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February 20, 2025

Omnissa Horizon Blast Policy Settings

The Horizon Blast ADMX template file (vdm_blast.admx) contains policy settings for the Horizon Blast display protocol. After you apply the policy, the system stores the settings in the registry key Blast\Config.

These settings apply to HTML Access and all Omnissa Horizon Client platforms.

Horizon Blast Policy Settings
SettingDescription
Audio playbackSpecifies whether audio playback is activated for remote desktops. This setting is to activate audio playback.
Blast Codec QualityThe minimum and maximum values of the Quantization Parameter (QP) control the image quality of the remoted display when using Horizon Blast Codec compression. The QP values range [1-8] and roughly map to the JPEG quality value in the range [20-88]. This quantization applies to non-text regions and has no bearing on text compression. The maximum QP is mapped to the low JPEG quality configuration and a value of zero for maximum QP results in overriding the configuration by the low JPEG quality configuration. The minimum QP is mapped to the high JPEG quality configuration and a value of zero for minimum QP results in overriding the configuration by the high JPEG quality configuration.
Blast Encoders Global QualityThis setting controls the remoted display image quality level across all Horizon Blast encoders.
  • The level selected is mapped across all the codecs, updating the maximum QP value for H.264, maximum QP value for the Horizon Blast code, and the low JPEG quality in the Adaptive encoder according to the value selected.
  • The Encoder Global Quality Level takes values from 1 to 5. A lower value indicates lower quality and a higher value indicates higher quality. The higher the quality level the more bandwidth used and potentially higher latency when regions of the screen are changing often, when scrolling on the screen for example. The default value is 1 (balanced). The quality mapping can be overridden with respective encoders' QP values.
Blast OptimizerA single configuration for Horizon Blast users to choose between defaults that provide a better user experience or resource efficiency.
  • Value of 5 (the default): uses the Horizon Blast default settings.
  • Value greater than 5: improves user experience by increasing the Horizon Blast defaults for encoderGlobalQualityLevel, bandwidth slope, and encoder maxFPS.
  • Value less than 5: improves resource efficiency by decreasing the Horizon Blast defaults for encoderGlobalQualityLevel, bandwidth slope, and encoder maxFPS.
Cookie Cleanup IntervalDetermines how often, in milliseconds, the system deletes cookies associated with inactive sessions. The default is 100 ms.
Cursor warpingWhen this setting is activated, the cursor warping feature is activated. When activated and the mouse is in absolute mode, the remote agent detects sudden cursor movements and reflects them to the client by moving the local cursor. If this setting is not activated, the client ignores sudden cursor movements in the remote agent. This setting is deactivated by default.
DSCP MarkingWhen activated or not configured, this setting allows Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) values to be established in outgoing Horizon Blast network traffic, as specified by the various individual settings for each network hop. When deactivated, DSCP values are not established in Horizon Blast network traffic. When activated, you can set a numeric value in the range 0-63 for the following network connections:
  • DSCP from Agent, TCP/IPv4
  • DSCP from Agent, TCP/IPv6
  • DSCP from Agent, UDP/IPv4
  • DSCP from Agent, UDP/IPv6
  • DSCP from BSG to Client, TCP/IPv4
  • DSCP from BSG to Client, TCP/IPv6
  • DSCP from BSG to Client, UDP/IPv4
  • DSCP from BSG to Client, UDP/IPv6
  • DSCP from BSG to Agent, TCP/IPv4
  • DSCP from BSG to Agent, TCP/IPv6
  • DSCP from BSG to Agent, UDP/IPv4
  • DSCP from BSG to Agent, UDP/IPv6
  • DSCP from Client, TCP/IPv4
  • DSCP from Client, TCP/IPv6
  • DSCP from Client, UDP/IPv4
  • DSCP from Client, UDP/IPv6
Encoder Image Cache Size (KB)Maximum size of the encoder image cache.
  • The final size of the cache is the lesser of the value set here and the associated configuration of the client.
  • The final size of the cache cannot exceed half of the available RAM on the Horizon Agent.
H264Specifies whether to use H.264 encoding or JPEG/PNG encoding. The default is to use H.264 encoding.
H264 High Color AccuracyIncreases color accuracy when using H.264 encoding by using the YUV 4:4:4 colorspace instead of 4:2:0. This setting might result in degraded performance at very high resolutions or with multiple monitors.
H.264 QualitySpecifies the image quality for the remote display configured to use H.264 encoding. You can specify the minimum and maximum quantization values that determine how much an image is controlled for lossy compression. You can specify a minimum quantization value for the best image quality. You can specify a maximum quantization value for the lowest image quality. You can specify the following settings:
  • H264maxQP (available range of values: 0-51, default: 36)
  • H264minQP (available range of values: 0-51, default: 10)
For the best image quality, set the quantization parameter (QP) values to within +5 or -5 of the available range of values. These parameters determine the amount of data that is discarded, so a lower value results in higher image quality.
HEVC High Color AccuracyActivate this setting to request increased color accuracy by using the YUV 4:4:4 colorspace instead of 4:2:0 with HEVC encoding. The client requires hardware HEVC 4:4:4 support for this policy to take effect. This setting is activated by default.
HEVCActivate or do not configure this setting to allow HEVC encoding for remoting the desktop. Deactivate this setting to use H.264 or JPEG/PNG for encoding.
HTTP ServiceSpecifies the port that is used for secure communication (HTTPS) between the Access Point appliance and a desktop. The firewall must be configured to have this port open. The default is 22443.
Image QualitySpecifies the image quality of the remote display. You can specify two low-quality settings, two high-quality settings, and a mid-quality setting. The low-quality settings are for areas of the screen that change often, for example, when scrolling occurs. The high-quality settings are for areas of the screen that are more static, resulting in a better image quality. You can specify the following settings:
  • Low JPEG Quality (available range of values: 10 - 100, default: 25)
  • Mid JPEG Quality (available range of values: 10- 100, default: 35)
  • High JPEG Quality (available range of values: 10 - 100, default: 90)
Keyboard locale synchronizationSpecifies whether to synchronize a client's keyboard locale list and default keyboard locale to the remote desktop or application. If this setting is activated, synchronization occurs. This setting applies to Horizon Agent only.
  
