Initial release | v1.0 in 2001 |
---|---|
Stable release |
2.8.5 / September 23, 2016
|
Written in | C, C++, Java |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Linux |
Available in | English |
Type | Remote administration |
License | GNU General Public License GPL v2 |
Website | tightvnc |
TightVNC is a cross-platform free and open-source remote desktop software application that uses and extends the of Virtual Network Computing (VNC) to control another computer's screen remotely. It was created by Constantin Kaplinsky.
TightVNC uses so-called "tight encoding" of areas, which improves performance over low bandwidth connection. It is effectively a combination of the JPEG and zlib compression mechanisms. It is possible to watch videos and play DirectX games through TightVNC over a broadband connection, albeit at a low frame rate.
TightVNC includes many other common features of VNC derivatives, such as file transfer capability.
TightVNC is cross-compatible with other client and server implementations of VNC; however, tight encoding is not supported by most other implementations, so it is necessary to use TightVNC at both ends to gain the full advantage of its enhancements.
Among notable enhancements are file transfers, support for Windows DFMirage mirror driver to detect screen updates (saves CPU time and increases the performance of TightVNC), ability to zoom the picture and automatic SSH tunneling on Unix.
Since the 2.0 beta, TightVNC supports auto scaling, which resizes the viewer window to the remote users desktop size, regardless of the resolution of the host computer.
RemoteVNC is a fork of the TightVNC project and adds automatic traversal of NAT and firewalls using .
The developers have also produced a portable version of the software, available as both U3 and standalone downloads.
TurboVNC is based on the TightVNC 1.3.x, xf4vnc, X.org, and TigerVNC code bases and includes numerous performance enhancements and features targeted at 3D and video workloads.