The VRDP server can redirect video streams from the guest to the RDP client. Video frames are compressed using the JPEG algorithm allowing a higher compression ratio than standard RDP bitmap compression methods. It is possible to increase the compression ratio by lowering the video quality.
The VRDP server automatically detects video streams in a guest as frequently updated rectangular areas. As a result, this method works with any guest operating system without having to install additional software in the guest. In particular, the Guest Additions are not required.
On the client side, however, currently only the Windows 7 Remote Desktop Connection client supports this feature. If a client does not support video redirection, the VRDP server falls back to regular bitmap updates.
The following command enables video redirection:
VBoxManage modifyvmVM-name --vrde-video-channel on
The quality of the video is defined as a value from 10 to 100 percent, representing a JPEG compression level, where lower numbers mean lower quality but higher compression. The quality can be changed using the following command:
VBoxManage modifyvmVM-name --vrde-video-channel-quality 75