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Salvage parts of a damaged screen by using virtual screen streaming

waydabber edited this page Jan 29, 2024 · 2 revisions

With BetterDisplay you can utilize parts of a broken display by blanking out broken areas (practically as long as they are located towards the edge of the display).

Note

The article reflects app version v2.2.1

Warning

Some of the features described in this entry require a Pro license.

If some areas of your display gets physically damaged you might still want to use the remaining working parts of the screen. This can be achieved by creating a virtual screen using BetterDisplay and streaming this virtual screen in a way that it occupies only the usable part of your display (the damaged parts get blanked).

Setting up virtual screen and partial-screen streaming

Follow these steps to set up partial streaming for a virtual screen:

  1. Under Settings > Displays > Overview click Create New Virtual Screen... and create a virtual screen. Leave the default settings during creation.
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  1. Under the virtual screen's settings select Use custom resolution list and specify a resolution that should fit the display with the broken areas excluded. If the screen is HiDPI, then use the appropriated halved resolution number. As an alternative, you can simply override the Aspect Ratio values of the display (and leave Use custom resolution list unselected) to match the remaining area's aspect ratio - this latter solution will give you flexible resolution options therefore it might be advantageous.
  2. Connect the virtual screen using Connect this virtual screen
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  1. In the app menu under the created virtual screen's Virtual Screen Streaming" section configure the damaged screen as the stream target, enable 1:1 Pixel Mapping(optional) and use theVerticalandHorizontal` layout and zoom controls to appropriately size/position the streamed content so the damaged area is excluded.

Warning

If the damaged screen is the sole display output, make sure that before activating streaming, you will not loose control of your Mac (the stream might not show properly if it is not sized appropriately, screen recording permissions are not configured for the app or because of some other issues - in this case you might not be able to interact with the desktop properly). It is a good idea to configure keyboard shortcuts (under Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts... to automatically stop or hide streams, disconnect virtual screens or quit/restart the app in case of any trouble. You can hold SHIFT on app startup to start the app in safe mode and avoid any virtual screen from connecting or stream to auto-start (if configured so).

Screenshot 2024-01-29 at 11 33 52
  1. If you want to set this configuration permanently, you can configure Resume Stream on Connect to auto-start the stream or you can set up display association and auto-streaming under the virtual screen's settings so the virtual screen auto connect/disconnect depending on the availability of the damaged screen.

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