Game streaming to other Android devices or PCs with Moonlight and GeForce Experience

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cgutman

Senior Member
Aug 14, 2010
485
430
Regarding the figures of HW decoding lag of the Kobo it is completely aligned with my experience with TEGRA 4. My ZTE funbox is also 17ms.

17 ms is just over 1 frame. It's completely typical even for the best devices. Because of VSync and triple buffering from Project Butter, that extra frame of latency is there regardless of how fast the decoder is. I'm trying to figure a way around it.
 
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OpenBlade

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2014
82
16
sys/module/DC/parameters/no_vsync

Change from 0 to 1.


This disables VSync

17 ms is just over 1 frame. It's completely typical even for the best devices. Because of VSync and triple buffering from Project Butter, that extra frame of latency is there regardless of how fast the decoder is. I'm trying to figure a way around it.

Cameron, can you add 2k and 4k resolutions to the app ?

i added 2k myself, since my phone is an Note 4, but everytime you update i have to change it on Android studio :D

CgycKno.png
 
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jpeich

Senior Member
Apr 24, 2014
78
12
sys/module/DC/parameters/no_vsync

Change from 0 to 1.


This disables VSync



Cameron, can you add 2k and 4k resolutions to the app ?

i added 2k myself, since my phone is an Note 4, but everytime you update i have to change it on Android studio :D

CgycKno.png
That would be incredible! 4k! But has the encoder from GFE the ability to encode at such a high rate?
Does the V-SYNC help on the lag issue?

Thanks
 

OpenBlade

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2014
82
16
That would be incredible! 4k! But has the encoder from GFE the ability to encode at such a high rate?
Does the V-SYNC help on the lag issue?

Thanks

I don't see why not.

Apparently, this project butter function delays the screen composition to avoid screen tearing but at cost of higher latency :(
 

jpeich

Senior Member
Apr 24, 2014
78
12
I mean, we have control over the client app (limelight) but we don´t have complete control of server part (GFE) even although we can send some parameters: fps and resolution. That is why I think 1440p and 4k depends on GFE server only...
 

OpenBlade

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2014
82
16
I mean, we have control over the client app (limelight) but we don´t have complete control of server part (GFE) even although we can send some parameters: fps and resolution. That is why I think 1440p and 4k depends on GFE server only...

But there is no such settings on GFE. The client is who decide the resolution/fps.
 
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cgutman

Senior Member
Aug 14, 2010
485
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But there is no such settings on GFE. The client is who decide the resolution/fps.

Check out my wip_resolution_preferences branch. The reason I never merged it is because last time I tried it, GFE seemed to never set a resolution larger than the resolution of the physical screen. You'd get a 1440p stream, but it would just be scaled up 1080p if you've got a 1080p panel. It's very confusing behavior and I could never verify that GFE did things correctly.
 
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OpenBlade

Senior Member
Sep 4, 2014
82
16
Check out my wip_resolution_preferences branch. The reason I never merged it is because last time I tried it, GFE seemed to never set a resolution larger than the resolution of the physical screen. You'd get a 1440p stream, but it would just be scaled up 1080p if you've got a 1080p panel. It's very confusing behavior and I could never verify that GFE did things correctly.

What you mean by physical screen, the server or client screen ?
Cause i have a note 4, his native resolution is 2560x1440.
if you mean the pc monitor screen, we can easily hack through regedit.
 
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cgutman

Senior Member
Aug 14, 2010
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Good News about Qualcomm Decoder Latency

I found by luck that the SDP attributes on the new GFE beta 2.4.0.9 allow the client to adjust video slicing parameters. I've released a new build that enables slicing on GFE 2.4 to reduce latency of Qualcomm devices (hopefully back to 2.1.3 levels). It will also improve the latency on the Fire TV as it's also a Qualcomm device.

The build is rolling out on Play Store, waiting for review on Amazon store, and up on GitHub now.

