PCoIP Performance Optimization¶
If fine tuning of user experience is needed, PCoIP session parameters impacting frame rate, image quality and bandwidth may be tuned via the Group Policy Editor (Windows) or session configuration file (Linux or macOS) as described in the respective Anyware Agent Administrator Guides.
User Experience Profiles¶
To assist tuning, five user experience profiles and recommended session parameters are provided below as basis for protocol optimization on different networks:
User Experience Profiles
| Profile | User Experience | Bandwidth | Network | User Roles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profile A | Best | Highest | LAN | Review/CAD and Creative |
| Profile B | Great | Moderate | LAN/WAN | CAD and Creative/Knowledge Worker |
| Profile C | Good | Optimized | WAN | Knowledge Worker |
| Profile D | Good | Constrained | WAN | Knowledge/Task Worker |
| Profile E | Limited | Lowest | Shared WAN | Task Workers with small screens |
The table shown next provides recommendations for each of the 5 identified user profiles:
Session Parameters for User Profiles
| Configurable Session Parameter | A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCoIP Protocol Mode (Graphics Agent) | CPU Offload | Auto-Offload | Auto-Offload | Auto-Offload | N/A |
| PCoIP Protocol Mode (Standard Agent) | Default | Default | Default | Default | Default |
| Chroma sub-sampling (Graphics Agent only) | YUV 4:4:4* | YUV 4:4:4* | YUV 4:2:0 | YUV 4:2:0 | N/A |
| Maximum PCoIP Session Bandwidth (kbps) | 900000* | 900000* | 10000 | 2400 | 600 |
| Enable Build-to-Lossless (BTL) Feature | BTL Enabled | BTL Disabled* | BTL Disabled* | BTL Disabled* | BTL Disabled* |
| Minimum Image Quality | 50 | 40* | 40* | 30 | 30 |
| Maximum Initial Image Quality | 90 | 80* | 80* | 70 | 70 |
| Maximum Frame Rate (fps) | 60* | 60* | 30 | 16 | 8 |
| Session Audio Bandwidth Limit (kbps) | Disabled* | Disabled* | Disabled* | 48 | 0-32 |
| Windows Visual Effects Optimizations | Best Appearance* | Best Appearance* | Best Performance | Best Performance | Best Performance |
*Default Setting
Display Frame Rate Performance¶
PCoIP technology has been widely adopted by industries that demand the highest possible image quality and frame rate using high resolution displays in multi-monitor configurations. For CAD, visual effects (VFX), video editorial, animation and other graphics-intensive use cases, user satisfaction requires that the PCoIP protocol does not diminish the frame rate associated with the source content compared to local workstation experience. The table below provides example PCoIP frame rates under ideal network conditions.
Example Target Frame Rates supported by the PCoIP Protocol
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Display Resolution | Single | Dual |
| Zero Client | ||
| 1920 x 1080 FHD | Up to 60 | Up to 60 |
| 2560 x 1440 QHD | Up to 60 | Up to 30 |
| Software Client* | ||
| 1920 x 1080 FHD | Up to 60 | Up to 60 |
| 2560 x 1440 QHD | Up to 60 | Up to 60 |
| 3840 x 2560 UHD | Up to 60 | Up to 60 |
(*) HP Anyware configured for PCoIP Ultra protocol enhancements delivers up to 60 fps dependent on host and client CPU specifications and available network bandwidth. PCoIP Ultra CPU Offload requires host and client support for the AVX2 CPU extensions to take advantage of the enhancements. PCoIP Ultra GPU Offload and Auto-Offload require hardware video encoder support on the host system. Refer to the CAS Administrator Guide for specific platform requirements.
PCoIP Ultra Performance¶
The following section outlines the Anyware Agent and Anyware Software Client performance with PCoIP Ultra modes enabled.
Anyware Agent Performance¶
PCoIP Ultra CPU Offload¶
When configured for PCoIP Ultra CPU Offload mode, the host system requires sufficient CPU and GPU resources to support both the host application software (e.g. a video editor tasked with rendering image frames) and CPU cycles required by the Anyware Agent software needed to encode the image frames at the desired frame rate without dropping frames. For best results using 4K/UHD display resolution in conjunction with PCoIP Ultra CPU Offload, at least 4 CPU cores should be provisioned in addition to cores needed for the user applications. For best results using FHD resolution, at least 2 CPU cores are required. Consider setting processor affinity for the PCoIP Server process to partition PCoIP encoding from the application workload if the user application demands high CPU usage.
PCoIP Ultra GPU Offload¶
When PCoIP Ultra GPU Offload is configured, the host application software utilizes CPU/GPU resources to render image frames, but PCoIP encoding is offloaded to the video hardware encoder of the GPU which frees CPU resources. Refer to the PCoIP Ultra knowledge article for additional information on GPU configurations.
PCoIP Ultra Auto-Offload¶
When PCoIP Ultra Auto Offload is configured, the host application software utilizes CPU/GPU resources to render image frames, and PCoIP encoding is offloaded to the video hardware encoder of the GPU whenever the pixel rate exceeds the PCoIP Ultra Offload MMPS threshold defined in the PCoIP session variables. Because Auto-Offload mode only requires CPU resources during low pixel rate encoding periods, Auto Offload mode has approximately the same overall CPU impact as GPU Offload.
Benchmarks¶
Refer to the Host CPU Utilization Benchmarks for estimates of PCoIP CPU utilization for different core counts and display resolutions.
Anyware Software Client Performance¶
PCoIP Ultra CPU Offload¶
To achieve high pixel rates at high display resolutions (e.g. 4K/UHD at 30 fps or higher), a suitably performing endpoint with AVX2 support is required. For example, at least an Intel 8th (or newer) Generation Core i5/i7 processors with dual memory banks is required to support CAD, Creative or Review workloads at 4K/UHD. An example of this includes NUC10i5FNH (Intel Corei5-10210U processor).
PCoIP Ultra GPU Offload and Auto-Offload¶
PCoIP Ultra GPU Offload or Auto Offload should be used in conjunction with a Anyware client with H.264 hardware-based decoder support for highest performance, especially when using 4K/UHD displays. We recommend Intel 8th Generation Core i5/i7 processors (or newer). Software clients can achieve higher pixel rates and performance when agents are configured for YUV 4:2:0 to enable hardware decode on supported hardware.
Refer to the PCoIP Ultra knowledge article for additional information on Anyware Client configuration.