OBS 28.0.1 Massive Stuttering, Dropped Frames, Bitrate Jumping Around -HELP!-

[ThirtyIR]

As the title suggests, ever since updating to the latest OBS build (28.0 then 28.0.1), my streams have been stuttering and I keep getting massive dropped frames while the bitrate keeps jumping around even though I have CBR set in the Settings.

Before upgrading to OBS 28, I was using Nvidia NVENC H.264 (new) at 4K 60FPS at 20Mbps with all other settings the same (color format, color space etc.). I had no issues streaming with those settings. With the new OBS, I'm using NVENC HEVC as the encoder.

With OBS 28.0.1, I set the Capture Window to Rec. 2100 (PQ) since I play in HDR and stream in SDR but also set the profile under 'Output' to 'main10' while I had it on 'High' (?) before.

I should note I also tried dropping the bitrate to 15Mbps and then even did 12Mbps but all of them stutter and have a lot of dropped frames while the bitrate itself keeps jumping around anywhere from 2Mbps all the way to 30Mbps - all when I have CBR set.

Really need help figuring this out. Would prefer to fix this and use OBS 28 instead of rolling back to an older release.

Here are my settings:

I have also attached my latest log here.

 

[ThirtyIR]

Just a quick update - downgraded to OBS 27 and did a test stream at 4K 60fps @ 20Mbps and had ZERO dropped frames. i.e. it worked perfectly so there's definitely some issue with OBS 28 and/or the HEVC encoder/settings etc. In other words, it has nothing to do with my system, my network etc.

 

[PaiSand]

Analyzer | OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers or record your own videos with high quality H264 / AAC encoding.

obsproject.com

 

[zRinpo]

Same as YOU! I had so much weird problem's with drop frame for no reason what's so ever, i tried everything with no go The only thing i did but i don't know if you have it or not is Streemelements LIVE! App i uninstall it, that all and everything went back to normal no drop frames or anything :D

 

[Crypt_Craig]

I have been experiencing similar problems. my streams will be running fine until they hit a point where my bit rate hits 0 and disconnects, or the bit rate drops to the very low hundreds. this hasn't been happening before the newest update and my internet speed is more than fast enough for my chosen bit rate.

 

[ThirtyIR]

Same as YOU! I had so much weird problem's with drop frame for no reason what's so ever, i tried everything with no go The only thing i did but i don't know if you have it or not is Streemelements LIVE! App i uninstall it, that all and everything went back to normal no drop frames or anything :D

I don't have Streamelements installed so that can't be the issue.

I have been experiencing similar problems. my streams will be running fine until they hit a point where my bit rate hits 0 and disconnects, or the bit rate drops to the very low hundreds. this hasn't been happening before the newest update and my internet speed is more than fast enough for my chosen bit rate.

Yea it's weird for sure. After downgrading everything works perfectly so it's either a combination of the HEVC encoder and YouTube's HLS mode or something else that's causing this issue.

I do have to say though that using HEVC and HLS at the same 4K 60fps with HDR to SDR tone-mapping makes the stream image look incredible; a lot better than the default RTMPS mode with SDR only streaming.

Would love to have a proper solution to this issue.

On that note, is there any way to run OBS 28.0.1 alongside OBS 27 to test things out? I don't want to uninstall my current OBS setup since everything works fine. I just want to be able to play around with OBS 28.0.1 and see if I can figure things out at my own pace since support is almost non-existent.

 

[Crypt_Craig]

Well now im experiencing the my issue on version 27 now. maybe i need to do a fresh install of OBS.

 

[ThirtyIR]

Can someone tell me if we can run OBS 27 and OBS 28 on the same PC (but just running one instance at a time)? I want to test OBS 28 without removing OBS 27 since I use that for my main streaming.

 

[sandrix]

Can someone tell me if we can run OBS 27 and OBS 28 on the same PC (but just running one instance at a time)? I want to test OBS 28 without removing OBS 27 since I use that for my main streaming.

OBS and OBS-Studio: Portable Mode on Windows

Running OBS/OBS-Studio in Portable Mode means all settings (Profiles and Scene Collections) are saved within the OBS main folder. You can copy the whole folder to a second PC or USB-Stick and use it wherever you want. Be aware, the File-Paths for...

obsproject.com

 

[sandrix]

Download the zip version of obs 27 and run it in a portable mod according to the instructions.

