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PCoIP Ultra

The Software Client for Windows provides support for PCoIP Ultra, the latest protocol enhancements from HP.

PCoIP Ultra enhancements are controlled on the Anyware agent. There is no configuration required on the Anyware Client.

Important: PCoIP Ultra is appropriate for specific use cases

For most users, the default PCoIP protocol will provide the best possible experience. Carefully review the recommended use cases in the next section to determine whether you should enable it.

Requirement: AVX2 Support

All client machines and remote Windows and Linux agent machines must support the AVX2 instruction set. The Anyware Agent for macOS requires AVX2 support when running on Intel hardware. PCoIP Ultra is supported on Apple Silicon with Anyware Agent for macOS 22.09 or higher.

For additional detail on PCoIP Ultra technical requirements for various use cases and troubleshooting steps, refer to KB 2109: PCoIP Ultra Troubleshooting.

PCoIP Ultra Modes

PCoIP Ultra has three acceleration modes, which leverage CPU and GPU offloading to optimize content delivery.

  • Auto Offload: Dynamically switches between CPU and GPU offload modes depending on the workload being processed. This setting is appropriate for work-from-home or WAN content creators who require optimized delivery of high resolution content, including video playback, while still achieving build-to-lossless color accuracy. This mode requires a GPU and a graphics agent.

  • CPU Offload: Provides efficient scaling across multicore CPUs, leveraging AVX2 instruction sets. Appropriate for users that require CPU-optimized delivery of 4K UHD, high-framerate video playback and build-to-lossless color accuracy. It is also useful when GPU encoding resources must be reserved for video encoding applications, typically in LAN environments.

  • GPU Offload: PCoIP encoding is always offloaded to a GPU. Appropriate for users who demand the highest possible CPU efficiency. This mode requires a GPU and a graphics agent.

Enabling PCoIP Ultra

PCoIP Ultra is disabled by default, and must be enabled on the Anyware agent. The method used to do this varies by agent type; consult the following documentation for instructions:

Auto-Offload with PCoIP Ultra

When using a Anyware Graphics agent, PCoIP Ultra can automatically select and switch between CPU-offload and GPU-offload modes based on the amount of pixel change in the displays. When displays are rendering highly dynamic content, PCoIP Ultra will enable GPU Offload to provide improved frame rates and bandwidth optimization. When displays are less dynamic, PCoIP Ultra defaults to CPU offload to provide the best image fidelity.

PCoIP Ultra Offload only takes effect if the remote Anyware Graphics agent and the Anyware software client are capable of both CPU and GPU offload.

The PCoIP Ultra offload mode is set on the Anyware agent; PCoIP Ultra Auto Offload requires a Anyware Graphics Agent. Refer to the appropriate documentation for instructions:

PCoIP Codec Indicator

When enabling PCoIP Ultra there will be an onscreen indicator at the bottom left corner of the screen. PCoIP Ultra CPU optimization is indicated with a dark blue dot. PCoIP Ultra GPU optimization is indicated by a magenta dot.

To disable this codec indicator, create the following registry key and set it to 0: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Teradici\PCoIP\pcoip_admin_defaults\ pcoip.codec_indicator (DWORD)

H.264 Hardware Decode

The Anyware Software Client for Windows supports H.264 hardware decode for selected hardware configurations by using the Anyware Client to enable the decode. For information on this, see H.264 Hardware Decode.