Question / Help Dropped Frames To Twitch

[cmcigas]

Hey everyone,

My issue is that I am having dropped frames, OBS shows none, but in the video stats for twitch I had quite a few per 5 minutes of being live.

I'm using an Elgato HD60 which I know isnt the best being external. Im using my EVGA 970 for the encoding, so the Nvidia NVENC. I did have a max bit rate or 3500 but lowered it 3k just to test. My upload speed it 35mbps so it can handle it. Streaming at 720p 60fps.

I havent tested on 30fps though.

Like I said OBS isnt picking up the frame drops but I can see the stream skipping in my dashboard.

Is there anything else I can try?

Thanks

 

[FerretBomb]

There are upstream frame drops which are reported by OBS, and you can control.

There also are downstream frame drops, which are in the bitstream coming from the Twitch server, and depend entirely on your route to the Twitch video server. Having a 100mbps downstream connection does not mean that you will have a 100mbps connection to the Twitch server. It doesn't even guarantee a 2mbps connection to that server.

This is one of the reasons why it is strongly recommended that non-partners NOT exceed 2000kbps bitrate.

It allows you to minimize the throughput needed from the Twitch servers, increasing the likelihood that no frames will be dropped, and moreso that your viewers will not buffer (much?). Twitch released user metric data showing that 2000 was the sweet spot where most people could watch smoothly... even going to 2500kbps increased viewer buffering significantly. At 3000 or even worse 3500, most of your viewers will be straight into buffering hell, and instantly leave.

Also, NVENC is a crap-quality encoder. It delivers ridiculously bad quality and is only used for local recordings, or to act as a band-aid for people trying to stream on an i3 or worse to allow them to stream at all. Don't use it. It requires a MOUNTAIN of bitrate not to look like complete trash. Which you have available when just recording to local disk, but cannot afford while livestreaming (to Twitch, at any rate).

 

[cmcigas]

There are upstream frame drops which are reported by OBS, and you can control.

There also are downstream frame drops, which are in the bitstream coming from the Twitch server, and depend entirely on your route to the Twitch video server. Having a 100mbps downstream connection does not mean that you will have a 100mbps connection to the Twitch server. It doesn't even guarantee a 2mbps connection to that server.

This is one of the reasons why it is strongly recommended that non-partners NOT exceed 2000kbps bitrate.

It allows you to minimize the throughput needed from the Twitch servers, increasing the likelihood that no frames will be dropped, and moreso that your viewers will not buffer (much?). Twitch released user metric data showing that 2000 was the sweet spot where most people could watch smoothly... even going to 2500kbps increased viewer buffering significantly. At 3000 or even worse 3500, most of your viewers will be straight into buffering hell, and instantly leave.

Also, NVENC is a crap-quality encoder. It delivers ridiculously bad quality and is only used for local recordings, or to act as a band-aid for people trying to stream on an i3 or worse to allow them to stream at all. Don't use it. It requires a MOUNTAIN of bitrate not to look like complete trash. Which you have available when just recording to local disk, but cannot afford while livestreaming (to Twitch, at any rate).

Thanks for the reply! I switched the encoder back to my CPU and later on Ill try doing the 2k bitrate.

I was curious as to why my twitch recordings on past broadcasts had no skips, and Im guessing thats just because its not a live stream?

Thanks for your help, Ill give this a shot later on

 

[cmcigas]

So its definitely better with changing those settings. In 30 minutes I dropped 800 frames though still according to twitch. I dont see it since its like 1 a sec but I guess I cant do anything about that?