Methods, systems, and computer programs are provided for managing remote display performance. One method includes an operation for determining pixel data for a group of macroblocks, each macroblock having a group of pixels. The macroblocks are for embedding in respective video frames of a video stream. The pixel data for each pixel in each macroblock is calculated with a formula based on the frame number of the respective video frame and on the location of the pixel within the macroblock. Farther, the method includes operations for embedding the macroblocks in the respective video frames, and for transmitting the video frames with the embedded macroblocks to a remote client. A performance metric for the transmitted video stream is calculated based on the macroblocks received at the remote client by comparing the received macroblocks to the expected macroblocks based on the formula.