Romain Vimont 3e517cd40e Add option to select video codec

Introduce the selection mechanism. Alternative codecs will be added in
further commits.

PR #3713 <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy/pull/3713>

2023-02-06 10:58:45 +01:00

32 KiB

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scrcpy (v1.25)

pronounced "screen copy"

Read in another language

This application provides display and control of Android devices connected via USB or over TCP/IP. It does not require any root access. It works on GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS.

It focuses on:

lightness: native, displays only the device screen
performance: 30~120fps, depending on the device
quality: 1920×1080 or above
low latency: 35~70ms
low startup time: ~1 second to display the first image
non-intrusiveness: nothing is left installed on the Android device
user benefits: no account, no ads, no internet required
freedom: free and open source software

Its features include:

recording
mirroring with Android device screen off
copy-paste in both directions
configurable quality
Android device as a webcam (V4L2) (Linux-only)
physical keyboard simulation (HID)
physical mouse simulation (HID)
OTG mode
and more…

Requirements

The Android device requires at least API 21 (Android 5.0).

Make sure you enable adb debugging on your device(s).

On some devices, you also need to enable an additional option to control it using a keyboard and mouse.

Get the app

Summary

Linux: apt install scrcpy
Windows: download
macOS: brew install scrcpy

Build from sources: BUILD (simplified process)

Linux

On Debian and Ubuntu:

apt install scrcpy

On Arch Linux:

pacman -S scrcpy

A Snap package is available: scrcpy.

For Fedora, a COPR package is available: scrcpy.

For Gentoo, an Ebuild is available: scrcpy/.

You can also build the app manually (simplified process).

Windows

For Windows, a prebuilt archive with all the dependencies (including adb) is available:

scrcpy-win64-v1.25.zip
_{SHA-256: db65125e9c65acd00359efb7cea9c05f63cc7ccd5833000cd243cc92f5053028}

It is also available in Chocolatey:

choco install scrcpy
choco install adb    # if you don't have it yet

And in Scoop:

scoop install scrcpy
scoop install adb    # if you don't have it yet

You can also build the app manually.

macOS

The application is available in Homebrew. Just install it:

brew install scrcpy

You need adb, accessible from your PATH. If you don't have it yet:

brew install android-platform-tools

It's also available in MacPorts, which sets up adb for you:

sudo port install scrcpy

You can also build the app manually.

Run

Plug an Android device into your computer, and execute:

scrcpy

It accepts command-line arguments, listed by:

scrcpy --help

Features

Capture configuration

Reduce size

Sometimes, it is useful to mirror an Android device at a lower resolution to increase performance.

To limit both the width and height to some value (e.g. 1024):

scrcpy --max-size=1024
scrcpy -m 1024  # short version

The other dimension is computed so that the Android device aspect ratio is preserved. That way, a device in 1920×1080 will be mirrored at 1024×576.

Change bit-rate

The default bit-rate is 8 Mbps. To change the video bitrate (e.g. to 2 Mbps):

scrcpy --bit-rate=2M
scrcpy -b 2M  # short version

Limit frame rate

The capture frame rate can be limited:

scrcpy --max-fps=15

This is officially supported since Android 10, but may work on earlier versions.

The actual capture framerate may be printed to the console:

scrcpy --print-fps

It may also be enabled or disabled at any time with MOD+i.

Crop

The device screen may be cropped to mirror only part of the screen.

This is useful, for example, to mirror only one eye of the Oculus Go:

scrcpy --crop=1224:1440:0:0   # 1224x1440 at offset (0,0)

If --max-size is also specified, resizing is applied after cropping.

Lock video orientation

To lock the orientation of the mirroring:

scrcpy --lock-video-orientation     # initial (current) orientation
scrcpy --lock-video-orientation=0   # natural orientation
scrcpy --lock-video-orientation=1   # 90° counterclockwise
scrcpy --lock-video-orientation=2   # 180°
scrcpy --lock-video-orientation=3   # 90° clockwise

This affects recording orientation.

The window may also be rotated independently.

