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feat(presenter,docs): PyroWave mid-stream resize — HUD follows any mode switch; docs
- pf-presenter: the HUD/title mode line lived inside the match-window (D2)
  gate, so an accepted switch from any OTHER trigger (the
  PUNKTFUNK_DEBUG_RECONFIGURE lever, a host-side corrective rollback) left the
  label stale. Hoisted into its own per-iteration tick that runs whenever a
  stream is up.
- docs: pyrowave.md — the Automatic bitrate pin now follows a mid-stream
  resize; drop the "resolution changes rebuild the stream" limitation.

Completes the resize-rebuild work whose core landed in 9127c346
(video_pyrowave.rs sequence-header dims sniff + in-place decoder/plane-ring
rebuild with retired-ring lifetime handling, host per-mode ~1.6 bpp re-pin,
128px floor, debug reconfigure lever). On-glass validated on .21
(RTX 5070 Ti, Mutter virtual display): 1080p->720p and 1080p->1440p
mid-stream switches, lossless AND under 2% netem loss — decoder rebuilt in
place, 60 fps sustained (partials during loss), pinned rate re-resolved
199065->88473 / ->353894 kbps, HUD flips to the new mode.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-15 12:00:41 +02:00

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---
title: PyroWave (wired-LAN codec)
description: The opt-in ultra-low-latency wavelet codec for wired links — what it is, the bandwidth it needs, and how to turn it on.
---
PyroWave is an **opt-in** video codec mode for links that can afford real bandwidth: wired
Ethernet, a docked Steam Deck, a 2.5GbE LAN. It trades bitrate for latency — instead of
H.264/HEVC/AV1 on the GPU's video engine, frames are compressed with
[PyroWave](https://github.com/Themaister/pyrowave), an intra-only wavelet codec running as plain
Vulkan compute. Punktfunk vendors a pinned copy and runs it on both ends.
**It is never selected automatically.** HEVC/AV1 remain the codecs for Wi-Fi and everything
else; PyroWave engages only when *you* pick it on the client **and** the host supports it. If
either side can't, the session silently falls back to the normal codec ladder.
## Why you'd want it
- **Codec latency drops by an order of magnitude.** Encode and decode each take a fraction of a
millisecond of GPU compute (measured ~0.15 ms encode / ~0.07 ms decode at 1080p on an
RTX 5070 Ti), versus one-to-several milliseconds per side for the hardware H.26x pipelines.
- **Every frame is a keyframe.** There is no GOP, no reference chain, no keyframe round-trip
after packet loss — a lost frame costs exactly that frame, and the next one is already a
complete picture. The whole IDR/recovery apparatus that produces loss-time stutter simply
doesn't exist in this mode.
- **Uniform frame sizes.** The rate control hits its per-frame byte budget exactly, so the
pacer sees a flat load instead of 2040× keyframe spikes.
## What it costs
Bandwidth. At the codec's ~1.6 bits-per-pixel operating point (4:2:0, 60 fps):
| Mode | Bitrate |
|---|---|
| 1280×800 @ 60 (Deck) | ≈ 100 Mbps |
| 1920×1080 @ 60 | ≈ 200 Mbps |
| 2560×1440 @ 60 | ≈ 355 Mbps |
| 3840×2160 @ 60 | ≈ 800 Mbps |
120 Hz doubles these. Gigabit Ethernet tops out around 940 Mbps of payload, so 4K60 wants
2.5GbE (or a lower rate). **Do not run this over Wi-Fi** — that's what HEVC/AV1 are for.
Also: PyroWave is **8-bit SDR only**. An HDR session stays on HEVC/AV1 regardless of this
setting.
## Turning it on
1. **Host** (Linux): build/install a host with the `pyrowave` feature. On an NVIDIA host the
capture path additionally needs `PUNKTFUNK_ENCODER=pyrowave` in `host.env` for the codec to
be advertised; AMD/Intel hosts advertise it automatically when the feature is present.
2. **Client** (Linux session client with the `pyrowave` feature): set **Settings → Video
codec → PyroWave (wired LAN)** in the gamepad console, or launch with
`PUNKTFUNK_PREFER_PYROWAVE=1`.
3. Leave the bitrate on Automatic: a PyroWave session pins itself to the ~1.6 bpp rate for
your mode (≈200 Mbps at 1080p60). An explicit bitrate is honored if you set one, but the
adaptive-bitrate controller stays off either way — this codec has no useful low-rate
regime, so under sustained loss the right move is switching back to HEVC, not degrading.
The pin follows the resolution: a mid-stream resize (e.g. Match window) re-pins the rate
for the new mode, so resizing a window down also cuts the bandwidth.
The stats overlay shows `pyrowave` as the decode path when the mode is active.
## Current limits
- Linux host + Linux client (including docked Deck) today; the Windows host and the Apple
native port are tracked on the [roadmap](/docs/roadmap).
- 8-bit SDR, 4:2:0 only.