Improve visual delay/lag when VNC’ing from Linux into macOS

linuxmacvnc

On my Mac Mini I have enabled Screen Sharing via System Preferences.
I can successfully connect a VNC client from my Arch Linux, but there is an annoying lag/delay.
There is a monitor connected and I can see that input (include mouse movements) arrives immediately, but the visual representation lags behind, e.g. when I type something in a Terminal, it takes up to 1 second to catch up.

Are there any settings on client or server that could improve the situation? Do I have to use an other VNC server on the Mac?

  • macOS 11.4, 11.6
  • I have tried TigerVNC, gvncviewer and also RealVNC
  • the machines are connected via ethernet cable, iperf measures almost the full ~1Gbps

I hope this question fits here, the Mac/Unix-Linux SXs seemed to narrow.

UPDATE: I updated to 11.6, and the issue seemed gone, until I disconnected and connected again: same old delay.
Looks like it can but it doesn't want to…

Best Answer

There is some suggestions on the internet that getting the built in version of VNC in MacOS to use GPU acceleration, which could improve performance, can be somewhat hit-or-miss. One HackerNews article states

I’ve seen lots of folks make reference to getting GPU-accelerated VNC that dramatically improves performance if the Mini is hooked up to a monitor, but in my experience it doesn’t work. The only acceptable remote desktop solution I’ve ever found for the Mac is NoMachine.

It may be worth trying alternatives such as NoMachine or Teamviewer which might offer better performance.

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