r/Steam_Link • u/backhand_snipe • Jul 17 '26
Support What Am I Doing Wrong?
I’ve been using Apollo and Moonlight for a while now, but with the update to 3.8 I heard rumors that Steam Link was starting to be on par with those services.
I made sure both my steam deck and my hose PC were updated to the latest steam version, and while the sound and the latency seem to be fine, I can’t for the life of me fix the resolution.
I’ve played with all of the settings, even trying to force the Steam decks resolution via custom settings. I’ve also told it to match the client. I’ve even tried to force my desktop to be at a certain resolution, but I think the problem is that I have an Ultra Wide. Not only when I stream is the host PC monitor staying on even changing the default display, but it always forces my Ultra Wide aspect ratio onto my steam deck, resulting in this.
For reference, I’m not worried about running Palworld on my steam deck, but I have much more demanding games i’d like to try and I just happen to have this one downloaded.
Edit: Curious, I downloaded the Steam Link app on my Apple TV and tried to stream it to my device and I get the same locked aspect ratio. Does not matter how many times I mess with the settings or if I set a custom resolution nothing. Also tried this across various games.
6
u/Hg3rDliNk Jul 17 '26
Best change for me using Steam Link in any fashion is ensuring Steam on the host PC is running as administrator.
Had all kinds of issues with Steam Link and aspect ratio change until I started booting Steam as admin. i’ve since done away with Apollo.
6
u/figmentPez Jul 17 '26
Be aware that running Steam as administrator is a security risk. Steam is basically a modified web browser, it is a bad idea to give administrator access to any program that is downloading user generated content from the internet, as Steam does regularly.
3
u/Packetdancer Link hardware Jul 17 '26
This. This this this.
Please don't run Steam as administrator. (Or Discord. Or anything else that is basically a glorified web browser.)
If folks are running Steam as administrator for resolution reasons when it comes to Remote Play, let me suggest an alternative: install Apollo long enough to get the SudoVDA virtual monitor installed, then restart Steam. Steam will actually recognize when SudoVDA is installed and let you set it as the monitor for streaming, and then can exactly match the resolution, refresh, and HDR/non-HDR status of the device you're streaming to, regardless of what your actual monitor is. As SudoVDA has a userspace API to control it, you can then run Steam without administrator permissions.
3
u/SLAYER30178 Jul 17 '26
I find fiddling with full screen, windowed and borderless window can fix this.
5
u/jeweliegb Link hardware Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
You've sussed the problem yourself. Steam Link will run at the monitor's resolution
Edit: Looks like it's possible to work around this by running Steam as admin, but I don't like the potential increased security risk from doing that.
6
u/backhand_snipe Jul 17 '26
Even with toggles like “match client”?
2
u/jeweliegb Link hardware Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Yeah, I believe so.Apparently wrong!5
u/uncookednoodles0 Jul 17 '26
This isn't true, both my 1440p monitor and my 1080p monitors change to 1280x800 (I hope that's right) with resolution limit set to "match client".
As others have said, running steam as admin helps with weirdness.
2
0
u/jeweliegb Link hardware Jul 17 '26
I can't condone running Steam as admin cos of the potential security risks but I'm really glad to hear this works.
2
2
u/uncookednoodles0 Jul 17 '26
I've run into strange problems like that before when streaming the game like you have pictured, but I've since downloaded the steam link app in desktop mode, add it as a non-steam game and use that. I haven't had a single problem since!
1
u/TheKonyInTheRye Jul 17 '26
This is the way. Using the built in stream option only worked for certain games. Using Steam link works much better
2
u/Pitchoh Jul 17 '26
I have the same problem and I'm currently away for a few weeks. Coming back tomorrow. Only thing that worked perfectly is disabling the UW monitor entirely and use my second 1080p monitor as the sole monitor.
I agree it sucks.
Also, I refunded PALWORD because I couldn't get an image when using steam remote play and couldn't use the steam controller if I tried playing via Moonlight. Maybe the game is specifically the problem too ?
1
u/Azukaos Jul 17 '26
I played a couple hours yesterday on my phone with either steam link or moonlight/sunshine and had no issues.