Codec

The video codec can be selected:

scrcpy --codec=h264  # default

Encoder

Some devices have more than one encoder for a specific codec, and some of them may cause issues or crash. It is possible to select a different encoder:

scrcpy --encoder=OMX.qcom.video.encoder.avc

To list the available encoders, you can pass an invalid encoder name; the error will give the available encoders:

scrcpy --encoder=_               # for the default codec
scrcpy --codec=h264 --encoder=_  # for a specific codec

Capture

Recording

It is possible to record the screen while mirroring:

scrcpy --record=file.mp4
scrcpy -r file.mkv

To disable mirroring while recording:

scrcpy --no-display --record=file.mp4
scrcpy -Nr file.mkv
# interrupt recording with Ctrl+C

"Skipped frames" are recorded, even if they are not displayed in real time (for performance reasons). Frames are timestamped on the device, so packet delay variation does not impact the recorded file.

v4l2loopback

On Linux, it is possible to send the video stream to a v4l2 loopback device, so that the Android device can be opened like a webcam by any v4l2-capable tool.

The module v4l2loopback must be installed:

sudo apt install v4l2loopback-dkms

To create a v4l2 device:

sudo modprobe v4l2loopback

This will create a new video device in /dev/videoN, where N is an integer (more options are available to create several devices or devices with specific IDs).

To list the enabled devices:

# requires v4l-utils package
v4l2-ctl --list-devices

# simple but might be sufficient
ls /dev/video*

To start scrcpy using a v4l2 sink:

scrcpy --v4l2-sink=/dev/videoN
scrcpy --v4l2-sink=/dev/videoN --no-display  # disable mirroring window
scrcpy --v4l2-sink=/dev/videoN -N            # short version

(replace N with the device ID, check with ls /dev/video*)

Once enabled, you can open your video stream with a v4l2-capable tool:

ffplay -i /dev/videoN
vlc v4l2:///dev/videoN   # VLC might add some buffering delay

For example, you could capture the video within OBS.

Buffering

It is possible to add buffering. This increases latency, but reduces jitter (see #2464).

The option is available for display buffering:

scrcpy --display-buffer=50  # add 50 ms buffering for display

and V4L2 sink:

scrcpy --v4l2-buffer=500    # add 500 ms buffering for v4l2 sink

Connection

TCP/IP (wireless)

Scrcpy uses adb to communicate with the device, and adb can connect to a device over TCP/IP. The device must be connected on the same network as the computer.

Automatic

An option --tcpip allows to configure the connection automatically. There are two variants.

If the device (accessible at 192.168.1.1 in this example) already listens on a port (typically 5555) for incoming adb connections, then run:

scrcpy --tcpip=192.168.1.1       # default port is 5555
scrcpy --tcpip=192.168.1.1:5555

If adb TCP/IP mode is disabled on the device (or if you don't know the IP address), connect the device over USB, then run:

scrcpy --tcpip    # without arguments

It will automatically find the device IP address and adb port, enable TCP/IP mode if necessary, then connect to the device before starting.

Manual

Alternatively, it is possible to enable the TCP/IP connection manually using adb:

Plug the device into a USB port on your computer.
Connect the device to the same Wi-Fi network as your computer.
Get your device IP address, in Settings → About phone → Status, or by executing this command:
```
adb shell ip route | awk '{print $9}'
```
Enable adb over TCP/IP on your device: adb tcpip 5555.
Unplug your device.
Connect to your device: adb connect DEVICE_IP:5555 (replace DEVICE_IP with the device IP address you found).
Run scrcpy as usual.

Since Android 11, a Wireless debugging option allows to bypass having to physically connect your device directly to your computer.

If the connection randomly drops, run your scrcpy command to reconnect. If it says there are no devices/emulators found, try running adb connect DEVICE_IP:5555 again, and then scrcpy as usual. If it still says there are none found, try running adb disconnect, and then run those two commands again.

