New to Streaming: Does encoder Settings matter when you are using a Capture Card?

[EpicSurvivor]

I am using a Single Streaming PC. I use OBS by default to stream directly from the PC but when streaming PS5 with the capture card does Encoder settings make any difference at all? I guess I could try it and see but was wondering if someone can give me a simple answer. I am pretty new to this. Thank you!

 

[Harold]

Yes they do.

 

[EpicSurvivor]

Yes they do.

Excellent! thank you! I am going to test and try by my self just wasn't sure if it made any difference at all. Thank you again!

 

[FerretBomb]

Yes, absolutely. Your encoder settings determine the quality and specifics of the video stream you output.

All a capture card does is act like a really high-def webcam, instead grabbing the video data from the connector, instead of reading from an optical sensor. It doesn't bypass the encoder or offload any encoding work (in fact, it adds overhead compared to an on-system capture!).

 

[EpicSurvivor]

Yes, absolutely. Your encoder settings determine the quality and specifics of the video stream you output.

All a capture card does is act like a really high-def webcam, instead grabbing the video data from the connector, instead of reading from an optical sensor. It doesn't bypass the encoder or offload any encoding work (in fact, it adds overhead compared to an on-system capture!).

Can confirm both you are 100% correct. I messed around with a couple of Stream Test on Twitch with different settings from NVENC to Software on Fast to Slow and I did tell a big difference between most settings I tried. So far NVENC looks the Best when streaming directly from the PC (GTX 1080ti 9700k) But when using the Capture Card X264 at Fast Looks better then NVENC at Quality for streaming the PS5

Again thank you both for the help.
Cheers!

 

[EpicSurvivor]

Hey guys One last question on a similar subject. As Mentioned above I am pretty new to Streaming. I have a Razer Ripsaw HD capture card that can Stream at 4K 60FPS but my monitor is only 1080p I don't have a 4k TV. Do I need a 4K TV to stream at 4K or can I stream at 4k with a 1080p Monitor?

Also is HDR really that important on a 4k TV? and streaming? I am thinking of buying my first 4K TV but is none HDR but is really cheap and has a lot of good reviews for just $220 new. If not I really can't afford anything better than that for now.

Thanks

 

[koala]

So far NVENC looks the Best when streaming directly from the PC (GTX 1080ti 9700k) But when using the Capture Card X264 at Fast Looks better then NVENC at Quality for streaming the PS5

This is a strange and probably a invalid/misleading observation, because you're comparing apples and oranges here. The input is different and independent from the output.
Your input is either the capture card (and your console), or game capture from the PC. As soon as a video is processed by OBS, regardless of the source, it is treated the same. The encoder is used for everything. It doesn't regard the origin of the source - it just encodes.
You might see a difference, if the resolution of your console is different to the resolution of your PC.

You're using nvenc on a GTX 1080 Ti, this will produce a quality roughly equal to x264 with the "veryfast" preset. With the "fast" preset, x264 is able to create better output. (this was verified by not doing visual comparisons but computation using the PSNR as criteria. In short: by comparing the raw video to the encoded version of the same video and computing the difference - the PSNR. The lower the difference, the better the quality). This is true regardless of the source - be it a capture card, be it game capture.
Nvenc on newer RTX cards will produce better quality. It is said that nvenc on RTX 2xxx will produce roughly the same quality as x264 medium to slow. RTX 3xxx cards with produce about the same as x264 slow.

You might perhaps experienced something different. In case you capture a game, this game and x264 are competing for the CPU. If there isn't enough CPU resources for both of them, the quality of the game (stutter) and the stream (lagged/lost frames) might suffer. With Nvenc, which is running on a dedicated circuit on the GPU, this doesn't happen.

 

[FerretBomb]

OBS does not support HDR. You have to disable it while streaming or you get screwed up colors.
It's just a crutch for lazy developers who can't keep their output within the standard color range anyway, handling the conversion dynamically on the monitor side instead of having the program do it itself.