PipeWire screencast
also: desktop capture, window capture, PipeWire portal screencast
A PipeWire feature that captures and streams audio/video from a Linux desktop or application window through the PipeWire server, commonly used for screen recording and remote desktop applications.
PipeWire screencast is a modern multimedia streaming capability built into PipeWire that allows applications to capture desktop or window content. Instead of directly accessing the screen, applications request a screencast stream from the PipeWire daemon, which handles the actual capture and provides the data through PipeWire's standard media routing.
This approach offers security and privacy benefits: the PipeWire server acts as a gatekeeper, and desktop environments can prompt users to approve screencast requests before data is shared. For example, when you use a web browser for video conferencing, it requests a screencast from PipeWire rather than directly accessing your display.
Screencasts work through PipeWire's portal interface on systemd-based systems, integrating with desktop environments like GNOME and KDE to manage permissions and stream video frames to requesting applications.