 

[ThirtyIR]

Download the zip version of obs 27 and run it in a portable mod according to the instructions.

I see. I have OBS 27 installed since that works. Can I run OBS 28 in portable mode and test that out?

 

[sandrix]

I see. I have OBS 27 installed since that works. Can I run OBS 28 in portable mode and test that out?

Of course. You can run as many copies of OBS as you want via portable mode. Any version.

 

[DiePoehlerz]

Hello all,

I have now updated to OBS 28.0.2, do you know if this fixes the problem? I have exactly the problems that the creator describes. OBS runs either from the start very jerky, with red connection indicator and over 60% lost frames, plus a connection speed of only a few kbit/s.

This leads to me having to abort and restart streams. Then, however, they work. Sometimes OBS also catches itself during the stream and suddenly runs smoothly again. I have the identical settings that worked wonderfully with the last OBS 27 version. It bugs the hell out of me...

In addition, before updating to OBS 28, I unfortunately forgot to make a backup of my last OBS 27 Windwos version. Shame on me. Do you know if I can still get the last OBS 27 version and where I can download it?

Thanks for your answers :-)

 

[ThirtyIR]

Hello all,

I have now updated to OBS 28.0.2, do you know if this fixes the problem? I have exactly the problems that the creator describes. OBS runs either from the start very jerky, with red connection indicator and over 60% lost frames, plus a connection speed of only a few kbit/s.

This leads to me having to abort and restart streams. Then, however, they work. Sometimes OBS also catches itself during the stream and suddenly runs smoothly again. I have the identical settings that worked wonderfully with the last OBS 27 version. It bugs the hell out of me...

In addition, before updating to OBS 28, I unfortunately forgot to make a backup of my last OBS 27 Windwos version. Shame on me. Do you know if I can still get the last OBS 27 version and where I can download it?

Thanks for your answers :-)

Has updating it to OBS 28.0.2 fixed the issue for you?

Unfortunately for me, it still has the issue. I'm still on OBS 27 but I have the portable version of the latest OBS to test on.

You can download the official OBS from GitHub here: https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/releases/tag/28.0.2

Also, same thing for me - I sometimes have to restart OBS, sometimes the stream, sometimes the entire PC for the stream to work properly which obviously destroys my streaming experience and that of my viewers.

Why is the official support from OBS so lackadaisical? They really need to step up and help those of us trying to stream at 4K 60fps since that pushes the boundaries of the program one would think(?).

 

[Hohmer]

Hey everyone.

I just want to somehow join this thread. I'm not completely new to OBS but I've never wrote something in this forum until now.

I haven't been touching my streaming PC in almost 2 years. So, no new hardware, no changes in any settings and no changes in OBS except that I've updated it now to the recent 28.0.2. Before this day, I had no issues with the installed ryzen 5 3600 and the well known standard OBS settings 1080p60 / CBR 6mbit / Medium / Keyframe = 2 / main. Today, I've watched a streamer having some slight lags while streaming 1080p60 to Twitch and was a bit scared after she told me, that she runs the preset "fast" on a slightly stronger CPU. So I've wanted to double check, to tell her, that her streaming PC should be capable of handling my settings without any stutter or dropped frames.

I was even more shocked and confused after I've tested the new OBS with the mentioned settings. Now my PC is somehow not completely able to handle the stream anymore. It might be negligible but now I also got ~0,7% dropped frames in the encoding and I don't know why. The CPU runs somewhere between 55-80% usage according to the task-manager with spikes between 85-95%. The cause seems to come from the capture source (Avermedia Ultra). I also checked if somethings switched there, but still all the old settings.

As I already mentioned, it might be negligible, but it triggers me, when I see the numbers go up and I also want to help to spread more awareness, if there is a "serious" issue with the new OBS version. Any hints and conversations are welcome.

See ya and greetings from Germany.
Hohmer

 

[DiePoehlerz]

So 0.7 dropped frames is something I could live with. I have in bad times around 64% dropped frames. I have now even downgraded again to 27.2.4 - and THEN I still have the problems. I NEVER had them before. I currently have no real idea what else I can do.

So, to answer your question. 28.0.2. did not fix the problems, not even going back to the "old" OBS. Have now also re-set up Stream-Deck appropriately again because it wasn't running after the downgrade - maybe that's where the problem is in the plugins too? I have no idea...!

