Beta Updates - March 18

[slouken]

• Fixed disabling hardware decoding using the 2' settings UI
  
• Border bars on a Mac Retina display now cover the entire extent of the monitor

March 17:

• Added hardware accelerated encoding via Intel QuickSync
  
• Added mouse emulation mode for controllers, toggled with Guide+A
  
• Revamped the streaming options UI, all settings have been reset to defaults
  
• Added an option to disable streaming
  
• Added a speed vs quality preference setting
  
• The stats overlay is now off by default and can be enabled in the advanced client options
  
• Added a 30 Mbit bandwidth option
  
• Unlimited bandwidth has been increased to 100 Mbit for those who want to live on the edge
  
• Added a setting to enable traffic QoS priority in the advanced host options
  
• Changed framerate limit back to the refresh rate instead of refresh rate - 1
  
• OpenGL games are now scaled correctly during capture

Enjoy!

[Vinlaen]

Can Steam use the CPU (QuickSync) for hardware encoding but still use my GPU (nVidia GTX 690) for processing?

I'm wondering about the added QuickSync hardware encoding feature...

[HantraxHat]

Vinlaen eredeti hozzászólása:

Can Steam use the CPU (QuickSync) for hardware encoding but still use my GPU (nVidia GTX 690) for processing?

I'm wondering about the added QuickSync hardware encoding feature...

QuickSync is used only for encoding the captured frames rendered by GPU.

[NeptNutz]

The launcher is crashing in Linux Mint 15 after today's Beta Update - March 18.

Linux Mint Debian, which was fine with yesterday's March 17 update, seems stuck in limbo, where the updater hangs at 17.49 MB.

[Ricky]

Great update. Bitrate of over 70mbps (some drops to 30mbps) with 35 of latency on macbook air (2011 - 2gb ram) pretty far. Using the asus rt66ac router.

My desk is a 3770k, 32gb ram, ATI 7950 etc.

Consider adding an option to cap ur bitrate to 30, 40, 50, 60... mb. So that you could have your image quality more stable.

Image quality is so good that now, if you enable it, ur macbook can get hot. Soon it will be as hot as if it was playing here (but waaay better looking =p) rofl. Bootcamp (windows 7) performance is still much better than mac os x. I can run 1080p - 30mbps, 60fps using only 800mhz of my cpu (limiting with throttlestop) and get abotu 70C only (6k rpm on the fan). If I try this on MacosX, the img gets choppy and much hotter (as u cant control ur cpu power usage).

Please think about all the HD 3000/4000 videocards out there on the decoding end of things - keeping low temps and etc (it seems you are tho, as the performance is great)

Trafic QoS is also great + the refresh rate back to normal.

ps: please try to get GW2 working =p (also sad that oblivions hangs on a black screen :()

Again, great update.

[Tsujigiri]

This last update is a huge improvement in latency and fluidity between my Windows and my Linux and in both ways (with default settings).

But i have no sound passing in either way, i can't say if it's since the last update because i had not tested sound before.

Edit: My ubuntu LTS 12.04 had no problem updating.

ReEdit: i tested Streaming thru two windows computer and i have sound, the problem is Linux based.

Request : be able to use the streaming client on a secondary monitor, actually it is forced to the primary desktop and it's annoying.
Request : be able to choose the audio device the streaming client is working with, actually it's forced to use default windows audio device and it's annoying.

[Scoop John B.]

XanderChaos eredeti hozzászólása:

Great update! For once, I don't feel the need to change any client settings away from their defaults. It just works.

Question: does the QuickSync encoding extend to rigs with dedicated GPUs? QuickSync encoding works like a charm on my Surface Pro 2, but it doesn't work on my i5-2500k/GTX770 setup. The Intel HD 3000 is powering one of my displays and a few encoding apps seem to be able to use QuickSync. However, when I stream games, I only get audio on the client. The logs reflect that too, as it doesn't list a capture method with hardware accelerated encoding on. Not sure what's going on.

Having the same problem

[NeptNutz]

"Guaca-MO-le!"

