Question / Help Need help to get a smoother stream

[freddyb]

Hi everyone, freddyb here!

So, I've been streaming League of Legends for a little more than a month now just so that my brother and my buddies can watch me play, but not with the best quality. I find it fun and I'm thinking about streaming more serious, due to much spare time during the days. I've been reading all diffrent sorts of guides about how to set optimal bitrate but with no luck, people are still complaining about the stream stuttering. So thats why I'm turning to you guys!

Don't know if its good or not but I want to stream in 1440x900 due to it being my native and highest resolution on this monitor, and all the other resolutions are blurry and unplayable.

Computer specs:
AMD FX-8350 Black Edition 4.0Ghz (Noctua cpu cooler)
8GB Corsair 1600 Vengeance
MSI Geforce GTX 760 2048MB TwinFrozr

Download speed: 13.6mb
Upload speed: 7.2 mb

Don't know if speedtest.net is reliable because I got a diffrent result now: http://www.speedtest.net/result/3103677370.png

 

[FerretBomb]

Keep your native resolution. Use the OBS downscale option instead to output a smaller resolution video stream.
The maximum recommended bitrate for non-partnered streamers is 2000kbps, which is not enough for a 900p@40fps stream. It should be able to run a 720p@30fps stream without issues though.

Also, speedtest.net is worthless for livestreamers. Run a 6MB test on http://testmy.net/upload to get a more realistic return on your actual constant throughput.

 

[freddyb]

Thank you, will try that out! :)

 

[freddyb]

Runned at 6MB test on testmy.net and got a 16mbps uploadspeed.

Now when I downscale in obs to 1152x720 it get's awfully blurry, unwatchable. It's just that I feel kinda lost in this program, not knowing what to increase to get better quality, even though I've read diffrent guides :D

Edit: I haven't really gotten the hang of the obs log files either, where exactly am I suppose to read that im dropping frames? Im obviously blind but theres to much text for my eyes!

 

[FerretBomb]

Do you have a VOD of the issue in-action? If you're a newer Twitch streamer you may need to enable broadcast recording in your Settings panel. 2000kbps 720p@30fps should by no means be 'blurry and unwatchable', unless there's a significant problem elsewhere.
Though do bear in mind that you will never get a 1:1 stream; there will always be SOME video degradation, due to needing to compress the video. Need to see an example to determine if it may just be a 'managing expectations' issue, or something that can actually be corrected. :)

 

[freddyb]

Unfortunately I don't :/ But earlier today I tried out 2500bitrate on 720p@60fps. Asked a friend to spectate a game, and at the start it wouldnt be any problems at all, but later on the stuttering would come in waves.

Tried out 720p@30 with a 2000bitrate and it was horrible, more stuttering than 720p@60fps with 2500bitrate.

 

[FerretBomb]

Stuttering is generally a different issue than image fidelity; I'd assumed the latter as you'd described it as 'blurry and unwatchable'.

If stutter is an issue, we'd look at a few things:
-Dropped frames. From your log, you aren't dropping any. Non-issue.
-Duplicated frames. From that log, it's at an acceptable level and should be almost un-noticeable.
-Bitrate. This is most likely the problem.

2500kbps as a non-partnered streamer will result in stuttering for a lot of people. 2000 is the maximum recommended for non-partnered streamers, but 1500 is generally the 'sweet spot' for 720@30 streams. If your friend has a poor or troublesome connection though, it may be on his end.
Enable VOD recording and try again. If it stutters on the VOD playback, there is another issue. Ask another friend (or a few) to watch the stream... eliminate single points of failure, so you have a wide data footprint to work from.
Really though, the log says you should be working just fine.

I'd also be a bit concerned with the number of captures you appear to be running... are you disabling (unchecking) ones that you aren't using? If not, that'd be a good idea.

 

[freddyb]

The thing is that my stream got alot smoother and a small quality boost when I tried out 60fps at 720p than 30fps at 720p

Well I can clarify directly that it isn't his internet that's the problem, we both have a 10mbit fiber internet with the same internetprovider, and in sweden its very uncommon to have an unstable internet. Maybe if you woulda lived in a house, which we don't :D

I forgot to say that I've always recorded my broadcasts, even with 1440x900 it wouldn't be any stuttering in the VODS, but as you said before, im not a partnered streamer.

So I'm not dropping any frames, Guess I'll just start with 2000bitrate and then slowly lowering it until the problem goes away?