Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Geometry
The
-geometry 1024x740
argument configures the VNC server's resolution in pixels. This
example's resolution is unusual in that normally 1024×768 would be used for a display
resolution, a common geometry choice for monitors. But this need not be tied to a
physical
monitor resolution. I chose the unusual height of ×740 to prevent the VNC client
program from using scrollbars (on a Mac). Some experimentation may be required to find
the best geometry to use.
Depth
The
-depth 16
argument is the pixel-depth specification. Higher depths are possible, but
the resulting additional network trafficc might curb your enthusiasm.
Pixel Format
The last command-line argument given is
-pixelformat rgb565
. This particular example
specifies that each pixel is 5 bits, 6 bits, 5 bits—for red, green and blue, respectively.
Password Setup
To keep unauthorized people from accessing your VNC server, a password is accepted
from you when you start the server for the first time. The password chosen can be
changed later with the
vncpasswd
command.
Server Startup
If you often use VNC, you may want to define a personal script or alias to start it on
demand. Alternatively, have it started automatically by the Raspberry Pi as part of the
Linux initialization. See Chapter 3 for more information about initialization scripts.
VNC Viewers
To access your VNC server on the Raspberry Pi, you need a corresponding VNC viewer on
the client side. On the Mac, you can use the MacPorts collection to install a viewer:
$ sudo port install vnc
Once the viewer is installed, you can access your VNC server on the Raspberry Pi at
192.168.0.170, display
:1
, with this:
$ vncviewer 192.168.0.170:1
