Now limited to 30mbps?

[TheJFK]

I have been extensively using steam in-home streaming as my default way of playing Steam games for about a year now. I have a gigabit network with a dedicated gigabit switch and my computers are well set up for the tasks. The host is on Windows 10, previously 8.1 and client on Windows 10/Steamos, depending on my mood.

Since my network setup is so ideal for the task, I've been using the "beautiful" setting and "unlimited" bandwidth on the client side for decoding. It's been working great with very low latency and very good quality. However, as of about a week ago, I've noticed a huge drop in streaming quality with colours washed out and compression artifacts. The stream is still fast and reliable, just a drop in quality. I did notice that where once my estimated bandwidth was around 600mbps and varying around that point it was then limited to 30mbps and was rock-solid limited to that point. I verified that my settings were set to unlimited, but 30mbps was the hard limit.

I solved the problem by opting out of the beta and all was back to normal. However, last night the changes were pushed to the stable client (I presume) and the issue is back. Is this something anybody else is noticing? Can I get back my high-quality unlimited stream? My network can push at least 10x what the new hard limit is and the quality is suffering from it. I suspect this has something to do with the imminent influx of Steam Link users and preventing complaints of latency issues on less-than-ideal network connections :(

[mkdr]

I still think youre doing something (ordinary) wrong, like opening the settings which is forbidden, or not restarting Steam/re-editing the config file properly.

[Dav]

So is this finally fixed or is G3na5ide just a lucky duck?

Or perhaps it switched to software encoding without you noticing? Software encoding doesn't seem to have this problem (but it's nowhere near as stable).

[G3na5ide]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย mkdr:

I still think youre doing something (ordinary) wrong, like opening the settings which is forbidden, or not restarting Steam/re-editing the config file properly.

I didn't touch the config file... It just worked at above 30mbps and displayed the network bandwidth as being higher than 30mbps.

[G3na5ide]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย dqtl74:

So is this finally fixed or is G3na5ide just a lucky duck?

Or perhaps it switched to software encoding without you noticing? Software encoding doesn't seem to have this problem (but it's nowhere near as stable).

Hi flower,

Given Occam's Razor I totally get your skepticism, so I managed to get screenshots as proof (not a simple task, as normal steam screenshots don't include the stats overlay.)

Unlimited-

http://postimg.org/image/foz4v948b/

Interestingly, when I reconnect to the stream again after taking the screenshot, it's limited again down to 15mbps with the network bandwidth estimation being locked wrongly down again to 30mbps-

http://postimg.org/image/z5juhrzcb/

This was with our old linux laptop (Core 2 Duo T6600 2.2GHz) client at 1368x768@60Hz via WiFi at 150mbps max (the adapter in this laptop can't go faster.)

On the upside, this kind of proves that it's not a configuration or settings issue or a hard NVFBC encoding but is just genuinely some issue with the network bandwidth estimation code - fix that, and the problem goes?

I'm waaaay perplexed!

Julie
x

PS This is with the current release / non-beta version of steam on both sides (Nov 9th-ish build.)

[MichaelMKenny]

Here are my findings on this issue:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/490125737483404164/

Hope this can help someone.

[bristol_flyguy1980]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย mkdr:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bristol_flyguy1980:

fix doesnt work with nvfbc its only applicable to d3d encoders. NVFBC is a hard coded limit.

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย G3na5ide:

At present, it doesn't seem to be possible to get hardware encoding via NVFBC *and* speeds above 15mbps, even with the previously mentioned configuration file hacks.

Totally not true. Works flawless for me with NVFBC and 100mbit. Stats peaking between 50-80mbit/s for video signal.

Unless theyve fixed it in the last week, unfortunately i cant confirm because for me with sli on the host machine, nvfbc constantly crashes, when i was able to test, it doesnt matter if you increased bandwidthlimit in the config file, the stats overlay on the client would always show bandwidth estimate as 30mbps and in the streaming logs it would show the bandwidth never went over 15mbps, even if the stats overlay is wrong, the streaming log still backs up that editing the bandwidth limit in the config file isnt having an effect.

HOWEVER, when nvfbc isnt being used, over riding bandwidthlimit for d3d encoders DOES work and i do see the bandwidth being used in the stats overlay equal to the value set in the config file.

However at 1080p, with bandwidth limit manually set, some games still lock at 30fps (dirt 2 complete, grid autosport) even with the bandwidth limit adjusted (which is why i hope valve do fix in home streamings ability to use nvfbc because nvfbc does allow 1080p at 60fps) games like dirt 2 or grid autosport are unplayable, because if you run an in game benchmark from the client, eg Grid Autosport, the benchmark tops out at 60fps however, on the client, because of the d3d encoder at 1080p, it never goes above 30fps. However, if you drop to 720p, it can do 60fps with d3d encoding being used on host.

And all this is with new win 10 builds, 16 GB DDR4 3000Mhz, i7 6700k at stable (4.0Ghz) and oc to 4.5Ghz (stability over speed) with host and client having dual 960s (for playing local and streaming) and ok 960 isnt great its a mid range card, im sure thats not an uncommon configuration. Ive also tested with my old i7 2600k rig with dual 780tis which ive not got round to upgrading yet, and i still get the same results.

