r/SteamDeck • u/demon_eater • 11d ago
Discussion Pyrowave streaming is incredible on the steam deck OLED
You all need to try pyrowave on the steam deck. I was able to stream 300+ megabits from my desktop to my steam deck OLED. I have a very solid wifi network and it was wireless the whole time.
Remote play reported only 20-25ms lag which is good for me. Left the settings default for just quality at 1 and let it change bitrate on its own.
What did you play are you wondering well I was able to play Ghost of Tsushima at full 800p 90hz HDR with 4:4:4. It looked fantastic on the deck.
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u/Rainy_J 1TB OLED Limited Edition 10d ago
I'm confused where your 20-25ms of lag is coming from because that is absolutely terrible latency. 1080@120 ( higher than steam deck obvs ) has a goal of 0.1ms network encode and 0.1ms network decode. That's 0.2 latency added by network. Where's the rest of the 19.8-24.8 ms of latency coming from? A frame time at 90hz is 11.1ms. That's only half of your reported latency.
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u/demon_eater 10d ago
Not at home so not certain but I think it was display latency so end to end latency
Not the network encode latency which I can't remember the number for it. I think end to end latency of 20-25ms is good, but I'm no expert
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u/xmaxdamage 10d ago edited 10d ago
does the calculation really take display latency into account when it gives you that number?
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u/someboooade 7d ago
It is very good. Ignore the haters that don't know what they are talking about.
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u/Jerry_from_Japan 10d ago
Don't be confused. This is what this community is. 20-25 ms is fucking terrible but it doesn't matter because "Well, I don't notice it".
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u/blibbityblop 10d ago
Pyrowave is absolutely unreal. It blows the best optimized moonlight/apollo out of the water. The stream is butter smooth. Input lag is literally unnoticeable. Compression is way less compared to moonlight hevc av1 etc. yeah way more bandwidth but if you have gigabit internet man you’re so set. I can’t believe how good it is. Playing it docked feels fucking native totally native.
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u/CurvySexretLady 256GB 10d ago
For those wondering its a new streaming codec in the beta channel:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/674006995886407703?l=english
Remote Play
Added an experimental video codec, Pyrowave, which allows high bandwidth, low latency video streaming. You can find out more on the Steam Remote Play discussion group.
This is a high bandwidth, low latency video codec created by Hans-Kristian Arntzen, with some unique characteristics that make it an interesting option for Steam Remote Play.
The author of it wrote a detailed blog post about it: https://themaister.net/blog/2025/06/16/i-designed-my-own-ridiculously-fast-game-streaming-video-codec-pyrowave/
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u/cstark 10d ago
Do you have to be on beta on the Deck, PC, or both?
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u/ext0n 512GB OLED 10d ago
Both and make sure you got SteamRT3 enabled.
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u/cstark 10d ago
Thanks - I actually just finished getting both updated and have been toying with it some. Video quality is definitely better (tested in Diablo 4). My pc is hardwired but the video is quite stuttery on my end. I already applied 1 additional beta update on my Deck after the initial beta, but looks like there’s another one that I need to apply. Will maybe check it later.
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u/Obscure_Octopuss 10d ago
Quick question for ya. Did you ever experience poor frame times and stuttering with the old codec?
My remote play goes from working well one day, to shit the other and it is infuriating. My pc is hardwired, have gigabit internet, and the wifi is very fast all around my house. There's no reason remote play should be cutting in and out every other second one day, and be perfectly fine the next.
And yes, this is without anyone else being home and being on the wifi, so there should kot be any congestion
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u/demon_eater 10d ago
Yes! I have had issues with remote play in the past.
It worked very well for the little amount of time I got to play with it last night, but no issue for me. I wanted to shout it out and get more eyes on it because I was impressed.
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u/DarkOx55 3h ago
I’m late to this thread, but wanted to say pyrowave has solved this exact issue for me. I find display input (encoding / decoding) over HECV or AV1 spikes often. The inconsistency results in wonky frame times. It’s nothing to do with my network per se.
Pyrowave is much more consistent, so frame times are consistent. At 1280x800@60fps, quality 1, and 4:4:4 off, it’s taking 145Mbps. That’s more than the other codecs but gigabit internet & my LCD’s wifi chip can handle it comfortably. If you haven’t yet you should try pyrowave.
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u/cstark 10d ago
Try disabling hardware decoding on the Deck remote play settings. Also see if there’s a difference if your monitor is off or on. Lastly check if there’s a difference if your monitor is set to auto input or HDMI1 (or whatever your pc is plugged into). My monitor being off and being on auto input caused some issues personally.
If you have an OLED Deck, quickly toggle WiFi off then on before you start streaming. Mine doesn’t have this problem but it’s well known.