It may be useful to decrease the bit-rate and the resolution:

scrcpy --bit-rate=2M --max-size=800
scrcpy -b2M -m800  # short version

Multi-devices

If several devices are listed in adb devices, you can specify the serial:

scrcpy --serial=0123456789abcdef
scrcpy -s 0123456789abcdef  # short version

The serial may also be provided via the environment variable ANDROID_SERIAL (also used by adb).

If the device is connected over TCP/IP:

scrcpy --serial=192.168.0.1:5555
scrcpy -s 192.168.0.1:5555  # short version

If only one device is connected via either USB or TCP/IP, it is possible to select it automatically:

# Select the only device connected via USB
scrcpy -d             # like adb -d
scrcpy --select-usb   # long version

# Select the only device connected via TCP/IP
scrcpy -e             # like adb -e
scrcpy --select-tcpip # long version

You can start several instances of scrcpy for several devices.

Autostart on device connection

You could use AutoAdb:

autoadb scrcpy -s '{}'

Tunnels

To connect to a remote device, it is possible to connect a local adb client to a remote adb server (provided they use the same version of the adb protocol).

Remote ADB server

To connect to a remote adb server, make the server listen on all interfaces:

adb kill-server
adb -a nodaemon server start
# keep this open

Warning: all communications between clients and the adb server are unencrypted.

Suppose that this server is accessible at 192.168.1.2. Then, from another terminal, run scrcpy:

# in bash
export ADB_SERVER_SOCKET=tcp:192.168.1.2:5037
scrcpy --tunnel-host=192.168.1.2

:: in cmd
set ADB_SERVER_SOCKET=tcp:192.168.1.2:5037
scrcpy --tunnel-host=192.168.1.2

# in PowerShell
$env:ADB_SERVER_SOCKET = 'tcp:192.168.1.2:5037'
scrcpy --tunnel-host=192.168.1.2

By default, scrcpy uses the local port used for adb forward tunnel establishment (typically 27183, see --port). It is also possible to force a different tunnel port (it may be useful in more complex situations, when more redirections are involved):

scrcpy --tunnel-port=1234

SSH tunnel

To communicate with a remote adb server securely, it is preferable to use an SSH tunnel.

First, make sure the adb server is running on the remote computer:

adb start-server

Then, establish an SSH tunnel:

# local  5038 --> remote  5037
# local 27183 <-- remote 27183
ssh -CN -L5038:localhost:5037 -R27183:localhost:27183 your_remote_computer
# keep this open

From another terminal, run scrcpy:

# in bash
export ADB_SERVER_SOCKET=tcp:localhost:5038
scrcpy

:: in cmd
set ADB_SERVER_SOCKET=tcp:localhost:5038
scrcpy

# in PowerShell
$env:ADB_SERVER_SOCKET = 'tcp:localhost:5038'
scrcpy

To avoid enabling remote port forwarding, you could force a forward connection instead (notice the -L instead of -R):

# local  5038 --> remote  5037
# local 27183 --> remote 27183
ssh -CN -L5038:localhost:5037 -L27183:localhost:27183 your_remote_computer
# keep this open

From another terminal, run scrcpy:

# in bash
export ADB_SERVER_SOCKET=tcp:localhost:5038
scrcpy --force-adb-forward

:: in cmd
set ADB_SERVER_SOCKET=tcp:localhost:5038
scrcpy --force-adb-forward

# in PowerShell
$env:ADB_SERVER_SOCKET = 'tcp:localhost:5038'
scrcpy --force-adb-forward

Like for wireless connections, it may be useful to reduce quality:

scrcpy -b2M -m800 --max-fps=15

Window configuration

Title

By default, the window title is the device model. It can be changed:

scrcpy --window-title='My device'

Position and size

The initial window position and size may be specified:

scrcpy --window-x=100 --window-y=100 --window-width=800 --window-height=600

Borderless

To disable window decorations:

scrcpy --window-borderless

Always on top

To keep the scrcpy window always on top:

scrcpy --always-on-top

Fullscreen

The app may be started directly in fullscreen:

scrcpy --fullscreen
scrcpy -f  # short version

Fullscreen can then be toggled dynamically with MOD+f.