Ive tried sending logs, crash dumps, data to henryg but ive had no response or any update. So for now ive given up on in home streaming at 1080p. Currently in home streaming is a mess. Its not just Nvidia encoding, AMD encoding is also broken and valves response is to just turn off AMD encoding by default.

So for now ive got my steam controller which is a fantastic controller, and i just sit and play on the pc connected to the TV. As and when the team responsible for in home streaming can be bothered to work out the bugs, then i might consider the steam link again.

Back to your point - are you using the stats overlay on the client and have you looked in the streaming logs ? if so what steam build are you using ? i will happily test again, but i dont have high hopes due to the nvfbc instability, but im sure if you check the streaming logs you will see the bandwidth limited when nvfbc is in use (unless as i say its been fixed)

[bristol_flyguy1980]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย G3na5ide:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย dqtl74:

So is this finally fixed or is G3na5ide just a lucky duck?

Or perhaps it switched to software encoding without you noticing? Software encoding doesn't seem to have this problem (but it's nowhere near as stable).

Hi flower,

.......

Julie
x

PS This is with the current release / non-beta version of steam on both sides (Nov 9th-ish build.)

I do agree here, for a while the nov 9th / 10th build did work for me, and I even contacted henryg directly to say it was fixed and nvfbc was working (despite bandwidth estimation still being broken).

Oddly some games still showed 30mbps in the stats overlay, some showed 75mbps. But it worked, for a while :(

Then the next build after (cant remember i think was the 11th or 12th build) and every build since (apart from the last few beta builds as ive given up on in home streaming) it has been broken again since.

Also i noticed from your screenshots you're not using 1080p. Make sure in game resolution and stream resolution is set to 1080p and you will consistently see the problem.

[bristol_flyguy1980]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย mouseme:

Here are my findings on this issue:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/490125737483404164/

Hope this can help someone.

Very interesting !!!! unfortunately for me with sli on host the stream constantly crashes using nvfbc, but I wonder if it has something to do with the local decoder as well.

This is what i would get when it did work

Batman Arkham Knight

"GameNameID" "Batman™: Arkham Knight"
"TimeSubmitted" "1447354599"
"ResolutionX" "1920"
"ResolutionY" "1080"
"CaptureDescriptionID" "Desktop NVFBC H264"
"DecoderDescriptionID" "DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology"
"BandwidthLimit" "10000"

Dirt Rally

"GameNameID" "DiRT Rally"
"TimeSubmitted" "1447354747"
"ResolutionX" "1920"
"ResolutionY" "1080"
"CaptureDescriptionID" "Desktop NVFBC H264"
"DecoderDescriptionID" "DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology"
"BandwidthLimit" "15000"

Bioshock

"GameNameID" "BioShock Infinite"
"TimeSubmitted" "1447358956"
"ResolutionX" "1920"
"ResolutionY" "1080"
"CaptureDescriptionID" "Desktop NVFBC H264"
"DecoderDescriptionID" "DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology"
"BandwidthLimit" "15000"

Never saw the utilisation you see in your screenshot. Only difference i see is the decoder. Maybe if i get time this week i will give it another shot and try your suggested steps.

[G3na5ide]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bristol_flyguy1980:

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย G3na5ide:

Hi flower,

.......

Julie
x

PS This is with the current release / non-beta version of steam on both sides (Nov 9th-ish build.)

I do agree here, for a while the nov 9th / 10th build did work for me, and I even contacted henryg directly to say it was fixed and nvfbc was working (despite bandwidth estimation still being broken).

Oddly some games still showed 30mbps in the stats overlay, some showed 75mbps. But it worked, for a while :(

Then the next build after (cant remember i think was the 11th or 12th build) and every build since (apart from the last few beta builds as ive given up on in home streaming) it has been broken again since.

Also i noticed from your screenshots you're not using 1080p. Make sure in game resolution and stream resolution is set to 1080p and you will consistently see the problem.

It's only my laptop where I have to run a little lower, the other box (that also worked just the same last night) was at 1080p. I shall see if I can get some screenshots again on that...

[bristol_flyguy1980]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย G3na5ide:

It's only my laptop where I have to run a little lower, the other box (that also worked just the same last night) was at 1080p. I shall see if I can get some screenshots again on that...

