I built an open source Steam Link app for Samsung TVs

Play the games on your PC or Steam Deck on a Samsung TV. Tizen Steam Link is an unofficial Steam Link app for Samsung TVs and smart monitors on Tizen 5.5 or later (2020 models on). It uses Steam Remote Play, the same protocol as Valve's own Steam Link app.

The app finds the computers running Steam on your network and pairs with each one through a PIN. It streams with the TV's hardware video decoder. Controllers, keyboards and mice plugged into the TV go through to the computer.

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve.

A Samsung TV or smart monitor on Tizen 5.5 or later.

A computer with Steam running and logged in, and Remote Play turned on (Steam, Settings, Remote Play), on the same network as the TV.

A computer to install the app from, with Apps2Samsung.

A controller for playing. The TV remote works for the menus.

Install

These are the main steps. docs/install.md goes through each one, and what to do when one fails.

Select your computer. The TV shows a four-digit PIN, and Steam opens a dialog on the computer that asks for it. Type the PIN there.

Select the computer again to start streaming. The stream opens in Steam's Big Picture mode, which is made for a controller and a TV.

To With the remote With a controller

Move around the menus Arrow keys D-pad or left stick

Select OK A

Go back Back B

Forget the selected computer Red (A) X

Open the stream menu Hold Back LB + RB + View + Menu

Show or hide the stream statistics Red (A), during a stream From the stream menu

Send Escape to the computer Press Back briefly

Show the app's log Blue (D)

During a stream every other button goes to the game. Keyboards and mice plugged into the TV work as they would on the computer; click the picture to capture the mouse. A controller buzzes briefly when the TV first sees it.

Hold Back during a stream to bring up the menu. While it is open, the remote and the controllers drive the menu instead of the game.

Type text opens the TV's keyboard and sends what you type to the computer, as if you had typed it there. Steam's own on-screen keyboard in Big Picture works too.

Wi-Fi loses packets now and then. This is how the app handles it:

In tests over Wi-Fi from a Steam Deck, H.264 kept going where HEVC froze, so H.264 is the safer choice on Wi-Fi.

What you see What to do

The computer doesn't show up Check that Steam is running and the firewall lets the TV in. You can also add it with Other computer, by its IP address.

"This device is not paired with the host" Steam forgot the TV. Select the computer and pair again.

Sound but a black picture, from a Linux computer Steam started the usual way can't capture a Wayland desktop (sway, for example). Steam's log suggests starting it with steam -pipewire.

The app stops opening after a TV update The update turned Developer Mode off. Turn it on again and reinstall, as in docs/install.md.

Anything else Press the blue key to see the app's log.

More

docs/install.md: installing step by step, and fixing a failed install.

docs/how-it-works.md: how the app streams, and how it copes with lost packets.

docs/development.md: building, testing, releases, the desktop client tsl-cli, and debugging on the TV.

License

GPL-3.0 (see LICENSE). ihslib is LGPL-3.0, mbedTLS is Apache-2.0, and Opus and protobuf-c are BSD licensed. The Figtree font in web/fonts is under the SIL Open Font License (web/fonts/OFL.txt).