Steam link lag issues

[Nacholibre2000]

Hi, so this is my first post on the steam forums. Please be gentle :)

So I got the steam link yesterday but right away I noticed some severe lag. I figure this probably has to do with one or both of these things: my TV which is 10 years old now, or my computer (GTX 770, 8gb RAM, i5-4670K @3.40Ghz - no beast machine).

http://imgur.com/6zb8B3U

Here's a screenshot from me playing Dark Souls 3. There's a lot of latency, like i'd say anything between 0,5 - 1 second's delay. The framerate is also trash, in my opinion.

The stats in the screenshot might help my troubleshoot what's wrong, but I don't really know how to interpret them. I'm not sure what the "C 59.89" means at the top, but I'm assuming higher is better? The streaming latency also seems to be quite good at 12,34 ms, right?

I'm thinking a lot of the delay then comes from the TV - and do have it set to some kind of game option. But the TV being the problem wouldn't explain the low framerate, right?

Also, when streaming a 700 mb movie, the "C" number drops down to 30, which I'm assuming would denote that the frames drop. The last thing I expected however was for movies to be lagging when streaming! Is this because of my computer not being up to snuff?

Could someone help me troubleshoot this stuff? Also, I've tried all different kinds of settings when it comes to resolution, network encoding and stuff in Big Picture...

I should also mention that the game runs perfectly fine on my PC.

Big thanks to any kind soul willing to help me with this!

//Jånte

[Nacholibre2000]

I'll also share these stats from just browsing:

http://imgur.com/TFfaB0z

For some inexplicable reason just being in windows desktop puts the "C" thingy at 29.97 and the streaming latency at 44.57 ms.

This I also cannot wrap my head around.

Thanks
//Jånte

[Yellig]

Hmm... the 44ms video latency isn't very good. Are you using "Beautiful" quality in the Steam Link's streaming settings, by any chance? You might try "Balanced" to see how that goes.

Dropping to 30 frames per second when watching a movie may just mean that video file is encoded at that framerate. Movies are usually 24 frames, actually, buy some encoders don't leave that intact and change it to 30 to be "TV-friendly."

[Nacholibre2000]

Well, regardless of the numbers are - I've managed to get them above 30 now while watching a movie - both games and movies suffer occasional stutters or what I perceive to be low framerate...

And yes, I've tried those settings but none affect performance in a significant way.

[Nacholibre2000]

Okay, so I just tried using a computer monitor instead of my TV, and now it works great. I completely understand that my TV seems to trash the latency, but does anybody know why the framrate (from what I perceive on the TV, regardless the fact that the steam link says 60) tanks when using the TV?

I guess I'll have to buy a new TV. But if anyone knows why the framrate gets worse on the TV, that would be interesting to know.

Thanks.

[Yellig]

Be sure that you've turned on any "Game Mode" for that input on the TV, and, even if that's on already, specifically go turn off any "motion smoothing" or "film mode" or anything else that might mess around with framerate.

[Nacholibre2000]

I have, but it doesnt quite fix the problem :/

[messyjesse80]

That is the @ symbol meaning "at", not a "C", and the number is the frame rate.

You have not described your network setup. Are you using WiFi for the Link and/or the PC? Are you using wired LAN connection for either one? If WiFi, are you using a 5GHz router and what model is the router?

If you tested the Link with a monitor and a TV, were they in the same location or different rooms? If you moved the Link to a different room with monitor you might have had better network performance in that room.

Before you connect the Link to the computer, press Y to run the network test. What numbers does it tell you?

Try the "balanced" or "fast" setting instead of "Beautiful" on the Link. Turn down the resolution to 720P and see if that helps.

[Nacholibre2000]

Thanks for the replies. I'm running a wired connection with game mode on the TV, so that should not be the problem. Now I'm able to get good numbers (about 15 ms latency and 60 fps stable) but for some reason the framerate is terrible on the TV. Lag is also very, very noticable. At least in the 60 ms region... As I've said, I tried using a computer monitor instead of my TV which fixed the problem.

Seems to me like it ought to be the TV. I'm just wondering especially why the TV makes the framerate tank. In my manual it says it's using HDMI1.1 which I suppose is an old version of HDMI, but as far as I know it should still support 60hz so that doesn't quite explain it.

Update: I tried playing batman on my PS3 and it seems like the delay is actually similar to that with the steam link. The only difference is the frame rate which is much smoother on the ps3, albeit lower. So is it my TV that can't handle higher frame rates? :P

I'm sorry for rambling so much about my problems. :P

[Goblin King]

This is an old thread, but in case someone find it, I think I have found a solution.

If you are in windows desktup, make sure that steam "Big Picture Mode" is active and minimized (not exited). Just having steam in Big Picture Mode while using the desktop resulted in a much higher quality and less lag.

[StackDoubleFlow]

Thank you, that helped