HP ZCentral Remote Boost, formerly known as HP Remote Graphics Software or HP RGS, is a client-server remote desktop software developed by HP Inc. for power users in CAD, VFX, and other high end visualization applications. It was first launched in 2003.
HP RGS enables remote access to workstations (or virtual workstations ) from many different devices, including other workstations and thin-clients.
HP RGS was designed for industries where true color accuracy is critical, and was the first remote display protocol to offer full 4:4:4 color in the days before chroma subsampling was a thing and professional CRT monitors provided full RGB color.
HP RGS enables remote work and hybrid work where data can stay on site, but engineers and artists can work from anywhere. It also enables real-time collaborative screen sharing between multiple users, and multiple operating systems such as Windows, Linux and MacOS.
The remote desktop tool is optimized to provide low latency interactions, even with poor network conditions such as packet loss.
In 2020, HP updated and rebranded RGS as part of the HP ZCentral Solution. ZCentral Remote Boost was awarded an Engineering Emmy Award in 2020.
HP RGS processing and hardware-accelerated graphics are done on the workstation and only compressed bitmap images (the screen) are sent to the client device.
There are two components to the software, the sender (for the workstation or server) and the receiver (for the client device). The software supports OpenGL and Microsoft DirectX. The software is sold for access to workstations, GPU servers, and virtual machines. HP included HP RGS with its Z workstations from version 5.4.7 in 2011 to version 20.4 in 2022. HP RGS can be downloaded from HP.com. The current version requires a license.
An early version of the HP RGS video compression codec, is derived from a patented system developed by HP Labs and used in the NASA Mars rover program.
From HP RGS' release notes website.