Key information
Valve has introduced Pyrowave, a video codec specifically developed for in-home game streaming, into the Steam client's beta feature for Remote Play. The updated technology aims to provide lower latency and a significantly cleaner image quality, though it comes at the cost of requiring between five and ten times more bandwidth than existing codecs.
The Pyrowave codec processes each frame independently rather than relying on motion prediction, utilizing GPU-based coding and decoding, full YUV 4:4:4 color, and HDR when supported by both host and client machines. Users can manually adjust the bandwidth from 100 Mbps up to 500 Mbps. However, Valve's own guidelines suggest that a gigabit-Ethernet network is required, as an underdimensioned network risks yielding no improvements in latency or quality.
Currently, the feature is optional and can be accessed through Steam's beta participation settings under the advanced Remote Play options menu. Linux users require the experimental SteamRT3 client to access it. The functionality is presently exclusive to desktop, targeting enthusiasts with fast, wired local networks rather than general Wi-Fi streaming.
