Question / Help Improving Quality

[inverses]

Hey Jim/staff.

Ended up replacing my GPU with a new one.. I wrote a previous thread on where I had issues on streaming. So now I'm able to stream, but I want to be able to stream at really good quality. I have attached a log with a bunch of test streams I tried out.

In addition, here are some of the twitch links of how it looks.

http://www.twitch.tv/versecity/b/574938072 1080p 30fps

http://www.twitch.tv/versecity/b/574946335 1080p 60fps

Sometimes when I move around it becomes like.. distorted i think? (maybe im just being a bit too picky & english is not my main language exactly lol) (you can check through the vods)

I tried ending up streaming in different aspects too; maybe even thought about switching the preset that I am streaming at but not sure where else to go with it.

i7 4770k
970 GTX MSI
8gb RAM

Let me know if there's anything else I can do to provide more information.

 

[Aeladya]

Are you trying to stream over wireless? If so that could be the problem. If you can't be physically closer to the router, try buying one of these devices. You will get two in a pack, one connects to the router the other to your computer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704165

I can say without a doubt that these work perfectly as my dad doesn't like wires running around the house so I bought one of these and it fixed the problem. If you are dropping frames and are wireless and as I said cannot be closer to the router then this device will fix your problem.

 

[inverses]

Are you trying to stream over wireless? If so that could be the problem. If you can't be physically closer to the router, try buying one of these devices. You will get two in a pack, one connects to the router the other to your computer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704165

I can say without a doubt that these work perfectly as my dad doesn't like wires running around the house so I bought one of these and it fixed the problem. If you are dropping frames and are wireless and as I said cannot be closer to the router then this device will fix your problem.

I am not streaming using a wireless network. I have a D-Link Ethernet switch that I use -- so I am wired. I plug it in which runs through the wall then into the basement router. All wired.

 

[Aeladya]

Possible slow server

The server you are streaming to (rtmp://live-jfk.twitch.tv/app) took 527 ms to connect. This may mean your connection or the server is slow, or the server is far away from you. If you are using twitch.tv, you may want to try using JTVPing to find an optimal server.

1080p60 not recommended

Streaming at 60 FPS in 1080p or higher is not recommended. This will cause a large strain on your viewers ability to view the stream due to the high decoding requirements. For better results, try 720p60 or 1080p30.

Bad resolution / FPS / bitrate combination

The combination of settings you are using will likely lead to a low quality stream with artifacting and other problems. Consider either raising your bitrate or lowering your resolution / FPS (qval: 0.028)

 

[inverses]

Possible slow server

The server you are streaming to (rtmp://live-jfk.twitch.tv/app) took 527 ms to connect. This may mean your connection or the server is slow, or the server is far away from you. If you are using twitch.tv, you may want to try using JTVPing to find an optimal server.

1080p60 not recommended

Streaming at 60 FPS in 1080p or higher is not recommended. This will cause a large strain on your viewers ability to view the stream due to the high decoding requirements. For better results, try 720p60 or 1080p30.

Bad resolution / FPS / bitrate combination

The combination of settings you are using will likely lead to a low quality stream with artifacting and other problems. Consider either raising your bitrate or lowering your resolution / FPS (qval: 0.028)

In regards to the server that I am streaming to -- I live in NEW JERSEY but I selected NEW YORK because it is the closest one with the best ping/less delay.

I tried streaming at 1080p30 as shown above but I'm not sure if its still looking choppy when I move around sometimes.

I use 3500 bitrate for both selections. If I were to lower it I would suffer quality loss I believe. Need a high bitrate for MMO games.

 

[Aeladya]

From what I saw the 30 fps looked better actually. I didn't notice any choppiness in the 30 fps video, but in the 60 I did.

 

[inverses]

From what I saw the 30 fps looked better actually. I didn't notice any choppiness in the 30 fps video, but in the 60 I did.

Yeah -- I think it looks less choppy when I move around with the 30 FPS video. I am still kinda confused as to why it took so long to connect though.

18:50:49: Completed handshake with rtmp://live-jfk.twitch.tv/app in 527 ms.

I wonder if I can bump the CPU preset (x264) lower if it would improve the quality even more?

 

[inverses]

Been testing a lot today with various settings. I can't get rid of the choppyness while people nearly with the same builds as me are able to stream flawlessly..

 

[inverses]

Been playing around with the preset. Changed it to superfast but I believe it still becomes pixelated when I move around a lot.. Anything? Is this a problem on my end or twitch servers?

 

[Lain]

You should always include a new log file whenever you've changed around stuff. 'superfast' will make things more pixellated, not less pixellated. If you're still trying to do 1920x1080 then you'll need more than 3500 bitrate if you want less pixellation, though twitch for example does not like higher bitrates. My recommendation would be to use a slightly lower resolution like 720p. It's better for viewers as well to be honest, most viewers can't decode 1080p at 60fps.

1080p 30fps might be okay at 3500, but depends on the preset. 'veryfast' should be okay for your machine.

Still, if you prefer FPS over resolution, 720p 60fps is the go-to resolution/fps these days. 3500 bitrate with that should be fine. And make sure to change the preset back to 'veryfast' there as well. Your computer is great, no reason to be using superfast.

 

[inverses]

Here's a log file via recent tests with superfast. I've had a couple of people come in and say there was less pixellation with my current settings.

http://www.twitch.tv/versecity/b/575653342

By upping the bitrate it seems like a lot of the pixellation went away as well. It's just pretty weird that I have to up it to a higher standard than the twitch bitrate that is recommended. It's just frustrating that with a computer like this I'm not able to have a really smooth stream.

720p 60fps there's a huge quality loss for me. Most streamers are just using the 1920x1080 res without downscale nowadays too.

Do you think there's a possibility that the server i'm streaming to is not that great? I've used the newyork server and it's pretty much the lowest ping closest to me as shown in the JTVPING graph above.

 

[FerretBomb]

3500 is the maximum recommended bitrate overall, where the ingest servers are expected not to have issues with the datastream. The maximum advised for non-partners is 2000kbps (which isn't enough for 1080p). No, 'most' streamers are not running at 1080p. A lot of new streamers get lost chasing numbers, and forget that a part of livestreaming is working within technical limitations.

The 'golden point' for non-partnered streams is 720p@30fps, at 2000kbps bitrate. If you have left-over CPU cycles to spare, you can step down to slower presets which will make your stream look better at a given bitrate (using the bitrate available more effectively with better compression). Partners can exceed this and go for 3500 (or higher, at their own risk) due to having transcoding (quality) options available from the start of their stream. Even so, the point where a cast is considered a Denial-of-Service attack, and can lead to a channel being banned, is right around 6000kbps.

If you want clearest quality, the only option is running at a native 720p on your monitor, and not using a downscale. This is not setting your base resolution to 1280x720, as that'll just look worse when resizing sources down in the preview (uses a lower quality rescale than the post-compositing resize).

Focus more on delivering an entertaining, enjoyable cast. No one will come to your stream for crystal-clear 1080p video. But people will absolutely leave if they get stuck in buffering hell because you've set too high a bitrate, chasing after a number.