Remember, you MUST have GFE beta updates turned on and be running GFE 2.4.0.9 or higher with Limelight v3.1.4.

You can enable beta updates for GFE on the Preferences tab in the General pane.
 

mrgoochio

Senior Member
Jun 17, 2011
65
2
I found by luck that the SDP attributes on the new GFE beta 2.4.0.9 allow the client to adjust video slicing parameters. I've released a new build that enables slicing on GFE 2.4 to reduce latency of Qualcomm devices (hopefully back to 2.1.3 levels). It will also improve the latency on the Fire TV as it's also a Qualcomm device.

The build is rolling out on Play Store, waiting for review on Amazon store, and up on GitHub now.

Remember, you MUST have GFE beta updates turned on and be running GFE 2.4.0.9 or higher with Limelight v3.1.4.

You can enable beta updates for GFE on the Preferences tab in the General pane.

Streaming over LTE with my nexus 6 on Verizon:

1080p/60fps
17ms hardware decoding latency. If I go to 720p/60fps or 1080p/30fps its even smoother :)
 

klauss_z

Member
Nov 19, 2014
9
0
I have connection problems. I use Java client for Mac OS X, it successfully pairs with my Geforce PC. But when I press Start Stream, I get a message "Geforce Experience 2.1.1 is required", though I have the newest version of Geforce Experience installed, 2.2.2.0. Please help :(
UPDATE: problem solved, just forgot to turn off Windows firewall at my host PC.
 
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razingstorm

New member
Nov 29, 2012
3
0
Windham
Ever since updating to Limelight's latest version on the Play Store, I cannot launch any game stream. I receive GFE error 521, and nothing happens on the host PC (you can see the streamer service daemons running though). My GEForce Experience version is 2.2.2. Updating to the 2.4.0.9 beta did not solve this, so I rolled back to 2.2.2. Driver is the Game Ready 347.88. This really sucks, I use this a lot...guess I better stop auto-updating Limelight.
 

cgutman

Senior Member
Aug 14, 2010
485
430
Ever since updating to Limelight's latest version on the Play Store, I cannot launch any game stream. I receive GFE error 521, and nothing happens on the host PC (you can see the streamer service daemons running though). My GEForce Experience version is 2.2.2. Updating to the 2.4.0.9 beta did not solve this, so I rolled back to 2.2.2. Driver is the Game Ready 347.88. This really sucks, I use this a lot...guess I better stop auto-updating Limelight.

Do you know which version you were running before it updated? I haven't made any changes that are likely to cause that error recently.

You can try older versions from the GitHub page. I'd recommend trying v3.1.2 then v3.1.3 to see if either works. https://github.com/limelight-stream/limelight-android/releases
 

klauss_z

Member
Nov 19, 2014
9
0
Remote gamestream to desktop

Is there any way to stream with Limelight to a remote Windows/Mac computer? Like on android devices? I found it can be done with VPN L2TP, but this is way too complicated.
 

ice2kewl

Member
Dec 3, 2009
6
0
General tips...

Hey guys, I've been trawling this thread looking for bits of info I can use to generally make my experience better. Currently I see 40-47ms hardware latency at 1080p60 compression. I'm positioned about 2/3 meters away from my router. I'm trying to reduce that as I use limelight for wireless VR gaming via the Trinus Gyre app.

I have a Note 3. I've just ordered an Asus RT-AC66U router to replace my current ISP provided router. I expect this to improve latency times (maybe not only due to the faster wireless speed but also due to the PC being hooked to a gigabit ethernet port?). Would this also resolve the 1 second stutter that I get every now and then? Or is that due to a Note 3 hardware limitation? Guess I'll find out truly when I receive and try the new router.

Going forward, which 5/5.5 inch smartphone would provide even less latency? Which processor should provide the best possible experience? Anyone tried the new Galaxy S6?

Thanks!

PS. Many thanks to the limelight devs for continued support.
 