Rotation

The window may be rotated:

scrcpy --rotation=1

Possible values:

0: no rotation
1: 90 degrees counterclockwise
2: 180 degrees
3: 90 degrees clockwise

The rotation can also be changed dynamically with MOD+← (left) and MOD+→ (right).

Note that scrcpy manages 3 different rotations:

MOD+r requests the device to switch between portrait and landscape (the current running app may refuse, if it does not support the requested orientation).
--lock-video-orientation changes the mirroring orientation (the orientation of the video sent from the device to the computer). This affects the recording.
--rotation (or MOD+←/MOD+→) rotates only the window content. This affects only the display, not the recording.

Other mirroring options

Read-only

To disable controls (everything which can interact with the device: input keys, mouse events, drag&drop files):

scrcpy --no-control
scrcpy -n

Display

If several displays are available, it is possible to select the display to mirror:

scrcpy --display=1

The list of display ids can be retrieved by:

adb shell dumpsys display   # search "mDisplayId=" in the output

The secondary display may only be controlled if the device runs at least Android 10 (otherwise it is mirrored as read-only).

Stay awake

To prevent the device from sleeping after a delay when the device is plugged in:

scrcpy --stay-awake
scrcpy -w

The initial state is restored when scrcpy is closed.

Turn screen off

It is possible to turn the device screen off while mirroring on start with a command-line option:

scrcpy --turn-screen-off
scrcpy -S

Or by pressing MOD+o at any time.

To turn it back on, press MOD+Shift+o.

On Android, the POWER button always turns the screen on. For convenience, if POWER is sent via scrcpy (via right-click or MOD+p), it will force to turn the screen off after a small delay (on a best effort basis). The physical POWER button will still cause the screen to be turned on.

It can also be useful to prevent the device from sleeping:

scrcpy --turn-screen-off --stay-awake
scrcpy -Sw

Power off on close

To turn the device screen off when closing scrcpy:

scrcpy --power-off-on-close

Power on on start

By default, on start, the device is powered on.

To prevent this behavior:

scrcpy --no-power-on

Show touches

For presentations, it may be useful to show physical touches (on the physical device).

Android provides this feature in Developers options.

Scrcpy provides an option to enable this feature on start and restore the initial value on exit:

scrcpy --show-touches
scrcpy -t

Note that it only shows physical touches (by a finger on the device).

Disable screensaver

By default, scrcpy does not prevent the screensaver from running on the computer.

To disable it:

scrcpy --disable-screensaver

Input control

Rotate device screen

Press MOD+r to switch between portrait and landscape modes.

Note that it rotates only if the application in foreground supports the requested orientation.

Copy-paste

Any time the Android clipboard changes, it is automatically synchronized to the computer clipboard.

Any Ctrl shortcut is forwarded to the device. In particular:

Ctrl+c typically copies
Ctrl+x typically cuts
Ctrl+v typically pastes (after computer-to-device clipboard synchronization)

This typically works as you expect.

The actual behavior depends on the active application though. For example, Termux sends SIGINT on Ctrl+c instead, and K-9 Mail composes a new message.

To copy, cut and paste in such cases (but only supported on Android >= 7):

MOD+c injects COPY
MOD+x injects CUT
MOD+v injects PASTE (after computer-to-device clipboard synchronization)

In addition, MOD+Shift+v injects the computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events. This is useful when the component does not accept text pasting (for example in Termux), but it can break non-ASCII content.

WARNING: Pasting the computer clipboard to the device (either via Ctrl+v or MOD+v) copies the content into the Android clipboard. As a consequence, any Android application could read its content. You should avoid pasting sensitive content (like passwords) that way.

Some Android devices do not behave as expected when setting the device clipboard programmatically. An option --legacy-paste is provided to change the behavior of Ctrl+v and MOD+v so that they also inject the computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events (the same way as MOD+Shift+v).

To disable automatic clipboard synchronization, use --no-clipboard-autosync.

Pinch-to-zoom

To simulate "pinch-to-zoom": Ctrl+click-and-move.

