Kangaxx.it Jan 22, 2022 @ 7:18am
Steam link - insanely high display delay?
Hello!
I am puzzled by the performances of the steam link functionality.
I just buyed a mini PC for the use in the living room. When I try to use Steam link, I have over 100ms of display delay. Encoding and deconding speeds are totally fine, but the display delay makes the experience nearly unplayable. Lowering the resolution only partially fixes the problem, even at 720p I have well over 60ms display delay.
Thinking that the culprit was the modest Intel UHD 600 integrated GPU of my mini PC, I tried another mini PC with a more robust integrated AMD R7. The results were better but still disappointing, encoding and decoding OK but over 80ms of display delay.
At this point, the Steam Link app from the smart TV itself works way better and this does not make any sense at all. And I can't use my wireless gamepads on the smart TV.
I'm sure there's something wrong in my settings, it may be a low end PC but it can't work worse than the integrated processor of my TV, anyone knows where I can look into?
Originally posted by ReBoot:
Originally posted by Kangaxx.it:
https://imgur.com/HLSFRbu
Sorry, i tried to set it to english but it did not work.
I'll translate what it says:
Reduced velocity of decoding, screen (decoding is there only because PC was busy taking the screenshoot, it's not usually there)
Acquisition 3840x2160 at 50.57
Encoder: Game polled D3D11 NV12 + NVENC h264
Decoder: DXVA2 hadware decoding
Transmission latency: 1< 1ms input, 160,28 ms screen
Ping: 23.27ms (direct)
Input bitrate: 15666 kbit/s video: 15187 kbit/s
Output bitrate: 147 kbit/s
Packet loss: 0,00% (60.67% frame loss)
Press F8 to save screenshoot on remote PC
Your client sucks at decoding. Play around with hardware decoding settings.
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Showing 16-27 of 27 comments
Abema Jan 24, 2022 @ 2:36am 
Lowering the resolution but most importantly the refresh rate on the client PC improved the situation by a lot, but it's still inside the graph only at 1080p 30fps.
This of course is not a solution that makes me happ
Kangaxx.it Jan 24, 2022 @ 3:44am 
Originally posted by Sazzouu:
Originally posted by ReBoot:
I recommend getting yourself a Steam link. Those things are available for fair prices off eBay, they're not powerful at all, but come with that hardware decoder I'm talking about.

Are you even reading what OP says? They say they already HAVE a Steam Link but it performs worse than having the Steam Link App directly on their SmartTV. Which is why I assume the only issue here is the network connection.

Also (@ReBoot)...
Originally posted by Kangaxx.it:
an RTX 2060 SUPER
What kind of monster GPU do you expect is needed if you somehow think an RTX 2060 Super cannot handle the hardware-encoding/decoding required here? Keeping in mind the Steam Link as well as the Steam Link App were released BEFORE the RTX-series cards were even introduced.

Wait.
I do not have a steam link, it's a stick pc.
The rtx 2060 super is in the encoding PC, not the decoding one.
It's totally the Intel UHD 600 of the client pc who can't handle decoding and drawing the screen at the same time. At least non for 4k 60fps I want.

I simply need a more powerfull PC or a dedicated hardware for streaming.
Too bad Valve does not make a 4k steam link device, I would buy it.
Instead, green team seems to offer what I need.
Sazzouu Jan 24, 2022 @ 3:57am 
Originally posted by Kangaxx.it:
I do not have a steam link, it's a stick pc.
The rtx 2060 super is in the encoding PC, not the decoding one.
It's totally the Intel UHD 600 of the client pc who can't handle decoding and drawing the screen at the same time. At least non for 4k 60fps I want.

I simply need a more powerfull PC or a dedicated hardware for streaming.

Well... first things first your OP is misleading then.
Secondly I am using a Raspberry Pi with the Steam Link App installed as a replacement for the missing Steam Link device. It works just flawlessly. I don't know what kind of "stick PC" you are using here but in terms of GPU horsepower you should be way beyond my Pi, including encoding and decoding workloads.

