Stadia now offers 4K streaming through the Chrome browser

Up to this point, the only way to stream Stadia games at the highest quality available has been through a Chromecast Ultra hooked up to a TV. That is changing starting this week, with the latest Stadia update bringing ‘up to 4K and 60fps' streaming to the web version. 

Unfortunately, you still need to use the smartphone app to select your quality settings. However, those wanting to stream games via Chrome can now do it at much higher quality settings depending on your connection speed. This will be particularly good for those with high resolution monitors as you will be more likely to stream at native resolution rather than relying on upscaling.

I have primarily dabbled in Stadia using Google Chrome on a Windows 10 PC with a relatively standard 67Mb broadband connection. I fired up Borderlands 3 through Chrome for a quick test and the resolution was indeed vastly improved. Unfortunately in the case of Borderlands 3, your options are 1080p/60 or 4K/30, so those higher visuals do come at the cost of additional input lag and more regular freezing during gameplay.

There is still work to be done to get Stadia to where it really needs to be, but high quality streaming through Chrome is a step in the right direction.

KitGuru Says: One of the issues with Stadia at the moment is that the game listings aren't entirely upfront about maximum resolution or frame rate. In the case of Borderlands 3, your capped at 4K/30, while Destiny 2 caps out at 1080p/60. Being able to stream games at the best quality is all well and good but it is going to differ quite a bit from game to game. Hopefully this is an area that will improve over the course of this year. 

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