Question / Help CBR vs. VBT?

n000bTV

New Member
Hey!

So I'm trying to stream to Twitch and I know that they recomend CBR but is VBR usefull for quality etc? (I see more and more people using VBR).
 
VBR can be unpredictable in bandwith. This can lead to stuttery playback or stream switching between choppy/smooth depending on how much data is needed to be sent. It gives better quality usually, but can produce high bitrate boosts that either drops you frames or annoys your viewers.
It's perfect for local recording though.
 

wallrik

Member
You should always stream in CBR if you're streaming to Twitch or other big services like that. The option is there for other uses though.

Twitch on CBR vs VBR

If you're looking at stats for a stream on Twitch and look at the playback rate you will see that it goes up and down quite a lot. That is not the same as VBR. The playback rate is the actual content being played back by your player. It will fluctuate a lot and has to do with buffered content. It is normal.

If you stream with x264 you can actually change the playback buffer size, but unless you know what you're doing I suggest that you keep it at the same as your bitrate (just keep the option unchecked in OBS).
 
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