Max Frame RateSpecifies the maximum rate of screen updates. Use this setting to manage the average bandwidth that users consume. The default is 30 updates per second.
Max Session BandwidthSpecifies the maximum bandwidth, in kilobits per second (kbps), for a Horizon Blast session. The bandwidth includes all imaging, audio, virtual channel, USB, and Horizon Blast control traffic. The default is 1 Gbps.
Max Session Bandwidth kbit/s Megapixel SlopeSpecifies the maximum bandwidth slope, in kilobits per second (kbps), reserved for a Horizon Blast session. The minimum value is 100. The maximum value is 100000. The default value is 6200.
Min Session BandwidthSpecifies the minimum bandwidth, in kilobits per second (kbps), reserved for a Horizon Blast session. The default is 256 kbps.
PNGIf you activate or do not configure this setting, PNG encoding is available for remote sessions. If you deactivate this setting, only JPEG encoding is used for encoding in JPEG/PNG mode. This policy does not apply when the H.264 encoder is active. This setting is not configured by default.
Screen BlankingSpecifies whether to have the desktop VM's console show the actual desktop that the user sees or to show a blank screen when the desktop has an active session. The default is to show a blank screen.
UDP ProtocolSpecifies whether to use the UDP or the TCP protocol. The default is to use the UDP protocol. The setting takes effect when a user performs a session login-logoff on the Horizon Agent machine on which the registry key exists. This setting does not apply to HTML Access, which always uses the TCP protocol.

Applying Horizon Blast Policy Settings

If the following Horizon Blast policies change during a client session, Horizon Client detects the change and immediately applies the new setting.

  • H264
  • Audio Playback
  • Max Frame Rate
  • Image Quality

The Max Session Bandwidth and Min Session Bandwidth settings take effect when a user performs a connect or login to a session on the Horizon Agent machine on which the setting exists. Any change made to these settings may not fully take effect on an already connected session. Although the new settings may be applied to restrict the encoder's bandwidth usage within the current session, they aren't enforced across virtual channels such as file transfer until the session reconnects.

For all other Horizon Blast policies, Microsoft GPO update rules apply. GPOs can be updated manually or by restarting the Horizon Agent machine. For more information, see the Microsoft documentation.

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