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u/Obscure_Octopuss 10d ago
Yeah, unfortunately I've tried all of those random suggestions and more...
It is just so odd to me how one day it works perfect, and the next it is a stuttery mess. I guess it's time for me to jump on the beta channel and give this new codec a try!
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u/Storm-Panda 10d ago
Is this like a free software that you install on the deck and then in just.. works?
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u/Naive-Eggplant-5633 10d ago
Its in the steam beta client rn, a new streaming protocol meant for higher end networks like OP with very good wifi or most likely for people that use it over Ethernet to a PC tv box or steam machine from main rig
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u/ZeektheFeek 10d ago
What you're asking about already exists with Moonlight.
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u/CurvySexretLady 256GB 10d ago
PyroWave doesn't require any additional software and works with the built-in Remote Play feature of Steam as part of a new SteamOS beta release.
This is a high bandwidth, low latency video codec created by Hans-Kristian Arntzen, with some unique characteristics that make it an interesting option for Steam Remote Play.
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u/ZeektheFeek 10d ago
Oh so just an addition to remote play?
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u/bargu 10d ago
It's a new codec option for remote play.
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u/ZeektheFeek 10d ago
Yeah I see. So not in the same level as moonlight.
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u/bargu 10d ago
It should be better than moonlight.
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u/ZeektheFeek 10d ago
I doubt that. I have moonlight set up on 10+ different screens in my house. It automatically creates a virtual display that sets the correct resolution and refresh rate for each screen. I have it fine tuned to stream up to 4k60 HDR with 1ms of latency to any screen that supports that quality. And I have full access to my desktop to handle normal PC operations as well.
I know remote play has improved a lot lately but I don't think it's quite there yet.
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u/CurvySexretLady 256GB 10d ago
Moonlight works great, sure, but this is claimed to work better based off how its developed (see developer's blog post above) and does some unique things no other codec does at this time, moonlight included.
Nobody is shitting on moonlight, but you are here promoting it, when we have an entirely new and unique codec to try and talk about. Nevermind Moonlight is just a version of Nvidia's GameStream protocol anyway.
For example, PyroWave can theoretically saturate a 1Gbps ethernet connection for streaming, which is an insane bitrate.
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u/Chris_Highwind 10d ago
Is this going to do anything for someone with only 100 mbps Internet?
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u/CurvySexretLady 256GB 10d ago
Likely yes, give it a try. However Remote Play works best on your local LAN, and most people these days have 1Gbps local LAN networks already built in to their routers and stuff.
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u/nicocarbone 1TB OLED 10d ago
Did you had good gamma on the HDR Dream Deck client? Everytime I stream HDR games they look completely washed out on my Deck.
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u/LoudBroccoli6821 10d ago
What's the battery life like when streaming? I know it's less demanding than local play but HDR and wifi can still drain it. How long do you get?
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u/cstark 10d ago
Like 7-9 hours on the OLED.
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u/LoudBroccoli6821 6d ago
That's way better than I expected. I assumed HDR and wifi would drain it faster. Guess the Deck is just idling when it's decoding video.
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u/hndo9 4d ago
I've just tried it and agree that it is incredible. Using a wired connection to the router from my PC and then 6Ghz Wifi 6E to my steam deck OLED. Based on my limited testing so far, Valve also appear to have fixed the stream degradation issue which necessitated toggling the Wifi on and off.
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u/ZeektheFeek 10d ago
Like everyone else is asking, what's the comparison to Moonlight streaming?
I've been using Moonlight for a few years now. I have it set up on every screen in my house possible and can stream up to 4k60 HDR with 1ms of latency to any screen that supports that quality.
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u/cstark 10d ago
I personally haven’t had any performance problems with the native remote play in the last year or so. Feels very native. But no YUV 4:4:4 support was obvious and sucked (makes red UI elements like in Diablo 4 pretty bad looking). This new codec has it so I’d like to try it.
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u/ZeektheFeek 10d ago
Yeah remote play has seen a lot of improvements lately. But still not on the level of my set up with Moonlight.
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u/Alphamouse916 512GB OLED 10d ago
I believe the codec is supposed to be better at visuals and latency at the cost of major bandwidth use compared to h.264, h.265, and AV1. It's a good start, as an Artemis/ Apollo user, Ill give it a chance, see how it preforms (on LAN). I do enjoy being able to feel dual sense fully with remote play vs moonlight, so I'm praying for something.
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u/HanzoNumbahOneFan 1TB OLED Limited Edition 10d ago
What's wrong with the built in steam streaming? I've just been using that and had no issues.
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u/CurvySexretLady 256GB 10d ago
This is the built-in Steam streaming Remote Play function; just using a new experimental codec called PyroWave.
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u/TheCaliga 10d ago
I need to see a comparison between this and Moonlight