Hey Julie,

Not that I doubt you, but if you cant tell this has been driving me mad the last few weeks to the point of due to the lack of input / response from valve ive given up on it now. However this was what i sent to henryg recently

Batman Arkham Knight (using default HW ecoding which defaults to game d3d encoding)

running benchmark

http://i.imgur.com/EvnGMYW.jpg

benchmark result

http://i.imgur.com/DOnmQMg.jpg

Running Grid Autosport benchmark (note the 30fps cap with game delayed encoding at 1080p which doesnt happen at 720p)

http://i.imgur.com/Y8lOe6p.jpg

Benchmark result (note the awful performance graph)

http://i.imgur.com/3XSVq9E.jpg

Ok now with NVFBC enabled

Batman Arkham Knight running benchmark

http://i.imgur.com/QxmVPIf.jpg

Benchmark results (Batman AK for all the flak its had runs fine and doesnt depend on encoding)

http://i.imgur.com/9Q5b7kB.jpg

Grid autosport running benchmark

http://i.imgur.com/S9zdht3.jpg

benchmark result (notice the difference in graph performance)

http://i.imgur.com/kNg3qyP.jpg


AFAIK that was from the nov 9th/10th builds on the beta branch, but since then nvfbc has been unstable again and Valve have been silent on the issue. Dont get me wrong i know Valve are busy and have a lot of bugs to fix, but hardware encoding being broken on AMD and Nvidia on configurations that are hardly uncommon, i have for now given up geeting it to work, unless im so desparate to play i turn it down to 720p for which game d3d encoding does work across all games (unlike 1080p where some games as evidenced above cap at 30fps)

EDIT - Just as i say that, i see some promise in this mornings beta update

Fixed framerate issues with D3D9 capture on SLI systems

Wonder if the 30fps cap issue is fixed ? if so i could at least use d3d encoding until nvfbc is resolved.

[G3na5ide]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bristol_flyguy1980:

Then the next build after (cant remember i think was the 11th or 12th build) and every build since (apart from the last few beta builds as ive given up on in home streaming) it has been broken again since.

Also i noticed from your screenshots you're not using 1080p. Make sure in game resolution and stream resolution is set to 1080p and you will consistently see the problem.

Hiya

To prove it's nothing special about the laptop or the lower resolution, NVFBC 1080p@60Hz via gigabit connection on our other Linux computer client (still the release / non-beta Nov 9th-ish steam client) with Intel hardware decoding (VAAPI.)

If client is set to automatic bitrate-
+ Estimated rate=309mbps, stream=15mbps top: http://postimg.org/image/45v8rh43h/

Still on automatic, after doing previous screenshot and reconnecting to the stream-
+ Estimated rate=30mbps, stream=15mbps top: http://postimg.org/image/u3yuxi9kt/

If client is set to unlimited bitrate-
+ Estimated rate=559mbps, stream=80mbps top: http://postimg.org/image/c2kbdg4xp/

Still on unlimited, after doing the previous screenshot and reconnecting to the stream-
+ Estimated rate=30mbps, stream=15mbps top: http://postimg.org/image/etyzqbe2l/


So, wiith the stable Nov 9th client-

+ NVFBC and automatic bitrate ALWAYS maxes out at 15mbps, even when estimated bandwidth is estimated to be much more than 30mbps (automatic setting appears to be broken in all cases with NVFBC then?)

+ NVFBC and unlimited bitrate ONLY goes higher than 15mbps when estimated bandwidth is estimated to be much more than 30mbps, otherwise gets locked at 15mbps max.


I'll have to give the beta version a go another time.

Julie
x

[bristol_flyguy1980]

Hi Julie,

Interesting results. At least i do have some positive news this morning. The new BETA update today uses game polled d3d encoding which resolves the 30fps cap at 1080p on direct x 9 titles, so at least i can now use streaming until the nvidia hardware encoding with nvfbc is resolved \o/

[G3na5ide]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bristol_flyguy1980:

-cut-

Ok now with NVFBC enabled

-cut-

Grid autosport running benchmark

http://i.imgur.com/S9zdht3.jpg

-cut-

That shot has an estimated bandwidth of 75Mbps with NVFBC, so it's guessed above 75Mbps on occassions for you even with hardware encoding?

[bristol_flyguy1980]

Yeah that was with the 9th/10th beta but since then i wasnt able to reproduce it. Also I didnt do anything with any config files at that point either.

[mkdr]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย bristol_flyguy1980:

Back to your point - are you using the stats overlay on the client and have you looked in the streaming logs ? if so what steam build are you using ? i will happily test again, but i dont have high hopes due to the nvfbc instability, but im sure if you check the streaming logs you will see the bandwidth limited when nvfbc is in use (unless as i say its been fixed)

1. I have posted my server/client configuration on the page before after that post
2. Yes of course using the stats on the client
3. No, everything working correctly (with the fix of manuall config set of course), I am monitoring bandwith via network controller in/out too ( http://i.imgur.com/AzXmdkV.jpg )
4. Looking perfect, no fragmantation. With 30mbit, looks shabby with fast movements

http://i.imgur.com/RLc0AYg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/G7up1xc.jpg (goes easily higher to)

Also I dont want to be rude, but @G3na5ide: You seem a bit hectic to me and doing too many simple mistakes which mix up your statistics/"findings". Thats easily read out of how you write. One sentence you speak about beta, then suddenly that you are using stable, then that you use gbit then 150mbit wlan, then suddenly that you dont use 1080 but like 1366, then that you use unlimited setting (again: you are not allowed to open the settings anymore after you have altered the config file...). Learn to be calm and to work like a scientists.

In short: not fixed for me with latest beta aka using the manual value in config => which works fine (if done correctly and your setup also isnt in the error chain).