SteamOS>>W7 - PixelJunk Shooter. Controller did not pass through (first time this has happened). X360 controller registered fine on the W7 box. The SteamOS 360 controller, after multiple dongle resets,....went to user #4!!! Huh???

[note: need to post to SteamOS]

[GreyZ]

in my logs I am now seeing the following, but can't say I'm seeing any performance improvement, not sure if QuickSync is really utilized( I have a discrete GPU and a secondary monitor connected to the Intel 4600, so it works with other streaming options)

[2014-03-18 19:52:12] >>> Capture method set to Desktop DWM NV12 + Intel QuickSync D3D9
[2014-03-18 19:52:14] >>> Capture method set to Desktop BitBlt RGB + libyuv + Intel QuickSync D3D9
[2014-03-18 19:52:15] >>> Capture method set to Game D3D9 RGB + libyuv + Intel QuickSync D3D9
[2014-03-18 20:03:07] CDesktopCaptureDWM: desktop duplication enabled

[Bloodred]

Have a look at your CPU usage while streaming.

I've tested QuickSync and in Diablo 3 with QS my CPU usage dropped to like 25% (4770K, 4.3GHz) from ~50% with hardware encoding disabled. Performance was the same since I wasn't CPU bottlenecked anyway, but hardware encoding still showed a pretty significant reduction in CPU usage, so it's definitely working. When not streaming at all CPU usage is around 15%, so streaming + QS in my case adds around 10% CPU overhead, while not using QS adds around 35%. I'm impressed with it really, IHS is getting more and more awesome with each update.

[GreyZ]

Bloodred eredeti hozzászólása:

Have a look at your CPU usage while streaming.

I've tested QuickSync and in Diablo 3 with QS my CPU usage dropped to like 25% (4770K, 4.3GHz) from ~50% with hardware encoding disabled. Performance was the same since I wasn't CPU bottlenecked anyway, but hardware encoding still showed a pretty significant reduction in CPU usage, so it's definitely working. When not streaming at all CPU usage is around 15%, so streaming + QS in my case adds around 10% CPU overhead, while not using QS adds around 35%. I'm impressed with it really, IHS is getting more and more awesome with each update.

Ahh yep you are absolutely correct! Streaming State of Decay went from 50% CPU utilization on an i7 4770k @4.4 ghz down to only 30% utilization, definitely works well. thanks :)

[ratzeputz]

Host PC is with a 2600k and a GTX 670

Tested 2 Clients. Zotac ZBOX ID83 with an i3 and HD4000 with xUbuntu 13.10 and a Dell Vostro 3750 (i7 and Nvidia GT525m) with Ubuntu GNOME 13.10.
None of them are able to stream anymore, since the latest update.

When i start the stream, the clients changing to fullscreen and nothing happens.
I can hear sound on several games, but on none of them i can see a video.

Tried to change some settings (client and host settings) and on both clients, nothing changed.

So since update on march 18th, i cant use steam in-home streaming no more.

Also set up SteamOS yesterday on the ZBOX ... same behavier. Changing to fullscreen and nothing more happens.

[slouken]

ratzeputz: Can you post the last session from logs\streaming_log.txt on the host computer?

[Michael]

ratzeputz eredeti hozzászólása:

Host PC is with a 2600k and a GTX 670

I5 2500k/GTX760 here haven't seen any performance improvements across the beta.

Do you need drivers for this quicksync thing? I can't see any option to enable it.

edit: bunch of messages in the log about it not being able to create an nvblah blah interface - presumably shadowplay - is that the problem? does it need special shadowplay settings? Is there a problem with me having 2 monitors on the host machine?

The interface is crap. Don't hide what you're doing behind terse checboxes like "hardware encoding" that means nothing - do you mean GPU or CPU hardware encoding?. Which one does it use? How do you get it to pick one? How do you know if it's using one or not?

Oh, the error messages and logs need to be on the client, that's obviously the machine I'm using to play, but to see the exact error message -10 for the shadow play stuff I'd have to run back and forth between 2 rooms.

[Tsujigiri]

ratzeputz eredeti hozzászólása:

When i start the stream, the clients changing to fullscreen and nothing happens.
I can hear sound on several games, but on none of them i can see a video.

