Using Wallper with Multiple Displays

1. Open Wallper → choose a video.
2. Click Set as Wallpaper → pick a display or All Displays.
3. Adjust Scale, Offset X, Offset Y per display.
4. Repeat for other monitors; reuse similar values across same‑size panels.

• Unlimited displays* — if macOS exposes a desktop, Wallper can target it. Use one, two, or a wall of monitors. *The practical limit is what your Mac and GPU can handle.
• Broad video format support — Wallper relies on system codecs, so common containers and codecs (MP4 only for now; H.264/HEVC/ProRes/VP9/AV1 where available) just work. Drag & set.
• Always‑muted playback — wallpapers are intentionally silent to avoid audio conflicts and distractions.
• No pause control — by design. Wallpapers are ambient motion; if a screen sleeps, or an app is full‑screen, Wallper automatically suspends that display and resumes instantly.
• Simple, predictable controls — per display you can adjust Scale, Offset X, and Offset Y. That’s it—no confusing crop stacks.

Each monitor can have its own framing. These three parameters cover 99% of layouts and keep performance predictable:

• Scale — zooms the video uniformly. Increase to remove bars; decrease to reveal full frame.
• Offset X — shifts the frame left/right after scaling, useful for centering subjects on ultrawides.
• Offset Y — shifts the frame up/down for horizon or subject alignment (great for portrait monitors).

Wallper thrives on 21:9 and 32:9 displays and mixed grids. Because controls are scale/offset‑based, one preset transfers cleanly across monitors:

• Single ultrawide — increase Scale until the bars disappear, then Offset X to keep the subject centered.
• Super‑ultrawide (32:9) — prefer wider scenes; for 16:9 sources, Scale to fill and re‑center with Offset X.
• Grid setups (3–4 monitors) — apply one hero clip to the primary, lighter loops to sides; reuse the same Scale on similar‑size panels for consistent composition.
• Portrait side panels — decrease Scale a touch to retain titles or faces; use Offset Y to bias content upward.

Wallper applies a lightweight, zero‑setup pipeline to make most videos look right without manual editing:

• Aspect & rotation fix — honors rotation flags and normalizes odd DAR/SAR combos so frames aren’t squashed or sideways.
• Frame pacing — matches playback cadence to each display’s refresh, smoothing 24/30/60 fps sources without over‑rendering.
• Loop normalization — trims tiny trailing gaps some encoders add so loops seam cleanly.
• Color‑space adaptation — maps common HDR/BT.2020/BT.709 tags to your display mode; if the scene looks too punchy, switch the monitor to SDR for a neutral grade.
• Pixel‑format compatibility — converts exotic chroma subsampling and 10‑bit sources to what your GPU decodes efficiently.

Multi‑monitor wallpaper playback is GPU‑assisted. Wallper is designed to be unobtrusive even on large rigs, but total load depends on your Mac, the number of displays, and video bitrates.

• Hardware decoding first — H.264/HEVC (and others when available) use system decoders to minimize CPU time.
• One renderer per display — each monitor gets a dedicated lightweight renderer so inactive screens can be suspended independently.
• Smart suspend — if a screen sleeps, is hidden by a full‑screen app/game, or the Space isn’t visible, Wallper stops rendering that display until it returns.
• Bitrate matters — a single 80 Mbps 8K file can cost more than three 20–30 Mbps 4K files. Prefer efficient HEVC encodes for multi‑display rigs.
• Thermal sanity — if you hear fans, lower source bitrate or scale down non‑primary displays. The picture will look the same at the desktop viewing distance.

Suggested baselines

• 2–3 displays: 4K HEVC at 20–35 Mbps each is typically buttery on Apple silicon.
• 4+ displays: mix one higher‑detail clip with lighter loops (10–20 Mbps) on side/vertical panels.
• High‑refresh monitors (120/144 Hz): source fps can remain 30–60; Wallper paces frames to the display to avoid wasted work.

• No pause — by design. Use screen sleep or full‑screen apps to auto‑suspend rendering.
• No audio — wallpapers are always muted.
• Desktop layer limitations — some secondary or virtual displays can’t host a true desktop‑layer window; Wallper falls back gracefully.

• Prefer HEVC encodes with moderate bitrates for multi‑screen setups.
• Keep hero content on the primary display; use calmer loops on side panels.
• Use Scale + Offset to align horizons and subjects consistently across monitors.
• If you game or edit full‑screen, rely on smart suspend rather than pausing.

Formats & containers

• Containers: MP4 (will be fixed soon)
• Codecs: H.264 (AVC), HEVC (H.265), ProRes 422/4444, VP9, AV1 where supported by your macOS build and hardware.
• Alpha: Supported when the codec/container carries an alpha channel (e.g., ProRes 4444) — rendered over the desktop.

Resolution & frame‑rate guidance

• Single‑display: 4K@60 is trivial on Apple silicon with HEVC; 8K@60 is possible on higher‑end chips but file bitrate matters.
• Multi‑display: 2–3× 4K@60 streams with moderate bitrates are a good baseline on most Apple silicon laptops; scale down bitrates for 4+ displays.
• High‑refresh (120/144 Hz): Sources at 30–60 fps are fine — Wallper paces frames to the display to avoid overwork.

Suggested bitrates (practical targets)

• 1080p: 8–12 Mbps (HEVC) • 12–20 Mbps (H.264)
• 1440p: 12–22 Mbps (HEVC) • 18–28 Mbps (H.264)
• 4K: 15–40 Mbps (HEVC) • 28–55 Mbps (H.264)
• 6K: 30–60 Mbps (HEVC)
• 8K: 40–80 Mbps (HEVC)

Resource behavior

• CPU/GPU: Hardware decode keeps CPU usage low; GPU scales with resolution, refresh rate, and number of active displays.
• Memory: Wallper streams from disk with modest buffers; RAM use grows roughly with the number of active streams and resolution.
• Thermals: If fans ramp up, lower bitrates on secondary displays or reduce Scale slightly — the perceived quality at desktop distance remains high.