The disclosed embodiments provide a system that drives a remote display from an electronic device. The electronic may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and/or a portable media player. During operation, the system uses the electronic device to obtain user input associated with a transition in graphical output on the electronic device and the remote display. Next, the system identifies a region of interest in the remote display based on the user input and a usage context associated with the graphical output. Finally, the system facilitates viewing of the transition on the remote display by prioritizing transmission of the graphical output from the electronic device to the remote display based on the region of interest.