Can I disable rescaling of a source window when it changes sizes on my desktop?

[calidus]

I am new to OBS.
I have found many similar questions, but the answers do not solve my problem.

What I am trying to accomplish:
I want my capture window to stay the same size. -----> Add a scale filter to make it a fixed resolution.
I do not want the image to rescale (stretch/squish) if I change the size of the source window.

The answer I'm given for this -is to use display capture instead of a window capture.
I don't want to do that because I want to be able to move the source window between monitors. My monitors run at different resolutions, so this creates a problem.

Is there a way to make the resolution of the capture window independant from the resolution of the source window - as if it was a display capture?

I understand it would likely behave differently than a display window, I'm not expecting a virtual display option to exist. Ex: I'm betting I couldn't drag it around inside the window capture - but that's fine.

Basically I want to lock out all possible rescaling - I will accept whatever behaviors come with that.
I'm not sure if this is possible, but it seems like a baseline function that should exist.

 

[rdot89]

My (limited) understanding of this is that a capture source (window, game etc) will scale in the OBS canvas to reflect the output it is capturing, as it is basing its data on the amount of pixels being captured.

This sounds very similar to a post recently submitted re: older game resolutions, where the user was having issues with the source constantly changing scale based on the software adjusting during different functions:

Post in thread 'Old game resolution issues'

Jan 17, 2026

There may be a more streamlined method to do this, but one thing you could try is:

1. Create a new Scene for the raw Gamepplay footage
2. Add your game capture source to this scene, and set it to Transform > Fit To Screen (Ctrl+F)
3. On the scene you actually want to use, remove the orginal gameplay capture and instead add a Scene Source... Choose the new RAW scene created instead of the original game capture source.

Because the Raw Scene uses the same canvas dimensions as your setup, the gameplay footage should - theoretically - continue to resize within that scene, but the source...

• rdot89

EDIT: Ignore the multiple scene suggestion in this post... that was specific for their needs, the steps to transform would syill apply in your scenario.

My suggestion there may also apply to you: tell the source to always Transform > Fit to Screen.

From there, adjust the source size to whatever scale/size you need it to be on the canvas and leave as-is: when you move the actual window/app to a different display it will retain its position in OBS's canvas.

Where this may not be suitable for you is if this is a app/window that you need to adjust the aspect ratio of constantly (ie a web browser that in a landscape aspect on one display, but portrait on another display) as this will create a "letterbox" effect on the source in OBS when it changes orientation... See my attatched screenshot where the red border of the source shows the blank space around the image, as its portrait aspect ratio does not match the rest of the landscape canvas aspect ratio.

I hope this helps!