resolution or display topology.

See also:

Troubleshooting artifacts in a PCoIP Session

What should video playback expectations be in a PCoIP session?

Why has my PCoIP Zero Client display temporarily shown a black screen?