Question / Help Increasing video quality / capture quality

[fragga]

Hi I've got a problem with my output picture.
I'm glad with my meh quality since I use crappy ol' notebook but the picture sometimes act like refresh pulsing or just occasionally covers with squares making video extremely bad.

Here's an example http://www.twitch.tv/muske100500/c/4387597 . You may swith off the volume lol.

Even though twitch dashboard says "Stream Configuration Quality: Excellent" and OBS asks to use encoding profile for x264 "main".

OBS setup:

Encoding:

Encoder: x264
Use CBR: yep
Max Bitrate: 1300
Enable CBR padding: yep
Audio codec: AAC
Bitrate: 128

Video:
Resolution: 1366 x 768
Resolution Downscale: nope.
FPS: 30 (55max with no lag)

Advanced:
Use Multithreaded Optimizations: yep
Process Priority Class: Above Normal
Scene buffering time: 700
x264 CPU preset: superfast
Encoding profile: high
Use CFR: nope
Custom x264: nope

 

[Kiada]

Hey fragga,

At what point in the video does it do this 'refresh pulsing' as I'm not quite sure what you mean? :) How far into it should I skip to? Quality looks very good for 1300 bitrate :) Pixelation is kind of to be expected at 1300 bitrate playing WoW at this resolution - so many particle animations and changes on the screen for the encoder to deal with at once!

It'd be great if you could also provide us with some more information in the form of a log so we can see precisely what we're dealing with :)

https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/problem-make-sure-to-post-a-log-and-or-crash-dump-howto.97/

 

[fragga]

Here's log right from the day the video was recorded.

Pixelation I guess is a proper way to say refresh pulsing :) It's like the picture is being resfreshed but with much lower quality then in 1-2 seconds everything goes back to normal. I guess I have to record one more video to show it.

And back to previous video. Everything up to 00:15 is fine enough and READABLE. Not crisp and clear but meh! Its okay for my pc :D But right after I start to move and shake the cam all small parts became unreadable but moreover tons of squares appears on my video - that bothers me :<

 

[fragga]

Oh and that day I used 55 FPS. I always use 55 because it makes my video look alive :D

 

[Kiada]

Ah, thanks for providing the log. Using 55 fps and a bitrate of 1300 is causing your pixelation I reckon! In my opinion you either have to deal with the occasional pixelation problems (it honestly doesn't look as bad as a viewer, but I can see why it'd bother you) or you could reduce your fps to 30. Have you tried increasing the bitrate to 2000? Do you skip frames / does your game lag when you increase the bitrate? You could also downscale to 1280x720 which may help a tiny bit. I'd suggest testing higher bitrates until you've hit your absolute limit.

So to summarize, there is no 'magic bullet' solution - no setting you're really missing that will make the pixelation go away. It's just a combination of your hardware limitations and encoding settings! You should try:

1) Reduce fps to 30
2) Downscale to 1280x720
3) Try increasing your bitrate as close to 2000 as possible!

Or just stick with what you have and get the occasional pixelation problems :) Just have a play about with different settings recording to file and see what suits you best I guess!

 

[Kiada]

You could also try something else, but I'm not sure just how great the results will be. Worth a try though if all else fails!

Use QuickSync to encode. It looks like your processor supports it.

1) Enable QuickSync
2) Set the quality to max
3) Increase the bitrate to 2000 - 2500 (depending on how far you want to push your viewers bandwidth)
4) Record locally and see how the results differ from the tweaks in the post above :)

 

[fragga]

Kiada, thank you very much for you answer!

I tried different setups and the only option that makes game go laggy is switching from superfast to any slower preset. Moreover I tried changing fps even to 25. Video with that setup looks like umm choppy even with no lag, just feels like something is missing. I'm sorry I can't explain properly since I'm not familiar with that lexis:< Also I tried using high bitrate everything higher than 1600 causes stream become laggy. I tried using 3k but that didn't affect quality, just laggy stream.