More precisely, hold down Ctrl while pressing the left-click button. Until the left-click button is released, all mouse movements scale and rotate the content (if supported by the app) relative to the center of the screen.

Technically, scrcpy generates additional touch events from a "virtual finger" at a location inverted through the center of the screen.

Physical keyboard simulation (HID)

By default, scrcpy uses Android key or text injection: it works everywhere, but is limited to ASCII.

Alternatively, scrcpy can simulate a physical USB keyboard on Android to provide a better input experience (using USB HID over AOAv2): the virtual keyboard is disabled and it works for all characters and IME.

However, it only works if the device is connected via USB.

Note: On Windows, it may only work in OTG mode, not while mirroring (it is not possible to open a USB device if it is already open by another process like the adb daemon).

To enable this mode:

scrcpy --hid-keyboard
scrcpy -K  # short version

If it fails for some reason (for example because the device is not connected via USB), it automatically fallbacks to the default mode (with a log in the console). This allows using the same command line options when connected over USB and TCP/IP.

In this mode, raw key events (scancodes) are sent to the device, independently of the host key mapping. Therefore, if your keyboard layout does not match, it must be configured on the Android device, in Settings → System → Languages and input → Physical keyboard.

This settings page can be started directly:

adb shell am start -a android.settings.HARD_KEYBOARD_SETTINGS

However, the option is only available when the HID keyboard is enabled (or when a physical keyboard is connected).

Physical mouse simulation (HID)

Similarly to the physical keyboard simulation, it is possible to simulate a physical mouse. Likewise, it only works if the device is connected by USB.

By default, scrcpy uses Android mouse events injection with absolute coordinates. By simulating a physical mouse, a mouse pointer appears on the Android device, and relative mouse motion, clicks and scrolls are injected.

To enable this mode:

scrcpy --hid-mouse
scrcpy -M  # short version

You can also add --forward-all-clicks to forward all mouse buttons.

When this mode is enabled, the computer mouse is "captured" (the mouse pointer disappears from the computer and appears on the Android device instead).

Special capture keys, either Alt or Super, toggle (disable or enable) the mouse capture. Use one of them to give the control of the mouse back to the computer.

OTG

It is possible to run scrcpy with only physical keyboard and mouse simulation (HID), as if the computer keyboard and mouse were plugged directly to the device via an OTG cable.

In this mode, adb (USB debugging) is not necessary, and mirroring is disabled.

To enable OTG mode:

scrcpy --otg
# Pass the serial if several USB devices are available
scrcpy --otg -s 0123456789abcdef

It is possible to enable only HID keyboard or HID mouse:

scrcpy --otg --hid-keyboard              # keyboard only
scrcpy --otg --hid-mouse                 # mouse only
scrcpy --otg --hid-keyboard --hid-mouse  # keyboard and mouse
# for convenience, enable both by default
scrcpy --otg                             # keyboard and mouse

Like --hid-keyboard and --hid-mouse, it only works if the device is connected by USB.

Text injection preference

Two kinds of events are generated when typing text:

key events, signaling that a key is pressed or released;
text events, signaling that a text has been entered.

By default, letters are injected using key events, so that the keyboard behaves as expected in games (typically for WASD keys).

But this may cause issues. If you encounter such a problem, you can avoid it by:

scrcpy --prefer-text

(but this will break keyboard behavior in games)

On the contrary, you could force to always inject raw key events:

scrcpy --raw-key-events

These options have no effect on HID keyboard (all key events are sent as scancodes in this mode).

Key repeat

By default, holding a key down generates repeated key events. This can cause performance problems in some games, where these events are useless anyway.

To avoid forwarding repeated key events:

scrcpy --no-key-repeat

This option has no effect on HID keyboard (key repeat is handled by Android directly in this mode).

Right-click and middle-click

By default, right-click triggers BACK (or POWER on) and middle-click triggers HOME. To disable these shortcuts and forward the clicks to the device instead:

scrcpy --forward-all-clicks

File drop

Install APK

To install an APK, drag & drop an APK file (ending with .apk) to the scrcpy window.

