EternalMonitor v0.3.0 · Current stable

EternalMonitor v0.3.0

v0.3.0 is the current stable release. Install the Windows app with iPad
v0.3.0, TestFlight build 143. The Windows installer is unchanged from
v0.3.0-rc.1. It passed the automated tests on the reference PC and a physical
iPad; the hands-on checks below remain. New users can follow the setup guide.

What changed

• Lost video fragments can be requested again within a bounded repair window.
  The window follows real WiFi timing: it waits for late and reordered packets
  instead of discarding their frames. The quality popover reports repaired
  fragments, dropped frames and jitter.
• A USB connection uses Apple's device service on Windows and the same negotiated
  session as WiFi. The app can take over when a cable connects and reconnect to
  WiFi when it disconnects. USB needs Apple's Apple Devices app from the
  Microsoft Store, open while you stream. When an iPad is plugged in and Apple
  Devices is closed or missing, the host says so and offers to open it or links
  to the Store. Accept Trust This Computer on the iPad.
• PC audio uses 48 kHz stereo Opus. The iPad's audio setting mutes playback without
  disconnecting video. Quiet packets are compact; Opus packet-loss concealment
  covers missing audio. This version does not provide Opus in-band FEC.
• Pair with the six-digit host code or its QR code. Remembered hosts use a token
  stored in the iPad Keychain. Regenerating the host token requires pairing again.
• Hardware and on-screen keyboards, sticky modifiers, indirect pointer buttons
  and hover extend the existing touch and Pencil controls.
• Apple Pencil draws as a Windows Ink pen with pressure and tilt. Drawing mode
  ignores fingers on the canvas, mutes PC audio and asks for the highest USB
  frame rate. In Clip Studio Paint, choose the Tablet PC setting.
• The host offers 30/60/90/120 fps; the iPad requests 30/60/120 fps. The lower limit
  wins. HEVC remains optional. YUV420 remains the default encoder input because
  the AMD encoder does not accept BGRA; BGRA input is opt-in.
• The host shows client, USB and audio status, rotates its session log, and can
  check for updates. The Windows installer configures its firewall rules and VDD
  task permissions. Continue checking these Windows behaviors on your hardware.

Please exercise on a physical iPad

Pair on the local network, test H.264 and HEVC, then type and scroll through the
keyboard and trackpad. Connect, unplug and reconnect USB. Play audio and check
sync, mute and a Windows output-device change. Walk toward the WiFi edge and
watch repairs rise without long freezes. On a ProMotion iPad, try 120 fps with
the virtual display at 120 Hz. Draw in Clip Studio Paint with Drawing mode over
USB, including pressure, tilt and a resting palm. Report the GPU, codec, host
log and visible error.

On the reference PC a physical iPad streamed the 2732×2048 extended desktop over
USB-C for 30 minutes at 58 FPS with no dropped frames, and 3440×1440 over WiFi
for 30 minutes with 19 of 105,600 frames dropped. First-install trust, timed
takeover and WiFi fallback still need the hands-on pass. Pairing controls access but does
not encrypt video, audio or input, so use a trusted local network.

Known issue: on the reference PC (NVIDIA driver 591.86), Windows once stopped
with an NVIDIA kernel error about two seconds after a USB connection switched a
running mirror session to the extended display. A bounded retest of the same
build and driver repeated that switch five times, and later runs repeated it
again, without a crash. The driver fault is not understood. If it happens,
report the GPU driver version and the time.

Downloads

• Windows: EternalMonitor-Setup.exe below.
• iPad: TestFlight v0.3.0, build 143. The public beta is open: install TestFlight on the iPad, then open the link and tap Accept and Install.

Send bugs and feedback to hello@sideband.studio, through TestFlight's Send Beta Feedback, or as a GitHub issue.

EternalMonitor-Setup.exe SHA-256:

70bd59be737423d636a53b27d7e0fbe9b9e8563ecc104d79f153b139be904a12

EternalMonitor v0.3.0-rc.1

EternalMonitor v0.3.0-rc.1 — see RELEASE_NOTES.md for what's new.

The Windows host and the iPad app must be from the same release. Protocol v2 is a clean break: a v0.1.x app cannot stream from a v0.2.x host, or the reverse. Each side says so rather than showing broken video.

EternalMonitor-Setup.exe SHA-256:

70BD59BE737423D636A53B27D7E0FBE9B9E8563ECC104D79F153B139BE904A12

EternalMonitor v0.1.2-mirror

Use your iPad as a wireless second monitor for Windows.

One-click install: download EternalMonitor-Setup.exe below, run it (if SmartScreen appears: More info -> Run anyway), and approve one UAC prompt. It bundles the host, the FFmpeg runtime, and the on-demand virtual display driver.

SHA-256 (EternalMonitor-Setup.exe): B5215884723B7F43A8A2AF817D932D32B092F1724A98EE5DF06BD0133CE3F327

Highlights

• On-demand extended display — the virtual display turns on only while an iPad is connected and is removed on exit (and after a crash, via a startup cleanup + panic hook). No phantom monitor when idle.
• AMD/AMF hardening — SPS/PPS are prepended on forced non-IDR intra frames, with a startup keyframe-recovery net, for a more reliable picture on the iPad's VideoToolbox decoder.
• Robust driver control — the installer resolves the virtual-display device at trigger time and verifies its scheduled tasks; correct output is chosen on multi-monitor PCs.
• Diagnostics — session log and the AMF packet capture now live under %APPDATA%\EternalMonitor\{logs,diagnostics}.
• Networking — a per-run stream epoch gives instant resync after a restart; the displayed address/QR fall back to adapter enumeration when there is no default route.

Multi-vendor encode (NVIDIA / AMD / Intel) with a CPU fallback. See QUICKSTART.txt (in the install folder) and FRIENDS_TESTING.md for the full tester guide. The iPad app is sideloaded via Xcode and must be built from the same release.

EternalMonitor v0.1.1-mirror

EternalMonitor v0.1.1-mirror

What's new

• Multi-vendor GPU support: automatic detection of NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel GPUs via DXGI
• Encoder fallback chain: NVENC → AMF → QSV → libx264 (software)
• Per-encoder optimized low-latency settings
• AMD H.264 hotfix: AMF output is now normalized for VideoToolbox decode, with AMF-only flag guards and stronger bitstream diagnostics
• Startup banner showing detected GPU, encoder, and listen address
• Suppressed mDNS multicast log spam from Tailscale interfaces

EternalMonitor v0.1.0-mirror

EternalMonitor v0.1.0-mirror

First public release. Use your iPad as a wireless second monitor for Windows over local WiFi.

What works

• Desktop mirroring at up to 60fps
• H.264 hardware encoding via NVENC (NVIDIA GPU required)
• WiFi transport over UDP
• Native Metal rendering on iPad at 120Hz ProMotion
• Auto-discovery via mDNS (or manual IP entry)

Known limitations

• Mirror only — extended display requires the virtual driver (coming in v0.2.0)
• WiFi only — USB transport coming in v0.2.0
• No touch/input relay yet — coming in v0.3.0
• NVIDIA GPU required for this release — AMD support planned

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
• NVIDIA RTX GPU
• iPad running iPadOS 16 or later
• Both devices on the same WiFi network

Installation

Download EternalMonitor-v0.1.0-mirror-windows.zip, extract, run EternalMonitor-host.exe, open the iPad app, enter the IP shown, tap Connect.