I have had the same problem and what i did is to click on the game on the server side to bring it to the client side:
I start Assault Androïd on linux and on the client side i'm still on desktop, to get the game display on the client i have to go the server and click with the mouse somewhere in Assault Androïd, then the client streaming activates.

Looks like a foreground window problem, thouh Assault Androïd is fullscreen on Linux server.

[Michael]

slouken eredeti hozzászólása:

• Fixed disabling hardware decoding using the 2' settings UI
  
• Border bars on a Mac Retina display now cover the entire extent of the monitor

March 17:

• Added hardware accelerated encoding via Intel QuickSync
  
• Added mouse emulation mode for controllers, toggled with Guide+A
  
• Revamped the streaming options UI, all settings have been reset to defaults
  
• Added an option to disable streaming
  
• Added a speed vs quality preference setting
  
• The stats overlay is now off by default and can be enabled in the advanced client options
  
• Added a 30 Mbit bandwidth option
  
• Unlimited bandwidth has been increased to 100 Mbit for those who want to live on the edge
  
• Added a setting to enable traffic QoS priority in the advanced host options
  
• Changed framerate limit back to the refresh rate instead of refresh rate - 1
  
• OpenGL games are now scaled correctly during capture

Enjoy!

[2014-03-19 07:47:03]
=====================================================================
Game: Portal 2 (620)
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] Recording on device: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] Audio client mix format:
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] format: 65534
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] channels: 2
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] samples/sec: 48000
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] bytes/sec: 384000
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] alignment: 8
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] bits/sample: 32
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] channel mask: 0x3
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] data format: {00000003-0000-0010-8000-00AA00389B71}
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] Initializing audio with 2 channels and 48000 samples/sec
[2014-03-19 07:47:03] CDesktopCaptureNV: Couldn't create NvFBC H264 interface: -10
[2014-03-19 07:47:04] CDesktopCaptureNV: Couldn't create NvFBC YUV interface: -10
[2014-03-19 07:47:04] CDesktopCaptureRF: Couldn't load RapidFireServer.dll
[2014-03-19 07:47:04] Detected 4 logical processors, using 2 threads
[2014-03-19 07:47:04] >>> Capture method set to Desktop DWM NV12 + libx264 main (2 threads)
[2014-03-19 07:47:08] >>> Capture method set to Game D3D9 RGB + libyuv + libx264 main (2 threads)
[2014-03-19 07:48:36] "SessionStats"
{
"TimeSubmitted" "1395215316"
"ResolutionX" "1920"
"ResolutionY" "1080"
"CaptureName" "Game D3D9 RGB + libyuv + libx264 main (2 threads)"
"DecoderName" "DXVA: H.264 variable-length decoder, no film grain technology"
"BandwidthLimit" "100000"
"FramerateLimit" "60"
"SlowSeconds" "5.018341064453125"
"SlowGamePercent" "100"
"SlowCapturePercent" "0"
"SlowConvertPercent" "0"
"SlowEncodePercent" "0"
"SlowNetworkPercent" "0"
"SlowDecodePercent" "0"
"AvgClientBitrate" "53.080772399902344"
"StdDevClientBitrate" "58.535400390625"
"AvgServerBitrate" "29809.181640625"
"StdDevServerBitrate" "265452.5"
"AvgLinkBandwidth" "520867.125"
"AvgPingMS" "0.64381051063537598"
"StdDevPingMS" "0.20235297083854675"
"AvgCaptureMS" "18.103065490722656"
"StdDevCaptureMS" "5.8994264602661133"
"AvgConvertMS" "1.4426674842834473"
"StdDevConvertMS" "0.17825454473495483"
"AvgEncodeMS" "16.766523361206055"
"StdDevEncodeMS" "10.215602874755859"
"AvgNetworkMS" "0.30874481797218323"
"StdDevNetworkMS" "0.086626917123794556"
"AvgDecodeMS" "9.0624446868896484"
"StdDevDecodeMS"

There's my log, why is the performance so bad? i5 2500k/gtx760 (client has e8400/hd6850)