If you've ever tried to show a client what you're seeing in Capture One while also keeping your workflow moving, you already know the problem. One screen isn't enough. The question is how you split it — and the answer depends on where you're shooting, how you're rigged, and what the client actually needs to see.

Here are the three main options working digital techs use, and when each one makes sense.

The problem worth solving

On a commercial shoot, the laptop is the nerve centre. Capture One is open, tethering is running, you're checking focus and exposure between every shot. The photographer wants to see the selects. The client wants to hover. And you need to keep your hands on the tools.

Sharing your screen — or extending it — lets you give someone else a view without giving up your workspace. Done well, it's invisible. Done badly, it's another thing to troubleshoot between shots.

Sidecar — best for most setups

Sidecar is Apple's built-in screen extension for iPad, no third-party software, no subscription, no pairing headaches. Connect your iPad over USB-C or wirelessly, and it becomes a second display in macOS.

On a digiplate rig, this is the setup I use most. iPad mounted on the plate beside the laptop, Sidecar running landscape. I park the histogram, camera settings, and focus tools over there — paired with a Stream Deck for camera control — and the laptop stays clean for Capture One. When clients want to be at the laptop, I have my own station. It works.

The landscape constraint is real though. Sidecar doesn't do portrait orientation, so if you want to show a vertically composed image at full height, you're cropping into the screen. For a lot of commercial stills work — fashion, advertising, landscape-format product — this isn't a dealbreaker. But it's worth knowing.

Stability has improved a lot. It still hiccups occasionally — they all do — but right now it's the most reliable of the three options for day-to-day use. 

Best for: Location shoots, digiplate setups, landscape-format work, anyone already in the Apple ecosystem.

Duet Display — the vertical screen option

Duet was built by ex-Apple engineers at a time when Sidecar wasn't reliable. It used to be the go-to for anyone who needed a stable second screen on iPad. The technical advantage it still has: portrait mode works. If you're shooting vertical content and want to show images at full height on a second screen, Duet can do that.

The catch is pairing. Duet requires an internet connection to activate and pair devices. On a location shoot without a travel router — a beach, a remote studio, somewhere with no reliable WiFi — that can become a problem. You may find yourself unable to get it running at exactly the moment you need it.

Stability has also slipped relative to Sidecar as Apple has improved its own solution. For most setups, Sidecar now offers a cleaner experience. But if portrait orientation matters to your workflow, Duet is the only option in this category that gives you the option to extend your screen in portrait orientation.

Best for: Shoots where vertical screen orientation is important. Needs internet to pair — plan accordingly.

Capture One Live — for client previews, not screen sharing

Capture One Live is doing something different to the other two. It's not screen extension — it's a dedicated client preview system built into Capture One, accessed via a browser on any device on the same network.

Connect a travel router (GL.iNet Beryl AX or Slate 7 are the standard choices), enable Live in Capture One, and anyone on that network can open a browser and see the images as they shoot. No app, no iPad required. The art director can watch on their phone. The client can browse selects on a tablet. The stylist can check the last frame from across the set.

It's genuinely useful — and when it works, it's the cleanest client-facing tool available. But it has a few rough edges. Renaming files mid-shoot can cause issues. Shooting with two cameras writing to the same folder sometimes gets stuck on the last image from one of them. Neither is a dealbreaker, but if you're running a tight setup you'll want to test your exact workflow before the shoot day.

Live also needs a router, which adds kit. That's fine if you're already running a travel router for on-set networking — which you should be — but it's an extra variable if you're not.

Best for: Client preview on set, art directors and clients who need to browse images independently. Not a screen extension tool.

Hollyland Pyro S — wireless video monitoring via HollyView

The Pyro S is a wireless video transmission system built for film and video production. It's not designed as a screen extension tool — it's a video monitor system. But if you already own one, or your gaffer or DIT has one on set, it can be used as a client monitor via the HollyView app on iPad.

The connection is stable. The Pyro S generates its own WiFi network — the iPad connects directly to the transmitter, no router, no external network needed. In noisy RF environments that's actually an advantage over systems that depend on shared WiFi.

The practical limitations are real though. The HollyView app locks the iPad into portrait orientation, which means you're working with a 16:9 crop on a vertically oriented screen — the aspect ratio the system was designed around for video. To get this working properly for stills review you'll need to set portrait orientation in Better Displays first, which adds a setup step. The colour rendering in the app is also noticeably off compared to what you're seeing in Capture One — it's a video monitoring pipeline, not a colour-managed display. Fine for checking composition and rough exposure; not for colour-critical sign-off.

This is genuinely useful kit if the Pyro S is already in your bag. As a dedicated screen-sharing solution for stills production, it's not the right tool.

Best for: Sets where a Pyro S is already deployed for video monitoring. Not a replacement for Sidecar or Duet for stills workflows.

Gelatin Viewfinder — cloud-based client gallery

Viewfinder is Gelatin's own solution to the client preview problem, and it approaches it differently to everything else on this list. It's not screen sharing or video monitoring — it's a cloud-based image gallery that clients and crew access from any device via a browser, on set or remotely.

The workflow: images land in a Dropbox hot folder as you shoot, Viewfinder picks them up, and they appear in a live gallery that anyone with the link can open. No app install, no pairing, no router required — just a URL and an internet connection.

What makes it more than a preview tool is what clients can do with the images. They can leave timestamped comments on individual frames — notes that can be exported directly for retouching briefs. They can download JPEGs. And it connects to Press, Gelatin's layout tool, so you can generate downloadable PDF presentations from selects during or after the shoot.

The honest constraint: it needs internet. On a location without reliable connectivity — a remote beach, a basement studio with no signal — it won't work. That's the trade-off versus something like Sidecar or the Pyro S which generate their own connection.

For shoots in a normal studio or hotel environment, it's the most capable client-facing tool on this list by some distance. Clients get an experience that feels considered rather than improvised, and the comment-to-retouch pipeline removes a whole category of back-and-forth that usually happens over WhatsApp.

Best for: Studio shoots and locations with reliable internet. Client review, selects, retouching notes, and PDF presentations. Remote stakeholders who aren't physically on set.

The short version

For most commercial stills work: Sidecar for your own extended display. Viewfinder for client preview — it's the most capable option and it's free. Capture One Live if you need something that works without internet. Duet if portrait orientation matters or Sidecar is giving you grief.

None of them are bulletproof. Build your workflow around the one that fails least for your setup — and always have a fallback.