Last edited:

cgutman

Senior Member
Aug 14, 2010
485
430
Hey guys, I've been trawling this thread looking for bits of info I can use to generally make my experience better. Currently I see 40-47ms hardware latency at 1080p60 compression. I'm positioned about 2/3 meters away from my router. I'm trying to reduce that as I use limelight for wireless VR gaming via the Trinus Gyre app.

I have a Note 3. I've just ordered an Asus RT-AC66U router to replace my current ISP provided router. I expect this to improve latency times (maybe not only due to the faster wireless speed but also due to the PC being hooked to a gigabit ethernet port?). Would this also resolve the 1 second stutter that I get every now and then? Or is that due to a Note 3 hardware limitation? Guess I'll find out truly when I receive and try the new router.

Going forward, which 5/5.5 inch smartphone would provide even less latency? Which processor should provide the best possible experience? Anyone tried the new Galaxy S6?

Thanks!

PS. Many thanks to the limelight devs for continued support.

If your Note 3 is Qualcomm-based, make sure you've upgraded to GFE 2.4.x. Nvidia just released GFE 2.4.1 to all non-beta users today. Beta 2.4.0.9 will also work.
 

razingstorm

New member
Nov 29, 2012
3
0
Windham
Fixed my streaming problem after reloading the PC for another reason. Limelight was fine, apologies for the false alarm...poor timing of other issues apparently.

Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA Free mobile app
 

packie11

New member
Mar 30, 2015
2
0
Android client - keep aspect ratio

Hi, I'm using Limelight Android client to stream old game. It works almost perfect, the only problem is with resolution and scaling. Game works in 640x480, and tablet scales it to stretched full-screen (17:10 I believe). Is it possible for Android client to scale stream while keeping aspect ratio? If it can't be configured, I don't mind changing something in client's code if it's something easy.
 

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    Please don't ask for Moonlight help on Nvidia's forums! It's not their responsibility to support this app. Ask on this forum, another non-Nvidia forum, by email, etc

    What happened to Limelight?/Why did you change your name?
    On April 21, 2015, we received a Cease and Desist letter from Limelight Networks, Inc. They also do streaming services and were concerned about confusion between this project and their company trademarks. To comply with the terms of their C&D, we've decided to rename our project to Moonlight.

    Quick Links
    Main website: https://moonlight-stream.org
    Help: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-docs/wiki/Setup-Guide
    Discord: https://moonlight-stream.org/discord
    PC GitHub project: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-qt
    iOS GitHub project: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-ios
    Android GitHub project: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-android
    Android GitHub releases page (APKs): https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-android/releases
    Embedded port (for Raspberry Pi and other embedded devices): https://github.com/irtimmer/limelight-embedded
    GearVR port (for GearVR devices): http://sideloadvr.com/detail.php?id=14

    iOS version
    The iOS port of Moonlight is now on the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/moonlight-game-streaming/id1000551566

    Windows, Mac, and Linux port
    PC port binaries: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-qt/releases
    PC port source: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-qt

    Moonlight for Chrome OS
    Download the latest version from the Chrome Web Store.

    General Streaming Latency Information
    The latency of streaming is dependent on the device you're streaming to and the network you're streaming over. Different devices have different H.264 hardware decoding latency. After streaming, a toast will show up with latency numbers. It will show the total client latency and the portion of the total client latency spent waiting for the hardware decoder. Note that the total client latency does NOT include network latency, so the real latency is higher than the number you see. The total client latency is a measure of the time that the first packet in a frame is received to the time that the frame is released for rendering on screen.

    Anecdotal Hardware Decoder Latency Numbers
    These are some latency numbers (from memory) I've seen on my test devices as of Moonlight Android 4.0.1. I'll try to keep updating this as I test.

