Program Display 0.1.0

[jonathanrelf]

jonathanrelf submitted a new resource:

Program Display - Remember and safely restore a fullscreen Program destination on macOS.

Program Display is an independent, open-source macOS plugin for people who regularly send the OBS Studio Program feed to a dedicated external display or capture device.

Display numbering can change after a Mac, dock, adapter or capture device is reconnected. Restoring a fullscreen projector by a saved monitor number can therefore target the wrong screen. Program Display remembers descriptive hardware identity instead. When OBS starts—or the selected display returns—it resolves that identity...

Read more about this resource...

 

[jonathanrelf]

I built Program Display for a small but awkward real-world workflow: wanting my Mac to send the OBS Program feed over HDMI to a capture device, and that destination needing to come back reliably after restarts, USB-C plugs being reattached, and cable changes.

In my case, it's allowing me to use the USB-C output of an Elgato 4K S capture as a virtual webcam on other devices with ease.

For version 0.1, I have deliberately kept the scope narrow and macOS-only. The tested configuration is macOS 27 on Apple Silicon; the macOS 13+ deployment target and universal build are compatibility targets in line with OBS's claims rather than evidence of testing on earlier macOS releases or Intel hardware.

I would be particularly interested in feedback from people using display capture devices, USB-C docks, or adapters where display order might change between sessions. Please include the full connection path in reports; it is often as important as the display model itself.

The most useful early feedback would be:

1. whether the saved destination restores after restarting OBS
2. what happens after physically disconnecting and reconnecting it
3. whether the dock explains missing or unsafe matches clearly
4. whether the source-first build and installation instructions are reproducible.

Hope it helps you too!

 

[jonathanrelf]

Testing Program Display without building from source

Thanks to everyone who has taken a look at Program Display so far!

I've pushed a small maintenance update to make testing easier. Successful GitHub Actions builds now provide a complete prebuilt plugin bundle, with a checksum and documented manual installation steps. You don't need Xcode or CMake to try these builds.

The packaging preserves the plugin's executable permissions and bundle structure. I've checked the downloaded artifact as well as the automated build.

Download, verification and installation instructions

These are development test builds, not a new release or a notarised installer. Downloading requires a GitHub login, artifacts expire after 14 days, and macOS may block the unnotarised plugin. Please don't disable Gatekeeper globally.

Runtime testing remains limited to OBS 32.2.2 on Apple Silicon/macOS 27 with an Elgato 4K S. Intel and earlier macOS versions remain unverified.

I'd especially welcome reports from other Macs, displays and USB-C docks: does your selected Program destination restore correctly after restarting OBS and reconnecting the display?

Please include your OBS/macOS versions, downloaded build commit, hardware and cable/adapter setup. Successful tests are useful too!

Report results or problems on GitHub