This basically supports my initial thought of you being connected to a 2.4GHz endpoint which caused a lot of trouble for me as well when I tried this stuff out for the first time. Other than that the only explaination that would make any sense at all would be your mini PC not getting enough power and therefore throtteling which was an issue I had when trying to power my streaming Pi from a USB-port on my TV rather than the delivered power supply for the wall.
Last edited by Sazzouu; Jan 24, 2022 @ 4:04am
Kangaxx.it Jan 24, 2022 @ 4:09am 
Originally posted by Sazzouu:
Originally posted by Kangaxx.it:
I do not have a steam link, it's a stick pc.
The rtx 2060 super is in the encoding PC, not the decoding one.
It's totally the Intel UHD 600 of the client pc who can't handle decoding and drawing the screen at the same time. At least non for 4k 60fps I want.

I simply need a more powerfull PC or a dedicated hardware for streaming.

Well... first things first your OP is misleading then.
Secondly I am using a Raspberry Pi with the Steam Link App installed as a replacement for the missing Steam Link device. It works just flawlessly. I don't know what kind of "stick PC" you are using here but in terms of GPU horsepower you should be way beyond my Pi, including encoding and decoding workloads.

This basically supports my initial thought of you being connected to a 2.4GHz endpoint which caused a lot of trouble for me as well when I tried this stuff out for the first time. Other than that the only explaination that would make any sense at all would be your mini PC not getting enough power and therefore throtteling which was an issue I had when trying to power my streaming Pi from a USB-port on my TV.
The mini PC has a celeron J-4125 if I recall correctly and it has a wired 1gbps connection.
I tought too it had enough power to stream 4k 60fps, but in reality it's far beyond that.
If you look at my screenshot you will notice network is ok.
Sazzouu Jan 24, 2022 @ 4:16am 
I mean look at the data sheets yourself...
https://www.cpu-monkey.com/de/compare_cpu-intel_celeron_j4125-1076-vs-raspberry_pi_4_b_broadcom_bcm2711-1796

Your APU should outperform even the 4th generation of Pi's and I am sitting on a 2nd and 3rd one. Both working just fine even on 4K streaming.

Anyways now that you've mentioned it... how on earth do you want to fire up a 4K stream with a 2060 Super anyways? I mean in order to get some 4K pictures to your streaming device your hosting one should be able to play 4K to begin with. Even my 2070 Super struggles on that one depending on the game.

So apparently your MiniPC is way more than you need but your gaming PC is out of horsepower here xD
Last edited by Sazzouu; Jan 24, 2022 @ 4:18am
ReBoot Jan 24, 2022 @ 4:23am 
Originally posted by Kangaxx.it:
Originally posted by Sazzouu:

Are you even reading what OP says? They say they already HAVE a Steam Link but it performs worse than having the Steam Link App directly on their SmartTV. Which is why I assume the only issue here is the network connection.

Also (@ReBoot)...

What kind of monster GPU do you expect is needed if you somehow think an RTX 2060 Super cannot handle the hardware-encoding/decoding required here? Keeping in mind the Steam Link as well as the Steam Link App were released BEFORE the RTX-series cards were even introduced.

Wait.
I do not have a steam link, it's a stick pc.
The rtx 2060 super is in the encoding PC, not the decoding one.
It's totally the Intel UHD 600 of the client pc who can't handle decoding and drawing the screen at the same time. At least non for 4k 60fps I want.

I simply need a more powerfull PC or a dedicated hardware for streaming.
Too bad Valve does not make a 4k steam link device, I would buy it.
Instead, green team seems to offer what I need.
You need a weak client with a hardware decoder. Doesn't have to be powerful, only has to be not the worst pile of ♥♥♥♥.
Still, are you positive you've tested with HW decoding?

I've been streaming to a Celeron NZC myself, it had a HW decoder
Last edited by ReBoot; Jan 24, 2022 @ 4:24am
Kangaxx.it Jan 24, 2022 @ 5:22am 
Originally posted by ReBoot:
Originally posted by Kangaxx.it:

Wait.
I do not have a steam link, it's a stick pc.
The rtx 2060 super is in the encoding PC, not the decoding one.
It's totally the Intel UHD 600 of the client pc who can't handle decoding and drawing the screen at the same time. At least non for 4k 60fps I want.

I simply need a more powerfull PC or a dedicated hardware for streaming.
Too bad Valve does not make a 4k steam link device, I would buy it.
Instead, green team seems to offer what I need.
You need a weak client with a hardware decoder. Doesn't have to be powerful, only has to be not the worst pile of ♥♥♥♥.
Still, are you positive you've tested with HW decoding?