    Tier 1 devices:
    Tegra 4 - Nvidia Shield - 5 ms - 1080p60 supported
    Intel Atom/Bay Trail/Moorefield - Nexus Player - 8 ms - 1080p60 supported (may need a USB OTG Ethernet adapter for consistent performance)
    Razer Forge TV - 10 ms - 1080p60 supported - H.265 supported
    Tegra X1 - SHIELD Android TV - 10 ms - 4K60 supported - H.265 supported in hardware but needs changes in Moonlight to work well
    Tegra K1 - Nexus 9 - 15 ms - 1080p60 supported
    Tegra 3 - OUYA and Nexus 7 (2012) - 17 ms - 1080p60 supported

    Tier 2 devices:
    Broadcom VideoCore IV - Fire TV Stick - 20 ms - 720p60/1080p30 supported
    Exynos 7420 - Galaxy S6 - 20 ms - 1080p60/4K30 supported - H.265 supported
    Snapdragon S4 Pro (rebranded 600) - Nexus 7 (2013) - 20 ms - 720p60/1080p30 supported
    Snapdragon 801 - HTC One M8 GPE - 20 ms - 1080p60 supported
    Snapdragon 800 - Nexus 5 - 20 ms - 1080p60 supported
    Snapdragon 600 - Fire TV (2014) - 30 ms - 720p60/1080p30 supported

    Tier 3 devices:
    MediaTek devices - Fire TV (2015) - 55 ms - 1080p60 supported - H.265 supported

    Adding games/apps that aren't automatically found
    You can stream any almost any game or app by adding the EXE file to GFE manually (if it's not found by the automatic app scan). Open GeForce Experience, click the Preferences tab, click GameStream on the sidebar, then click the add (+) button on the right. Browse to the app or file you want to add and click OK. You can rename the app using the edit button on the right (near the add button).

    Using Moonlight as a remote desktop solution
    You can stream the entire Windows desktop via Moonlight. Follow step 2 from this guide

    Streaming over the Internet
    Install the Moonlight Internet Streaming Helper on your host gaming PC to enable streaming over the Internet. If your router supports UPnP, you won't need to make any manual changes.

    If the above tool isn't able to enable Internet streaming automatically or your router doesn't support it, forward these ports manually:
    TCP 47984, 47989, 48010
    UDP 47998, 47999, 48000, 48010

    General requirements for current APK:
    SoC capable of decoding H.264 High Profile in hardware (Snapdragon, Exynos, Tegra 3 or higher, Rockchip, and more)
    Android 4.1 or higher
    GeForce Experience with a GTX 600/700/800/900 GPU or GTX 600M/700M/800M (GT-series not supported)
    Xbox, PS3 (with SixAxis app), Moga (B/HID mode), Shield, or Ouya controller (other controllers may work too in HID mode)
    Mid to high-end wireless router (preferably dual-band 802.11n or better)
    Good wireless connection to your Android device

    Troubleshooting tips:
    1. Make sure GeForce Experience is open, up-to-date, and that you've scanned for games.

    2. Make sure your device is on the same network as your computer for initial pairing.

    3. Try disabling any firewall software running on your machine.

    4. Try rebooting your machine. Sometimes the streaming software gets into a messed up state where it won't work normally until the machine is rebooted.

    5. Make sure your Android device has a strong wireless connection (and your PC too, if it's connected wirelessly).

    6. For Internet streaming, make sure to install Moonlight Internet Streaming Helper on your host gaming PC, then run the Moonlight Internet Streaming Tester that it installs to troubleshoot further.

    7. To check if GFE is working properly, try navigating to the following URLs on your GFE PC:
    http://127.0.0.1:47989/serverinfo?uniqueid=1234
    https://127.0.0.1:47984/serverinfo?uniqueid=1234

    For those with latency issues, please see this post.

    Device-related issues
    Depending on the wireless chipset on your phone/tablet, you may have a bad streaming experience if Bluetooth is active while streaming. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about this. If you experience significant connection degradation with a Bluetooth controller connected, you could try connecting the controller to your PC (see the section above), a USB Ethernet adapter, or controller that connects directly to your Android device (assuming your Android device supports USB OTG)

    Older Changes:

    Update 12 - March 13, 2014:
    Significant video quality improvements. Lower video latency. New UI that makes it easier to choose the best streaming settings. Transient messages are displayed while streaming if network or device problems are detected.

