# Capturing 2 monitors at once?



## Blackink (Jan 12, 2021)

I was wondering how, if it's possible, to capture (record) 2 PC monitors at the same time so that if I am recording something, that both monitors will be recorded at the same time in 1 OBS screen?
I've looked through some of the Wiki links but I'm not finding what I need, or I don't understand what it is I need to look for to better understand how it's done.

I'll post a log file if needed but right now, I don't have a problem with setting OBS up on a new PC, I just was hoping there was a way to record 2 monitors at the same time so when I play back the recording, I would see what was recorded from the monitor on the left and from the monitor on the right all on one OBS video.

Thanks,
Steve in Central Vermont


----------



## koala (Jan 12, 2021)

If you want to record 2 1920x1080 monitors at the same time in the same video, you can set the canvas and output resolution in OBS to 3840x1080. Then add 2 display captures to your scene, one for each monitor. Put the source for the left monitor on the left half of the canvas, and the other source to the right. Voilà, you have a video with both monitors.


----------



## Blackink (Jan 12, 2021)

Thanks koala, I'll let you know how it goes!


----------



## Blackink (Jan 12, 2021)

koala said:


> If you want to record 2 1920x1080 monitors at the same time in the same video, you can set the canvas and output resolution in OBS to 3840x1080. Then add 2 display captures to your scene, one for each monitor. Put the source for the left monitor on the left half of the canvas, and the other source to the right. Voilà, you have a video with both monitors.



OK, it worked! Like a charm...
You have no idea how great this makes me feel!!

Once again.....top shelf support from the OBS Forums!!!

Thanks,
Steve


----------



## TrebleMDS (Sep 5, 2021)

Ik this is an old-ish thread but what should the bitrate be set to when recording side by side do we need to up the bitrate (if not using cqp) if we want our webcam on the side with gameplay on the other?


----------



## FerretBomb (Sep 5, 2021)

TrebleMDS said:


> Ik this is an old-ish thread but what should the bitrate be set to when recording side by side do we need to up the bitrate (if not using cqp) if we want our webcam on the side with gameplay on the other?


If you are recording, you should always be using CQP or CRF (depending on your encoder), not a set bitrate. CBR is only used while streaming because the infrastructure _requires _it. It is the worst method for local recording, both wasting bitrate on low-motion scenes and choking on not enough bitrate for high motion scenes.

And yes, more pixels means more bitrate is needed to maintain the same image quality. Literally double in the case above.


----------



## alleusai (Jan 14, 2022)

Hi,
I resume this post for asking help on how to set up recording. I have two full HD monitors with 1920x1080 resolution. I set the canvas and output resolution to 3840x1080. What are the settings I should use to get a good quality recording? At the moment the output quality I have is very poor quality and blurry.
Thanks in advance,
Alessandro


----------

