Using UVC (USB Video Class) with an iPad Pro 11 inch (2017)

I use an iPad Pro 11 inch as my main tablet. I bought it in 2018, so it has lasted a remarkably long time. It is very convenient, so I always want to take it with me when I go out, but its functionality overlaps slightly with a PC. So I thought that if I could use it as an external monitor, that would give me a reason to bring it along.

In fact, I have used an iPad as an external monitor in the past. There is an app called Duet Display, and with it you can turn an iPad connected to a PC via USB Type-C into an external monitor.

The response was fairly good, and it worked well in its own way, but I had to launch an app on the Windows side too, which became annoying, so I eventually stopped using it.

This time, I tried turning the iPad into an external monitor in a different way. Apparently, iOS 17 and later support a standard called UVC (USB Video Class). I had heard about this in several online news articles before, but I wanted to write about what actually happens when I try it with my own device.

First of all, this is not the latest iPad. After all, I bought it in 2018.

For now, I bought a compatible capture adapter, the GUERMOK USB 3.0 HDMI to USB C, plugged it into the iPad, and connected an HDMI cable from the PC.

Nothing happened.

Apparently, simply plugging it in is not enough. You need to use a compatible app. So I installed an app on the iPad and tried reconnecting. The app I installed was Pad Display.

When I launched the app on the iPad, it was indeed recognized as a Windows display and became usable as an external monitor. From the Windows side, I am only outputting through an HDMI cable, so I did not install any app there.

I thought this had turned out fairly nice, but the first thing that bothered me was that the HDMI cable I had was too heavy-duty, making the setup feel a bit exaggerated. Perhaps connecting via USB Type-C would be less cumbersome.

The next thing I noticed was the iPad's power situation. This might be solved by inserting some kind of charging adapter, but if I simply plug the capture adapter into the iPad, the battery drains quickly. This did not happen when using Duet Display.

The final issue is that the operation feels fairly sluggish. However, I suspect the age of the iPad has a lot to do with this, so I cannot say for sure how it would be on other iPads.

So, with the first-generation iPad Pro 11 inch that I own, Duet Display ended up feeling better both in ease of handling and operating speed. For now, even when I take a PC outside, I will probably settle on working with Duet Display.

That said, for a use case such as monitoring a digital camera with an HDMI port on an iPad, it feels like this could be perfect. Still, I have not tried that yet, so I may run into new problems once I actually use it.

Fortunately, I have a Fujifilm X-E4 on hand. I plan to connect it and try using it outside next time.