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2023-10-09 Updated 2023-11-05 dotnetdotnet-8wpf

WPF hardware acceleration in RDP

Learn how to enable WPF hardware acceleration over RDP in .NET 8 for improved performance and a more responsive remote desktop experience.

WPF applications by default use software rendering when accessed over remote desktop, even if the system has hardware rendering capabilities. With .NET 8, a new option is introduced which allows you to opt into hardware acceleration when using the Remote Desktop Protocol. This can result in improved performance and an overall more responsive application.

You can opt in by setting the Switch.System.Windows.Media.EnableHardwareAccelerationInRdp flag to true inside a runtimeconfig.json file, like so:

{
  "configProperties": {
    "Switch.System.Windows.Media.EnableHardwareAccelerationInRdp": true
  }
}

You can also configure this setting in your project by adding a RuntimeHostConfigurationOption, example below:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <ItemGroup>
    <RuntimeHostConfigurationOption Include="Switch.System.Windows.Media.EnableHardwareAccelerationInRdp" Value="true" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Note: the hardware acceleration in RDP option cannot be configured through DOTNET_ environment variables.

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