Greetings from Germany, too.

 

[koala]

Why is the official support from OBS so lackadaisical?

There is not really an official support, because OBS isn't developed by some well-organized company but instead by a community of voluntary contributors with one central developer. The hdr/hevc support has just been implemented technically. The code is brand new. There is no experience in the community yet how to actually use this code in all interaction with streaming service and the game that is captured. You're one of the people who help collecting experience by telling about your issues.

If it comes to your specific issue, there is this log entry from you:

12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Total frames output: 6875 (13279 attempted)
12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Total drawn frames: 13348 (13357 attempted)
12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 9 (0.1%)
12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Number of dropped frames due to insufficient bandwidth/connection stalls: 6404 (48.2%)
12:09:05.154: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 9/13292 (0.1%)
12:09:05.156: ==== Streaming Stop ================================================

This means you have a bandwidth issue. You're losing 48.2% of all data because of network congestion or instable network. If you rule out network issues at your side and say you don't have a network issue, I'm out of ideas.

 

[Hohmer]

So 0.7 dropped frames is something I could live with. I have in bad times around 64% dropped frames. I have now even downgraded again to 27.2.4 - and THEN I still have the problems. I NEVER had them before. I currently have no real idea what else I can do.

So, to answer your question. 28.0.2. did not fix the problems, not even going back to the "old" OBS. Have now also re-set up Stream-Deck appropriately again because it wasn't running after the downgrade - maybe that's where the problem is in the plugins too? I have no idea...!

Greetings from Germany, too.

Yes, 0,7% is not really that much. That's why i said it is probably negligible, it just triggers me. :D Buy, my god. 64% dropped frames. This is equal to unstreamable imho.

The thing about the plugins is a good point, which I've also thought about. I don't have that much plugins installed, just win-asio, ndi and streamFX. Win-Asio is still shown on startup of OBS as not supported but works fine since the last update. NDI and streamFX still need updates. I could try to uninstall them because I don't need them right now, but I can't think of how this would affect the dropped frames? These plugins aren't used in the scene that drops frames.

This also brings a development idea for OBS into my mind. A settings-menu to enable/disable installed plugins would be very nice.

 

[ThirtyIR]

There is not really an official support, because OBS isn't developed by some well-organized company but instead by a community of voluntary contributors with one central developer. The hdr/hevc support has just been implemented technically. The code is brand new. There is no experience in the community yet how to actually use this code in all interaction with streaming service and the game that is captured. You're one of the people who help collecting experience by telling about your issues.

If it comes to your specific issue, there is this log entry from you:

12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Total frames output: 6875 (13279 attempted)
12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Total drawn frames: 13348 (13357 attempted)
12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 9 (0.1%)
12:09:05.153: Output 'adv_stream': Number of dropped frames due to insufficient bandwidth/connection stalls: 6404 (48.2%)
12:09:05.154: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 9/13292 (0.1%)
12:09:05.156: ==== Streaming Stop ================================================

This means you have a bandwidth issue. You're losing 48.2% of all data because of network congestion or instable network. If you rule out network issues at your side and say you don't have a network issue, I'm out of ideas.

Yea, it definitely seems like a bandwidth issue - the thing is I was streaming in 4K 60fps for more than a year with the same network so I don't think that's the culprit.

The new OBS (28.0.2) along with HLS and/or HEVC encoder is causing the dropped frames.

I'm using OBS 27 and I am able to stream for the most part although I still do get dropped frames from time to time.

 

[ThirtyIR]

I can now confirm that on two separate PCs, OBS 27 works perfectly well (with < 1% dropped frames) in 4K 60fps streaming at 20Mbps.

If I use OBS 28, HLS, NVENC HEVC codec, 4K 60FPS, 20Mbps while playing in HDR and trying to stream in SDR, I get massive dropped frames ( > 20%) and makes the stream unwatchable.

There is something seriously off with OBS 28. I even tried the 'NVENC H.264' encoder with all the same settings as OBS 27 - i.e. playing in SDR and streaming in SDR (so no HDR at all), with all other variables held constant, and I still get massive stuttering and dropped frames.

My network is more than capable of handling 4K 60fps @ 20Mbps streaming to YouTube. Did many streams every day with those settings in OBS 27 and works great.

Really wish OBS will fix v28 especially since the RTX 4090 will have the dual AV1 encoder.