Projecast

Send photos & videos to a wireless projector over Wi‑Fi — open source.

A free, modern replacement for the discontinued projector‑casting apps (VueMagic, MirrorOp, and other Pixelworks pwLink / PrioRFB models). If your Wi‑Fi projector only shows a blue "Network mode" screen because its app died, Projecast brings it back — no vendor app required.

Pictures and video go to the projector at its native resolution, with no laggy screen‑mirroring and no fan spinning up. Use it as an app command, a Python library, or a tiny local service any app can call.

pip install projecast
projecast test  --host 192.168.1.50        # show a test card on the projector
projecast image photo.jpg --host 192.168.1.50

Verified on a Sony VPL‑EX255. Other pwLink/MirrorOp projectors are likely compatible — please report yours.

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Why this exists

A lot of wireless projectors (Sony VPL‑EX/EW and other brands that used Pixelworks pwLink / MirrorOp) can only receive wireless display through a proprietary app that has since been discontinued or moved to enterprise‑only products. The projector still works — the software just disappeared. Projecast re‑implements the protocol from scratch (clean‑room, for interoperability with hardware you own) so these projectors are useful again.

Features

• 🖼️ Photos at full native quality (correct 4:2:0 JPEG the projector actually accepts)
• 🎞️ Video playback (ffmpeg‑decoded, streamed at the projector's frame rate)
• 🗂️ Slideshows with auto‑advance and looping
• 🧩 Three ways to use it: Python API, command line, or local HTTP API (any language)
• 🔌 Always‑on service so any app casts by calling localhost:8770
• 🪶 Low CPU — a still image is encoded once and held; nothing re‑renders while it's on screen

Install

pip install projecast          # from PyPI (once published)
# or from source:
git clone https://github.com/rekarbotany/projecast && cd projecast && pip install -e .

Python 3.9+. Pillow is installed automatically (images). ffmpeg on your PATH is needed only for video.

Quick start

Command line

projecast test  --host 192.168.1.50
projecast image sunset.jpg --host 192.168.1.50 --fit contain --quality 95
projecast video clip.mp4    --host 192.168.1.50 --fps 15 --loop
projecast slideshow a.jpg b.jpg c.jpg --interval 6
projecast serve 8770        # start the HTTP API

(pwcast is kept as an alias command for people who found this by the protocol name.)

Python

from projecast import Projector

pj = Projector("192.168.1.50")
pj.connect()
pj.show_image("photo.jpg", fit="contain", quality=95)   # held until you change it
pj.slideshow(["a.jpg", "b.jpg"], interval=5)
pj.play_video("clip.mp4", fps=15)
pj.clear()
pj.stop()

HTTP API (any app, any language)

Start it once (projecast serve or the service), then:

curl -X POST localhost:8770/image \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d '{"path":"/abs/photo.jpg","fit":"contain","quality":95}'

# or upload raw bytes from a remote app:
curl -X POST --data-binary @photo.jpg -H 'Content-Type: image/jpeg' \
     'localhost:8770/image?quality=95&fit=cover'

Method	Path	Body
GET	/status	→ {connected, playing, stats, panel:[1024,768]}
POST	/image	JSON {path, fit, quality} or raw image bytes + ?fit=&quality=
POST	/slideshow	JSON {paths:[...], interval, fit, quality, loop}
POST	/video	JSON {path, fps, quality, fit, loop} or raw video bytes
POST	/clear	—
POST	/stop	—

fit: contain (letterbox, no crop) · cover (fill + crop) · stretch. Image quality: 1–95 (higher = sharper). Video quality: ffmpeg -q:v (2 best … 31 worst).

Run as an always-on service

macOS (launchd): make http://localhost:8770 always available and self‑restarting:

cd service && ./install_service.sh 192.168.1.50 8770

See service/ (Linux systemd --user contributions welcome).

Compatibility

Projector	Protocol	Status	Notes
Sony VPL‑EX255	pwLink / PrioRFB	✅ verified	1024×768, Ethernet & Wi‑Fi
Other Sony VPL‑EX/EW	pwLink (likely)	❓ untested	please report
Other MirrorOp/pwLink projectors	pwLink	❓ untested	please report

Have one of these projectors? Open a device report — the single most useful contribution; it builds the matrix for everyone.

How it works

Projecast acts as an RFB (VNC‑variant) server; the projector dials back and pulls frames. Casting a photo = hold one correctly‑framed JPEG and answer each pull with it. The full protocol (auth handshake, the 4:2:0 requirement, strict pull‑sync, frame format) is in docs/PROTOCOL.md.

Roadmap

• ✅ Incremental/tiled updates — available (experimental): projecast video clip.mp4 --incremental (or play_video(..., incremental=True)); needs pip install projecast[incremental]. Sends only changed 128px tiles.
• Optional 4:4:4 JPEG for even sharper text (device‑dependent)
• Audio for video · PJLink auto power‑on · projector auto‑discovery · native menu‑bar / iOS app

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome — especially device reports and non‑1024×768 panels. See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Legal

Projecast is a clean‑room reimplementation for interoperability with hardware you own. "Sony", "VPL", "Pixelworks", "pwLink", "VueMagic", "MirrorOp" are trademarks of their respective owners; this project is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. See NOTICE and SECURITY.md.

License

MIT © contributors.