Steam’s Pyrowave bitrate controls arrived alongside a striking estimate: roughly 125 Mbit/s at 720p and 300 Mbit/s at 4K. Those figures come from codec author Hans-Kristian Arntzen’s evaluation under a particular viewing-distance and image-quality setup—not from a universal Steam requirement or a test of every player’s live gameplay. Valve’s October 1, 2026 beta notes add @PyrowavePSNR and @PyrowaveHeightFactor to tune automatic bitrate calculation, and raise the manual ceiling to 1 Gbit/s.
What Steam’s new Pyrowave convars change
Steam’s October 1, 2026 beta notes say automatic Pyrowave bitrate calculation was improved and can be tuned with two convars: @PyrowavePSNR and @PyrowaveHeightFactor. The notes also raise the manual bitrate ceiling to 1 Gbit/s and say the Pyrowave bitrate was reset to its automatic default. These details come from a secondary transcription of the beta notes; check Steam’s current client notes for exact current behavior or wording. Steam Client Beta – October 1st.
In practical terms, the controls let users adjust the quality target and viewing-distance assumption that inform automatic bitrate selection. They do not mean every stream should be set to the maximum. The author’s 125–300 Mbit/s curve helps explain why Steam added tuning, but it is conditional on the evaluation setup.
Where the 125–300 Mbit/s range comes from
Arntzen’s evaluation estimates a bitrate curve of about 125 Mbit/s at 720p and 300 Mbit/s at 4K for H=2 and a target quality around 35 dB PSNR-HVS-M-H. In the author’s definition, H is viewing distance divided by the height of the active video area. At H=2, the bitrate curve flattens near 300 Mbit/s around 1440p rather than continuing to rise proportionally through 4K. The evaluation page does not state a publication year. Objective bitrate evaluation.
#1 Best Overall
- 1TB NVMe SSD
- 1280 x 800 HDR OLED display with premium anti-glare etched glass, 7.4" Diagonal display size up to 90Hz refresh rate
- Wi-Fi 6E
- 50Whr battery; 3-12 hours of gameplay (content-dependent)
- Carrying case with removable liner
That is an estimate for a defined quality curve and viewing geometry—not a minimum internet speed, a fixed recommendation, or a measured traffic guarantee for ordinary gameplay. At H=1, representing closer viewing, the author says much higher rates may be needed. Resolution alone is not enough to infer the appropriate bitrate.
What the evaluation tested—and what it did not
The sweep used challenging lossless 4K 4:4:4 clips from Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, Expedition 33, The Witcher 3, and Street Fighter 6. It examined 16:9 output resolutions from 720p through 4K, 4:2:0 and 4:4:4 chroma modes, 16 viewing distances, and a broad range of bitrates. Because of the computational cost, it sampled about ten representative frames from each game.
Rank #2
- International (UK) Version
- 7.4” diagonal, HDR OLED, 1280 x 800 x RGB, up to 90Hz Refresh rate, High performance touch, <0.1 ms Response time, 1,000 nits peak brightness (HDR), 600 nits (SDR)
- SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based)
- 512GB NVMe SSD, 16GB LPDDR5 on-board RAM (5500 MT/s quad 32-bit channels), microSD UHS-I supports SD, SDXC and SDHC
- 6 nm AMD APU, CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32
- Not all gameplay: A small set of frames from four clips cannot represent every game, scene, or motion pattern. The author also notes that one HEVC comparison clip had unusually low motion complexity.
- Not ultrawide: The sweep covered 16:9, not 21:9 or 32:9 aspect ratios.
- Not a full color-error measure: Its objective metric evaluates luminance error, so it cannot quantify the chroma benefit of 4:4:4.
- Not a controlled real-world codec comparison: The available evidence does not establish an independent, systematic head-to-head test of Pyrowave against HEVC, AV1, or competing streaming apps.
These limits matter when translating an objective curve into a setting: the results are useful context for how bitrate may scale under the stated conditions, not proof that a particular figure will produce the same image or latency on another setup.
How chroma mode changes the trade-off
Steam says Pyrowave’s optional 4:4:4 mode uses more bandwidth and processing and is off by default. In Arntzen’s evaluation, 4:4:4 required about 15–20% more bitrate than 4:2:0 to reach the same measured luminance quality. That comparison does not capture 4:4:4’s possible chroma-detail benefit, because the metric did not measure chroma errors.