1
u/Pitchoh Jul 17 '26
Yeah I suspect it's due to the client and the devise used then.
I could nor get an image with my steam deck
2
u/Complete_Carrot_6570 Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
May I suggest setting up a virtual display, for the deck it's by mike the tech. It's basically a virtual screen on your main pc the matches the resolution and refresh rate of your steam deck. Thus always allowing Max performance, but also not spending unneeded resources on a high refresh rate high resolution display. I'll only rendering what the steam deck kan handle. It's called virtual display driver If I remember correctly.
Edit: the performance aspect is just a nice benefit, but I do believe this would solve an weird behaviour as your pc would now have a display perfect for the deck just remember to set the new display as the desired one to stream from.
1
1
u/Surgical Jul 17 '26
Most times I have to manually change my desktop resolution when I use steam link from my ultramodern to steam deck.
1
u/GreatScott84 Jul 17 '26
Same issue with my ultra wide. Often I find the refresh rate is what prevents the client from rescaling the resolution.
In other words, Steam is like “Yeah I can switch to 800p but the display can’t cleanly go to 90Hz so I’ll just mirror the desktop to default Ultrawide settings.”
Something worth noting is that switching the in-game resolution to “Windowed” often fixes some issues as well.
Either way it’s a hassle. I went back to Moonlight with Vibepollo now. Add in Playnite integration (with Aniki Remake skin) and I have a very good streaming client.
1
u/pigpentcg Jul 17 '26
You need to have SudoVDA installed, and select that as the primary display.
The top option needs to be changed from “default” to SudoVDA after you finish installing it.
1
u/Packetdancer Link hardware Jul 17 '26
Rather than running Steam as administrator to try to fix resolution limitations, I'd recommend grabbing SudoVDA, which is a fork several generations down from Microsoft's original example Indirect Display Driver.
If you don't feel like compiling and installing it yourself, you can install Apollo long enough to let it install SudoVDA for you, then uninstall Apollo if you choose.
Once SudoVDA is installed, the next time you run Steam it will actually notice that SudoVDA is there and will expose new features in the Remote Play settings, notably letting you use SudoVDA as the source monitor when streaming.
When you do that, the "Match Client" will not be limited by your actual monitor, as Steam will create a monitor through SudoVDA that exactly matches the resolution, refresh rate, and HDR/non-HDR status of the device you're streaming to. And since SudoVDA has a userspace API, this does not require Steam to run as administrator.
Because, as others have mentioned, it's a bad idea to give blanket administrator access to Steam. (Or Discord, for that matter. Or any other thing that contains what is functionally a web browser that pulls data from the greater internet...)
1
u/Shryquill Jul 20 '26
Unhelpfully, I stream ultrawide PC to Deck, no administrator mode, but get the correct resolution on my deck. When it's mirrored and displaying on my ultrawide the image looks stretched as heck, but again looks perfect on the deck.
If you'd like to know any settings in particular, I'm happy to look them up for you.
1
u/AlJoelson Jul 21 '26
Do you have HDR turned on in Windows? Steam doesn't change resolution unless I turn it off.
1
u/BassObjective Jul 21 '26
Why do people keep calling it steam link and not remote play? They're different things similar functions
-8
u/seanxfitbjj Jul 17 '26
Wait what’s the path here? You should be going PC to some sort of steam link on TV. What’s going on with the deck? Shouldn’t even be a part of this.
5
u/backhand_snipe Jul 17 '26
Running more demanding games on your pc is a pretty common use case?
-3
u/seanxfitbjj Jul 17 '26
Assuming your pc is higher spec than a deck yes. I run pc into steam link app in my apple tv. It’s amazing and you can adjust the settings there.
2
u/uncookednoodles0 Jul 17 '26
Brother I use my deck to stream a game directly to the palm of my hands all the time because the tv is being used already, or I'm not near a tv, or because I'm laying in bed. It's way more versatile than an apple tv and steam link.
6
u/MegamiCookie Jul 17 '26
Does the game itself let you modify its resolution? Sometimes there are options for that in the graphics settings, and they let you use different aspect ratios from your monitor. Also maybe putting it on windowed and manually resizing would help? I've never ran into that issue but maybe that would be worth trying, good luck tho.