There is no visual feedback, a log is printed to the console.

Push file to device

To push a file to /sdcard/Download/ on the device, drag & drop a (non-APK) file to the scrcpy window.

There is no visual feedback, a log is printed to the console.

The target directory can be changed on start:

scrcpy --push-target=/sdcard/Movies/

Audio forwarding

Audio is not forwarded by scrcpy. Use sndcpy.

Also see issue #14.

Shortcuts

In the following list, MOD is the shortcut modifier. By default, it's (left) Alt or (left) Super.

It can be changed using --shortcut-mod. Possible keys are lctrl, rctrl, lalt, ralt, lsuper and rsuper. For example:

# use RCtrl for shortcuts
scrcpy --shortcut-mod=rctrl

# use either LCtrl+LAlt or LSuper for shortcuts
scrcpy --shortcut-mod=lctrl+lalt,lsuper

Super is typically the Windows or Cmd key.

Action	Shortcut
Switch fullscreen mode	`MOD`+`f`
Rotate display left	`MOD`+`←` (left)
Rotate display right	`MOD`+`→` (right)
Resize window to 1:1 (pixel-perfect)	`MOD`+`g`
Resize window to remove black borders	`MOD`+`w` \| Double-left-click¹
Click on `HOME`	`MOD`+`h` \| Middle-click
Click on `BACK`	`MOD`+`b` \| Right-click²
Click on `APP_SWITCH`	`MOD`+`s` \| 4th-click³
Click on `MENU` (unlock screen)⁴	`MOD`+`m`
Click on `VOLUME_UP`	`MOD`+`↑` (up)
Click on `VOLUME_DOWN`	`MOD`+`↓` (down)
Click on `POWER`	`MOD`+`p`
Power on	Right-click²
Turn device screen off (keep mirroring)	`MOD`+`o`
Turn device screen on	`MOD`+`Shift`+`o`
Rotate device screen	`MOD`+`r`
Expand notification panel	`MOD`+`n` \| 5th-click³
Expand settings panel	`MOD`+`n`+`n` \| Double-5th-click³
Collapse panels	`MOD`+`Shift`+`n`
Copy to clipboard⁵	`MOD`+`c`
Cut to clipboard⁵	`MOD`+`x`
Synchronize clipboards and paste⁵	`MOD`+`v`
Inject computer clipboard text	`MOD`+`Shift`+`v`
Enable/disable FPS counter (on stdout)	`MOD`+`i`
Pinch-to-zoom	`Ctrl`+click-and-move
Drag & drop APK file	Install APK from computer
Drag & drop non-APK file	Push file to device

¹Double-click on black borders to remove them.
²Right-click turns the screen on if it was off, presses BACK otherwise.
³4th and 5th mouse buttons, if your mouse has them.
⁴For react-native apps in development, MENU triggers development menu.
⁵Only on Android >= 7.

Shortcuts with repeated keys are executed by releasing and pressing the key a second time. For example, to execute "Expand settings panel":

Press and keep pressing MOD.
Then double-press n.
Finally, release MOD.

All Ctrl+key shortcuts are forwarded to the device, so they are handled by the active application.

Custom paths

To use a specific adb binary, configure its path in the environment variable ADB:

ADB=/path/to/adb scrcpy

To override the path of the scrcpy-server file, configure its path in SCRCPY_SERVER_PATH.

To override the icon, configure its path in SCRCPY_ICON_PATH.

Why the name scrcpy?

A colleague challenged me to find a name as unpronounceable as gnirehtet.

strcpy copies a string; scrcpy copies a screen.

How to build?

See BUILD.

Common issues

See the FAQ.

Developers

Read the developers page.

Licence

Copyright (C) 2018 Genymobile
Copyright (C) 2018-2022 Romain Vimont

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.

Articles

Contact

If you encounter a bug, please read the FAQ first, then open an issue.

For general questions or discussions, you can also use:

Reddit: r/scrcpy
Twitter: @scrcpy_app

Translations

Translations of this README in other languages are available in the wiki.

Only this README file is guaranteed to be up-to-date.

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