    Update 11:
    Tegra hardware decoding latency bug is fixed. Hardware decoding is now used by default on Tegra and Rockchip devices. Performance is vastly improved on Tegra devices (1080p60 decodes in real-time, even on Tegra 3). The parser bug causing additional artifacts and image corruption is (finally) fixed.

    Update 10:
    Added options to force either hardware or software decoding. Reduce audio decoding CPU usage. Fix image quality and performance regressions from update 9.

    Update 9:
    Reduced CPU usage of video decoding. Added options to choose target resolution (720p or 1080p) and FPS (30 or 60).

    Update 8:
    Added a checkbox to choose image quality vs performance (only for CPU decoding). Optimize CPU decoding further. The frame rate is now playable on the Ouya with its Tegra 3..

    Update 7:
    Connectivity issues should be resolved now. Update to the latest APK if you were experiencing connection failures with the last couple of releases.

    Update 6:
    There's now GUI feedback when connecting. The whitelist for hardware decoding (that only included Qualcomm decoders) has now been replaced with a blacklist (currently containing TI and Nvidia decoders). The Exynos decoder in Exynos 5 Octa has been confirmed to work.

    Update 5:
    The app will now request a new reference frame if packet loss occurs on the video stream. This means that the stream will recover from blockiness and artifacting that occur when video packets get lost. CPU decoding for non-Snapdragon devices is a bit better. Fixed back button on Shield.

    Update 4:
    Added multithreaded CPU H264 decoding support for non-Snapdragon devices with ffmpeg. Both landscape orientations now work. This grows the APK significantly so don't be alarmed when this download is larger than previous builds.

    Tegra 4 is now very smooth in the games I've tested. Tegra 3 works significantly better than before, but still not perfect (and won't likely ever be as smooth as Snapdragon or Tegra 4).

    For Qualcomm devices, a dual-core SoC (even as old as Cortex-A8 stuff) is sufficient due to the hardware decoder. For other devices, CPU decoding will now be used. These devices will need more CPU horsepower (a quad-core Tegra 3 is almost enough).

    Look forward to keyboard support and a better GUI coming in the next several days.

    Update 3:
    Frame pacing improvements for Snapdragon and Tegra devices, although Tegra still has more latency than Snapdragon devices. If you have issues with blockiness or discoloration in the video stream, make sure that you have a good wireless connection. Moonlight doesn't currently deal with packet loss as well as the Shield streaming app.

    Update 2:
    PS3, Xbox, Shield, and Moga Pro controllers are working with the latest APK.

    Update:
    Audio is now working. Video is working pretty well on Snapdragon devices (with some lag on Tegra devices). I've attached the current APK here for those that want to test. Due to the framework we're using for video decoding, this app requires Android 4.1 or higher. This is still in alpha so expect bugs.

    Original post:
    Here is a demo of a WIP app that uses the same Shield streaming technology to stream to any Android device. Controller and mouse input works. Keyboard input isn't implemented yet. Video support works (minus some artifacts at rare points and minor frame pacing issues). Audio doesn't work yet (not sure what format it is).

    We've had success with very low H264 decoding latency on Snapdragon S4 Pro/600 devices (like the 2013 Nexus 7 and HTC One), but the Tegra 3/4 decoder has a high latency per frame (~1 second) that makes streaming more laggy on devices like the Ouya, 2012 Nexus 7, and even the Shield itself.

    The next big step to a release-ready app is audio support (and the obligatory code cleanup). I'd be happy to respond to any questions about the way the app or the GFE streaming protocol works. If there's significant interest in this, I'll try to put more time into finishing it ASAP.


