OVERSteam's October 22 beta client revamps Remote Play HDR and turns it back on for Steam Deck OLED
Valve pushed a new Steam Client to the Beta and Preview channels on October 22, and nearly all of it is about one thing: HDR in Remote Play. The update reworks how HDR streaming is switched on, adds HDR capture on more host systems, and brings it back to the Steam Deck OLED, where it had been removed because of problems.
What's new
- A new advanced client setting for HDR with three modes: Automatic (on when HDR content is playing), On (always on, which also lets SDR content run brighter) and Off.
- A brightness slider in the streaming overlay.
- HDR capture now works when streaming from desktop Linux using PipeWire and from macOS, on top of the existing support for HDR games and the Windows desktop.
- HDR is enabled again on Steam Deck OLED.
- HDR works on Android phones running Android 15 or newer with the beta Steam Link app.
Why it matters for handhelds
The Steam Deck OLED has an HDR screen, so streaming an HDR game from a gaming PC to it should look closer to playing locally. The Android change matters for Android handhelds too: devices on Android 15, such as the AYN Odin 3 and the new Odin 3 Portal, may be able to stream HDR from Steam with the beta Steam Link app, as long as their screens and Android builds support HDR output. Valve's note only says Android 15 phones, so we'll update our compatibility reports once owners confirm it on handhelds.
How to try it
On a Steam Deck, go to Settings → System and set the Steam Client Update Channel to Beta, then restart. On a PC, open Steam's Settings, go to Interface and pick the beta under Client Beta Participation. For Android, join the Steam Link beta through its Google Play testing page linked in Valve's notes. Beta builds can have bugs, so switch back to stable if streaming misbehaves.