Recommended Free Tools
Valve says HDR is automatic when both ends support it. For codec, HDR, and chroma behavior, consult Steam’s announcement: Pyrowave video codec now in beta!
Bandwidth is only one part of stream latency
Valve characterizes Pyrowave as using five to ten times the bandwidth of other streaming codecs and recommends wired Gigabit Ethernet. More bitrate can improve image quality, but Valve also notes that more bandwidth increases latency in its beta notes. A wired Gigabit connection is the directly supported network context; Steam does not say that Cat 6 cabling is specifically required.
Rank #4
- 【Upgraded】We sells product with professionally upgraded to 2TB SSD. Original Seal is opened for upgrade ONLY.
- 【Stunning 7.4" HDR OLED & 90Hz Motion】 Experience striking contrast and brilliant clarity with the all-new 7.4-inch HDR OLED display. Designed from the ground up for gaming, it features a 90Hz refresh rate for smooth motion and pure blacks. This handheld is capable of delivering an immersive visual experience, ensuring your Steam library looks better than ever with vibrant colors and amazing motion rendition.
- 【30-50% More Battery & Efficient Performance】 Play your favorites longer with up to 50% more battery life. By fitting a larger battery and a power-efficient OLED panel, this device provides extended gameplay sessions. It’s the perfect travel companion for long flights or commutes. The updated AMD APU ensures high-speed performance for AAA titles while maintaining incredible energy efficiency.
- 【3X Faster Downloads with Wi-Fi 6E】 Never wait for a game again. Equipped with Wi-Fi 6E, this Steam Deck OLED offers increased bandwidth and lower latency, delivering downloads up to 3 times faster than previous models. This ensures stable online play and rapid updates, making it the most reliable wireless gaming handheld for modern high-speed home networks.
- 【Responsive Touch & Enhanced Connectivity】 Enjoy a vastly improved touchscreen with higher fidelity and faster haptics. We’ve added a dedicated Bluetooth antenna to improve connections for multiple controllers. Whether using the built-in trackpads or the included external controller, this allows for precision play in everything from FPS to complex strategy games.
Codec processing is only one part of the delay. Valve describes total stream latency as “the time for encode + network + decode + display.” A codec that reduces one component does not automatically lower end-to-end latency if network transfer, decoding, or display time offsets that gain. Valve also cautions that a given setup may or may not benefit from Pyrowave. The Steam Remote Play performance graph can help inspect total latency on your own stream. Valve’s Pyrowave announcement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to try Pyrowave without guessing at a fixed target
Steam’s launch announcement says Pyrowave is not enabled by default and points users to Steam Remote Play advanced client settings. The launch announcement described automatic quality tuning, a quality slider, and manual bitrate control; its original 100–500 Mbit/s manual range was later superseded by the October beta-note ceiling of 1 Gbit/s.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Best Value
- 512 GB NVMe SSD: Fast storage for quicker game load times and space for larger game libraries.
- OLED Display: 1200x800 resolution with deep contrasts and vibrant colors for a captivating visual experience.
- Custom AMD APU: Power-efficient Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 GPU for desktop-level gaming performance.
- Expandable Storage: Add more space with a microSD card slot, ensuring you can bring even more games with you.
- Versatile Controls: With built-in thumbsticks, trackpads, and touchscreen controls, you have full control over your gaming experience.
- Check current availability. The launch announcement described beta availability on macOS and Windows, with Linux requiring the experimental SteamRT3 client and Steam Link mobile support described as forthcoming. That was the launch state, not a guarantee of current availability. Check the current Steam client notes and your Remote Play client.
- Open the client’s advanced Remote Play settings. Enable Pyrowave there if the option is available. Steam’s announcement points to the advanced client settings but does not provide a stable UI path that can be relied on across current versions.
- Start with automatic bitrate. The beta notes say the bitrate was reset to the automatic default. Use that as a baseline before changing the convars or manual bitrate.
- Inspect the performance graph. Note total latency while streaming the game and resolution you actually use; the result reflects your host, network, client, and display together.
- Adjust only when you have a reason. If image quality needs improvement and the wired network has capacity, test a higher setting incrementally. If latency rises or the stream becomes unstable, reduce bitrate or return to automatic. Do not treat the evaluation’s 4K estimate or the 1 Gbit/s ceiling as a prescribed setting.
Steam’s recommended wired Gigabit Ethernet connection is relevant if your existing network cannot sustain the stream. Check your current host-to-client link first; no particular cable category is specified as mandatory by Valve.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