I've been streaming to a Celeron NZC myself, it had a HW decoder
Absolutely positive I tried with and without hardware accellerated decoding.
And I use a Celeron J4125 that DOES have support for HW decoding.
https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/cpu-intel_celeron_j4125
I am starting to think that 4k 60fps streaming can be obtained or using specific hardware or using dedicated gpus. Integrated ones can't do it.
ReBoot Jan 24, 2022 @ 5:34am 
Yes, this one decodes H264 up to FHD, not 4k.
Do yourself a favor & don't focus on integrated/discrete. Focus is on decoding H264 4k in hardware. That's what you need. There is integrated GPUs that can do that, just not the one you have.

In case you want to feel flipped off by Intel, it decodes H265 in 4k.
Last edited by ReBoot; Jan 24, 2022 @ 5:43am
Kangaxx.it Jan 24, 2022 @ 6:25am 
Originally posted by ReBoot:
Yes, this one decodes H264 up to FHD, not 4k.
Do yourself a favor & don't focus on integrated/discrete. Focus is on decoding H264 4k in hardware. That's what you need. There is integrated GPUs that can do that, just not the one you have.

In case you want to feel flipped off by Intel, it decodes H265 in 4k.

Where did you got all these info? Ofc now I want to be sure to buy something with the correct decode support.
ReBoot Jan 24, 2022 @ 8:06am 
I searched this product code and got a page detailing it's decoding abilities.
Kangaxx.it Jan 24, 2022 @ 8:26am 
Originally posted by Sazzouu:
I mean look at the data sheets yourself...
https://www.cpu-monkey.com/de/compare_cpu-intel_celeron_j4125-1076-vs-raspberry_pi_4_b_broadcom_bcm2711-1796

Your APU should outperform even the 4th generation of Pi's and I am sitting on a 2nd and 3rd one. Both working just fine even on 4K streaming.

Anyways now that you've mentioned it... how on earth do you want to fire up a 4K stream with a 2060 Super anyways? I mean in order to get some 4K pictures to your streaming device your hosting one should be able to play 4K to begin with. Even my 2070 Super struggles on that one depending on the game.

So apparently your MiniPC is way more than you need but your gaming PC is out of horsepower here xD

To start with, I modded the card in a way that temps are no more in the picture of limits and it holds the record on 3DMark for his specific model in everyday setting. OFC not the fastest 2060 super on 3DMark, but a fast one.
Second, I play a lot of games that I can run TOTALLY in 4k. I didn't provide a screenshoot from Helldivers at random, the idea behind gaming in the livingroom is playing games like Brawlhalla, Lovers in a dangerous spacetime or some good old emulators.
Third, as soon as a GPU worthy of an upgrade comes up UNDER 600€ I am going for it and I don't want the rest of my "gaming infrastructure" to not be ready for it.
Fourth, a good g-sync display can do wonders in games that I can't really run at 60FPS.
Last edited by Kangaxx.it; Jan 24, 2022 @ 8:28am
TH0R May 12, 2024 @ 9:01pm 
Originally posted by Kangaxx.it:
Hello!
I am puzzled by the performances of the steam link functionality.
I just buyed a mini PC for the use in the living room. When I try to use Steam link, I have over 100ms of display delay. Encoding and deconding speeds are totally fine, but the display delay makes the experience nearly unplayable. Lowering the resolution only partially fixes the problem, even at 720p I have well over 60ms display delay.
Thinking that the culprit was the modest Intel UHD 600 integrated GPU of my mini PC, I tried another mini PC with a more robust integrated AMD R7. The results were better but still disappointing, encoding and decoding OK but over 80ms of display delay.
At this point, the Steam Link app from the smart TV itself works way better and this does not make any sense at all. And I can't use my wireless gamepads on the smart TV.
I'm sure there's something wrong in my settings, it may be a low end PC but it can't work worse than the integrated processor of my TV, anyone knows where I can look into?


I was lagging at fallout 4 at >100ms screen delay.

I'm using a Nvidia shield pro.

Changing the output resolution on the shield to 1080p solved things.

I'm now stable at 16ms 😊👌
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Date Posted: Jan 22, 2022 @ 7:18am
Posts: 27