Differences in video quality within Preview and properties displays

[JohnDDM]

Hi All....
I wonder if anyone using MacOS can advise me on an issue of video quality that I can't seem to work my way around? I'm relatively new to OBS so please don't assume I know what I'm doing :-)

I'm setting up a Mac-based system (M1 inside) to make recordings only (no streaming at this stage) for tutorial-based materials. The system will be fairly simple - a single USB webcam and some screen captures, with combinations of these sources used in different scenes).

My issue is with the preview image I see from my webcam as is doesn't seem to reflect the actual quality that the webcam is outputting. I've attached a screenshot here which shows both the preview window (on the left) and the webcam's Properties window (on the right). The video quality/color balance, etc. looks great in the image on the right (and this quality reflects what I see from the webcam in other software such as QT, Facetime or Camo Studio)..... while the image on the left looks a lot worse (I have some background in photography; it looks not unlike a photo that has been extremely over-sharpened).

Any thoughts as to what the issue might be? I've spent quite a lot of time in the Settings dialog, adjusting settings within the Output (the Recording section mostly) and Advanced pages (the Video tab experimenting with the Color Format and Color Space options). The second of these does produces changes within the Preview window's video quality but not so that it gets any closer to matching what I can see in the Properties window.....

I'm kind of stumped and I expect my inexperience with the software is in need of some assistance from other MacOS/OBS users who might have experienced a similar issue?

With thanks..... John

For info, I've copied the URL to the latest log file in case that helps.....

https://obsproject.com/logs/AK5pqE21holra77M

 

[AaronD]

The Properties window is the raw input.
The Preview is the finished product, ready to send to the world.

From your log, you do have some filters in between:

10:59:08.696: Loaded scenes:
10:59:08.696: - scene 'Main Camera':
10:59:08.696: ... - source: 'macOS Audio Capture' (sck_audio_capture)
10:59:08.696: ... - source: 'TBone Mic' (coreaudio_input_capture)
10:59:08.696: ... ... - filter: 'Compressor' (compressor_filter)
10:59:08.696: ... ... - filter: 'Noise Suppression' (noise_suppress_filter)
10:59:08.696: ... - source: 'Razor Cam' (macos-avcapture)
10:59:08.696: ... - filter: 'Color Correction' (color_filter)
10:59:08.696: ... - filter: 'Sharpen' (sharpness_filter)

Also, I'd recommend putting the Noise Suppression first, so it works with the raw mic signal. The Compressor is constantly changing gain, which moves the noise floor all over the place, which messes with the way that noise suppression works.

And, since you have guitars and amps in the background:
Noise suppression is designed for spoken voice only. Anything else is considered noise to be removed. (imagine remoting into a conference, or streaming, from a hotel lobby with too-loud "background" music...) Lots of people have slapped it on without really understanding that, and wondered what happened to the music that they wanted, or a repetitive sound effect.

 

[JohnDDM]

The Properties window is the raw input.
The Preview is the finished product, ready to send to the world.

From your log, you do have some filters in between:


Also, I'd recommend putting the Noise Suppression first, so it works with the raw mic signal. The Compressor is constantly changing gain, which moves the noise floor all over the place, which messes with the way that noise suppression works.

And, since you have guitars and amps in the background:
Noise suppression is designed for spoken voice only. Anything else is considered noise to be removed. (imagine remoting into a conference, or streaming, from a hotel lobby with too-loud "background" music...) Lots of people have slapped it on without really understanding that, and wondered what happened to the music that they wanted, or a repetitive sound effect.

I told you I was new to this! Thank you so much your your reply. I must have added those filters to the scene at some stage very early in my experimentation with OBS and then simply forgotten I'd done so by the time I came to properly refine the video and audio quality for what I hoped to do. I then tried to resolve the issue by adjusting the Sources..... and not the Scenes.... Again, thank you so much for taking the time to help out a newbie - it really is appreciated; problem now solved, frustration over and I can move on with actually creating some content...... Very best wishes, John