And about downscaling - that thing I haven't used yet since my monitor ratio is 16:10. Dunno how to crop it good yet.

How can I enable QuickSinc? It is greyed out.

 

[Kiada]

Hey again, is your internet upload speed limiting what bitrate you can stream at then? (with regards to the game going laggy at higher bitrates) or do you start dropping frames (big red text at the bottom of OBS saying frames are being skipped)?

You may need to install / update your integrated graphics drivers to enable QuickSync. I've checked your processors specifications and it looks like you have an Intel HD 3000 chip, and that QuickSync is indeed available. So to update your driver:

1) Go to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/

2)

'Select a product family' --> Graphics
'Select a product line' ---> Laptop Graphics
'Select a product name' ---> 2nd Generation Intel <snip> HD Graphics 3000 / 2000

Then download and install the graphics driver that is applicable to your operating system.

3) You may need to restart. If you do not need to restart your laptop, restart OBS and check to see if it is still greyed out :)

Edit: If your upload speed is limiting what bitrate you can stream at, then QuickSync won't be of use unfortunately.

 

[fragga]

My down/upload speed are both 10 Mbps but in fact upload is around 4. My stream was losing frames because of connection. With higher bitrate my own video doesn't show up. Constant "loading video" message".

About intel I've updated my intel card few months ago. It is still grey, and was grey before update.

 

[Kiada]

I wonder if you aren't getting your full 10 Mbps upload because you're (I'm assuming?) using your laptops Wifi? Or does your upstream only show 4000 on your router?

I digress, it looks like you're limited to 1300 bitrate due to your upload speed then. Argh. Not much you can do with regards to the quality! As an un-partnered Twitch streamer I could watch your stream with the occasional pixelation, it isn't world ending! If you had a faster CPU on your laptop it might be worth trying slower encoding profiles, but that just isn't going to fly with what you have unfortunately. Work with what you have :) be a fun and interesting streamer and no-one will care about some pixelation!

 

[fragga]

I use lan donnection, no Wi-Fi :) Yes, I aslo have problems with my provider. I can't even have my 10mbps on one file with direct download, but with torrent I can. Weird.

 

[fragga]

Limited to 1300? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO /cry

 

[Kiada]

Chin up! You have a reasonable quality stream with the resources available to you, something to be happy with :) Enjoy streaming, build up your viewers and upgrade your internet when the chance to do so appears! Easier said than done I know, I waited 12 months after a house move before fibre became available in my area. Frustrating!

 

[fragga]

Oh my! I don't know what happened but 2800 bitrate started to work fine on stream. Moreover I was able to watch in browser on only on VLC. Anyways thx for advice with maxing my bitrate. Any advices how to convert 16:10 to 16:9 ? Oh by the way does downscaling actually helps with quality?

 

[fragga]

Btw to be clear my resolution is 1366 x 768 I guess it is 16:9. Anyway I dont know how to downscale it to 1200 x 720 properly.

 

[Kiada]

Hey again! Glad your internet stopped being a massive potato. 2800 is quite high! I'd consider reducing it a bit :)

http://i.imgur.com/Bs4EYkY.png

In the resolution downscale make sure it looks exactly like that picture. The aspect ratio is to the top right! You're already streaming at 16:9 so I wouldn't worry about that. If you downscale then make sure you go into 'Video' and set the filter to 'Lanczos' - you will achieve better results on that setting :)

With all the above in mind, if you're happy with what you have now just stick with it! :)

 

[fragga]

Thank you very much!
And the last question I've got. While streaming there is a green square @ lower right corner and it is pulsing every 3 seconds to yellow and slowly becomes green again. That pulsing is constant. Picture is fine but is pulsing ok?

 

[fragga]

Um I got problem again. After one of my viewers checked my stream in his mobile app we found out that it horribly lags. At 1st picture didn't showed up, but that was because of encoding profile I guess which I've switched after that. Is there any way to improve this time performance for all platform users?