FPS

Frames per second (FPS) significantly impacts perceived smoothness in gaming. Moonbeam provides options to constrain the minimum and maximum FPS settings to consider before starting a Moonlight stream.

Note

Once the stream starts, the FPS rate remains static regardless of the option used.

Configuring

Note

If you don’t specify --max-fps, moonbeam automatically detects and uses your display’s refresh rate as the maximum FPS. This is ideal in most senarios.

Moonbeam offers two main approaches to constrain FPS optimization:

FPS Range

This will restrict Moonbeam to consider FPS values between 60 and 120 when launching Moonlight.

moonbeam --max-fps 120 --min-fps 60 stream MyHost "My Game"

Static FPS

To set a fixed frame rate, use the --fps option:

moonbeam --fps 60 stream MyHost "My Game"

Note

This setting is equivalent to the FPS option in the standard Moonlight client.

FPS Scaling

The --fps-steps option allows for more granular control over FPS optimization:

moonbeam --max-fps 120 --min-fps 30 --fps-steps 2 stream MyHost "My Game"

This option determines the number of intermediate FPS values Moonbeam will consider. Here are some examples:

1. --fps-steps 1 (default): FPS options are 30, 60, 120
2. --fps-steps 2: FPS options are 30, 40, 60, 80, 120
3. --fps-steps 3: FPS options are 30, 37, 45, 60, 75, 90, 120

Tip

Consider these trade-offs when choosing a step count:

• Lower step count (e.g., 1):

  • Less potential for screen tearing
  • Moonbeam may choose a lower framerate due to fewer options

• Higher step count (e.g., 2 or 3):

  • Higher risk of screen tearing
  • Potential reduction of precieved input latency

If you experience screen tearing with higher --fps-steps values, try adding Moonlight’s --vsync option:

moonbeam --max-fps 120 --min-fps 30 --fps-steps 3 --vsync stream MyHost "My Game"

This may help reduce screen tearing but could also affect responsiveness.

Best Practices for FPS Configuration

1. Match Your Display: Without specifying --max-fps, moonbeam will set the value to your display’s refresh rate.

2. Consider Your Network:

   • For stable, low-latency connections: Consider a higher FPS range for improved visual fluidity.
   • For high-latency connections (e.g., cellular networks or satellite internet): Use a lower FPS range (e.g., --max-fps 60 --min-fps 30) or omit FPS flags to allow automatic adjustment.

3. Flexible FPS Range: Using a wide FPS range allows moonbeam to find the ideal setting. For unstable connections, consider omitting FPS constraints entirely.

4. Balance FPS and Resolution: Higher FPS requires more bandwidth. Adjust both FPS and resolution based on your game’s needs and network capacity.

Caution

Setting an FPS higher than your display’s refresh rate or the game’s maximum FPS provides no visible benefit and may waste bandwidth. In such cases, moonbeam will likely automatically reduce the FPS to match your current display’s refresh rate.