Steam Link on Chromecast with Google TV (CCWGTV) ?

[Katonka]

Will that App be compatible with that new Google TV streaming stick?
https://store.google.com/product/chromecast_google_tv

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grimesbot5000 původně napsal:

With a bit more testing, I have essentially replicated the findings by @Queuecumber. I also see a shockingly high frame loss (~48%) on the Steam Link Performance Overlay, but don't believe it because it seems pretty smooth during gameplay.

With that being said, I downloaded Moonlight for reference and it does feel like a night-and-day improvement. 4k @ 60fps and it's buttery smooth (using either wifi or the ethernet via the adapter). As @Queuecumber said, it works flawlessly.

I second your findings, I've only used the Chromecast on Wi-Fi (gigabit ethernet from PC to 5ghz) and have experienced similar frame loss. Since I also use Xbox Game Pass I've been considering switching to Moonlight or maybe some other application.

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PHLAK původně napsal:

Thanks for that info @grimesbot5000! Can you tell me, is it streaming at 4K or does it top out at 1080p? Also, are you able to connect a Steam Controller to the CCwGTV?

I have a Steam Controller but haven't tested it yet. My guess is that it probably would work but pairing would be a pain in the butt and you'd probably need to use the remote to actually navigate to the Steam Link app. That was my experience on my old Fire Stick.

[Packetdancer]

You will almost certainly need to navigate to the app using a normal remote; the Steam Controller's Bluetooth Low Energy mode is a proprietary encapsulation of normal HID, rather than using Bluetooth Low Energy's standard HOGP.

The reason for this is presumably because if it uses normal HOGP, the system grabs the device as it does with other controllers (and Steam Link would not be able to get the guide button or use certain other advanced features). I suspect that in order to have access to the full range of Steam Controller features, they pretty much have to do an end-run around the Android system's own handling of gamepads.

The upside of which is, yay, full Steam Controller functionality! The downside of which is that Android has no clue what the heck this device is, or how to use it outside of Steam Link.

[Abe]

I'm experiencing significant display latency with CCWGTV (ranges from 36-88ms and from 3-50% frame loss). However, in contrast to others, I am not experiencing any input lag (1ms according to Steam stats) with the xbox wireless controller. Even if moving to the room with the host, 10ft away with a wall between the two rooms, I see near immediate input on the host screen form the controller.

The host PC is via 100mb/s ethernet and CCWGTV connected via 5Ghz. I also have a Samsung tablet S7 connect via 5Ghz and get 18-24ms display latency with 0-3% frame loss. Game stream also caps at 1080 on CCWGTV but not on the S7. Turning off hardware encoding etc as recommended elsewhere has no noticeable impact on the display lag for me.

[Corru]

i have frameloss of hell. and it is for sure the device. i have a original steamlink (valve hardware) and just connected the ethernet cable from it to the googletv chromecast... also my smartphone (pixel 5) doesn't have the issue, even in wifi...

so something is wrong with the steamlink app on googletv

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Corru původně napsal:

i have frameloss of hell. and it is for sure the device. i have a original steamlink (valve hardware) and just connected the ethernet cable from it to the googletv chromecast... also my smartphone (pixel 5) doesn't have the issue, even in wifi...

so something is wrong with the steamlink app on googletv

Yeah that's what I'm thinking as well. I've tried Moonlight and Rainway and they both work well for me plus support games outside of steam so I've been mostly using them for now

[Packetdancer]

Out of curiosity, have those having trouble with running it on the Chromecast tried switching between H.264 or H.265 (HEVC)? I found on a couple of Android devices, the hardware acceleration support for H.265 (HEVC) did not work well for streaming but H.264 did, or vice versa where H.264 had performance issues but H.265 worked well.

If I remember right, last time I checked Moonlight defaulted to using HEVC where possible, while Steam Link defaulted to H.264 for broader compatibility. But you can swap Steam Link into H.265 mode by going to the settings on the app, before starting the stream... and if Moonlight's working well on a specific device and Steam Link is not, checking whether they're using the same underlying CODEC would be the first thing I'd check.

[sharu]

Packetdancer původně napsal:

Out of curiosity, have those having trouble with running it on the Chromecast tried switching between H.264 or H.265 (HEVC)? I found on a couple of Android devices, the hardware acceleration support for H.265 (HEVC) did not work well for streaming but H.264 did, or vice versa where H.264 had performance issues but H.265 worked well.

If I remember right, last time I checked Moonlight defaulted to using HEVC where possible, while Steam Link defaulted to H.264 for broader compatibility. But you can swap Steam Link into H.265 mode by going to the settings on the app, before starting the stream... and if Moonlight's working well on a specific device and Steam Link is not, checking whether they're using the same underlying CODEC would be the first thing I'd check.

I tried both H264 and H265 and the former won't work at all.
I also found that the frame loss is dependant on bitrate. At 1080p 30 fps the overylay shows no more frame loss. The ping is still pretty bad though and it doesn't feel fluid.

[Rovi]

Just to add another voice to this. I would also love for improvements in this area.

This is not a network issue, it's a problem with slow decode.

SteamLink seems to use the "Android Surface Hardware decoder" and is very slow.

Moonlight on the other hand uses "OMX.amlogic.avc.decoder.awesome2" and is much faster.

It's not just the Chromecast either, the Android app on my Pixel 4 also uses a different (much slower) decoder than the moonlight android app.

[PHLAK]

According to this thread the CCwGTV is now fully supported and can do 4K @ 60FPS (assuming your PC can handle that).

[dyatchenko.dv]

Steam Link on Google TV still isn’t capable of streaming 4K (Sony A80J) - terrible display lags. It works flawlessly everywhere else (IPhone X, Samsung TV) even without wired connection.

[Salamando]

My CCwGTV HD seems to really struggle with Steam Link, very poor performance, stutters no matter the settings (1080p, 60fps, 30Mbps, down to 720p, 30fps, 3Mbps). PC is a a 5800X3D with 4070Ti so pretty sure its not the encoding side. All the stats (ping, display latency) look good, but still its a horrible stutter.

I have a hardware Steam Link which works very well, and a ShieldTV 2017

Anyone getting good performance out of their CCwGTV HD?