    Demo video (a bit old now):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VOti83qZRU

    Downloads:
    I'd recommend downloading the app from the Play Store. Updates are automatically applied through the Play Store when they are released. Crash reports also get to us automatically if you use the Play Store version and click the Report button if Moonlight crashes.

    Google Play Link

    Sometimes APKs are more convenient for sideloading and other things, so they will continue to be posted.

    You can find the latest APKs on the GitHub page here: https://github.com/moonlight-stream/moonlight-android/releases
    6
    Moonlight Chrome Test Build (Alpha 1)

    Since there seems to be some interest in this Moonlight port for Chrome, I've decided to put a binary up for testing. Please report your thoughts on it.

    Working:
    - Pairing and streaming
    - Hardware accelerated video decoding up to 1080p60
    - Game controllers (currently limited to those for which Chrome has a built-in mapping, like Xbox and DualShock controllers)
    - Keyboard and mouse input (with the caveat of Esc kicking the app out of full screen)

    Not working:
    - No feedback when starting a stream - just be patient and wait for the video stream
    - mDNS auto-discovery of PCs
    - (Very) Non-final UI
    - A few settings are missing
    - Error handling needs work
    - Controller detection can be wonky at times (try fully exiting and restarting Chrome)

    To install, drag the CRX file into the Extensions (Menu -> More Tools -> Extensions) page of Chrome.

    To launch, use Chrome App Launcher, the Extensions page, or just search for Moonlight on your PC and you should see it installed like a normal program.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/ml92xvot25yn23x/moonlight-chrome.crx?dl=0
    6
    Good News about Qualcomm Decoder Latency

    I found by luck that the SDP attributes on the new GFE beta 2.4.0.9 allow the client to adjust video slicing parameters. I've released a new build that enables slicing on GFE 2.4 to reduce latency of Qualcomm devices (hopefully back to 2.1.3 levels). It will also improve the latency on the Fire TV as it's also a Qualcomm device.

    The build is rolling out on Play Store, waiting for review on Amazon store, and up on GitHub now.

    Remember, you MUST have GFE beta updates turned on and be running GFE 2.4.0.9 or higher with Limelight v3.1.4.

    You can enable beta updates for GFE on the Preferences tab in the General pane.
    5
    Another GFE 2.1 status update: success!

    I've figured out secure pairing and encrypted input (required for GFE 2.1) and implemented them in Limelight-common. There's just a bit more work to do for platform-specific support (certificate and private key generation and storage) on Android and PC. My PoC code was able to stream from a GFE 2.1 box over the Internet to a custom version of Limelight-PC.

    I'm off for some much needed rest (4:54 AM here), but we're on the home stretch. Expect a release for Android and PC in the next day or so.

    Update: It's done! Limelight Android version 2.3 is rolling out on the Play Store, waiting for approval on the Ouya store, and posted https://github.com/limelight-stream/limelight-android/releases. Limelight PC is released too https://github.com/limelight-stream/limelight-pc/releases
    5
    Moonlight Chrome Test Build (Alpha 2)

    Changes from Alpha 1:
    - Fixed Esc key kicking the app out of full-screen (press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Q to quit)
    - Fixed sometimes requiring a restart of Chrome for gamepad detection to work
    - Added mDNS auto-discovery of PCs

    Working:
    - Pairing and streaming
    - Hardware accelerated video decoding up to 1080p60
    - Game controllers (currently limited to those for which Chrome has a built-in mapping, like Xbox and DualShock controllers)
    - Keyboard and mouse input
    - mDNS auto-discovery of PCs

    Not working:
    - No feedback when starting a stream - just be patient and wait for the video stream
    - (Very) Non-final UI
    - A few settings are missing
    - Error handling needs work

    To install, drag the CRX file into the Extensions (Menu -> More Tools -> Extensions) page of Chrome.

    To launch, use Chrome App Launcher, the Extensions page, or just search for Moonlight on your PC and you should see it installed like a normal program.

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19391088/moonlight-chrome-alpha2.crx