Sunshine Virtual Display

This tool creates virtual displays that match the client's resolution and refresh rate when streaming via Sunshine.
It automatically manages display connections by overriding EDID information and toggling display status.

Usage

⚠️ Its is recommended to enable ssh in case something goes wrong and you get stuck with a disabled display. You can always run virt_display.sh --disconnect to turn on your old display.

Installation

Clone the repo:

git clone https://github.com/frostplexx/sunshine_virt_display
cd sunshine_virt_display

Fetch the latest tags and check out the newest release:

git fetch --tags
git checkout $(git describe --tags $(git rev-list --tags --max-count=1))

Make the script executable:

chmod +x virt_display.sh

Edit the sudoers using:

sudo visudo

Add the following line at the end of the file, replacing your username and the path you cloned the repo to:

<your-username> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/python3 /home/<your-username>/sunshine_virt_display/main.py *

For example, if your username is alice and you cloned to /home/alice/sunshine_virt_display:

alice ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/python3 /home/alice/sunshine_virt_display/main.py *

Save and exit.

Configure Sunshine

Configure Sunshine to run these commands when clients connect/disconnect in the "General" tab:

Do Command (On Client Connect):

sh -c "path/to/virt_display.sh --connect --width ${SUNSHINE_CLIENT_WIDTH} --height ${SUNSHINE_CLIENT_HEIGHT} --refresh-rate ${SUNSHINE_CLIENT_FPS}"

Undo Command (On Client Disconnect):

path/to/virt_display.sh --disconnect

Updating the Script

To update to the latest version:

cd sunshine_virt_display
git pull
git fetch --tags
git checkout $(git describe --tags $(git rev-list --tags --max-count=1))

Important Requirements

The script requires root privileges to modify display settings
Ensure debugfs is mounted at /sys/kernel/debug/
Python 3

How It Works

On Connect:

Script receives --connect flag
Get client resolution and refresh rate from Sunshine
Generate custom EDID based on client's display parameters
List all currently connected displays
Pick the first available empty display slot (prioritizes DisplayPort, falls back to HDMI)
Force override EDID for that slot: sudo sh -c 'cat custom_edid.bin > /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0000:01:00.0/<port>/edid_override'
Disable all currently connected physical displays: echo off | sudo tee /sys/class/drm/card1-<port>/status
Enable the virtual display: echo on | sudo tee /sys/class/drm/card1-<port>/status

On Disconnect:

Script receives --disconnect flag
Disable the virtual display: echo off | sudo tee /sys/class/drm/card1-<port>/status
Re-enable previously connected physical displays: echo on | sudo tee /sys/class/drm/card1-<port>/status

Known Issues

Everything is small when a device with retina display connects
Disconnecting is sometimes slow and janky but will fix itself after ~15s
On MacBooks with notches the notch will be ignored and will cut into content
Very high resolutions and refresh rates won't work due to limitations in EDID 1.4.

Tested On

Bazzite
CachyOS

frostplexx/sunshine_virt_display