OBS-NDI DUAL PC STREAMING TIPS NEEDED

[Swyft]

I have two gaming desktop computers in front of me. One I want to be dedicated for gaming, and the other I want to be dedicated for streaming the games displayed on the gaming computer. The only possible way I can get video from one computer to the other right now is through the OBS Studio NDI plugin, I assume my internet can handle it knowing my "Speed & Duplex" setting is set to "2.5 Gbps Full Duplex" on both computers.

My goal is to be able to stream and record clips mainly from shooter games (such as COD or CS:GO) with the output of the stream or recording file looking smooth at 60fps or higher (whatever makes it look smooth in quality). I don't care if there is a bit of pixelation in the output, as long as there is no lag or choppiness. I need all the tips I can get in order to make this possible, whether it is recording/streaming settings or PC settings I need to change. I have been trying to get quality clips for a really long time now, they always end up choppy and blurry or something along those lines. OBS analyzer shows that everything is good about the recording files but I see different.

Here is an example video of what I don't want:

When you look at it long enough:
- It's blurry (I think because my gaming monitor is 1440p, not 1080p)
- You can see how unsmooth some parts of the video are, if you watch other COD YouTube videos, you don't see any of what I am having. The video looks as if you are playing it on your screen, not watching it.

The specs of each computer are listed below:

GAMING PC:
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080TI
CPU: Intel i7-11700
RAM: 16GB DDR4-3200
STORAGE: 3 x 400-500 GB SSD
PSU: 750w (I may be wrong about this one)
MONITOR: 1440p 144hz (set to 165hz with "overclock" setting)

STREAMING PC:
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080TI
CPU: Intel i7-12700KF
RAM: 32GB DDR4-3200
STORAGE: 2 TB NVME SSD
PSU: 850w
MONITOR: 1080p 144hz

Even if everything looks "normal" in the recording, I would appreciate any OBS/PC-related tips that could help make the video quality even better than how it is now.

Any help is greatly appreciated,
thanks!

 

[sandrix]

YouTube uses 3 codecs that process video/stream.

H.264/AVC - Provides the lowest quality and is most commonly applied to video/stream at 1080p and below.
VP9 is up to 50% more effective and applies to videos that are quickly gaining views, popular or 2K or higher resolution. So, just uploads the video or streaming in 2K.
AV1 is the coolest, it's only used for the most popular or older videos that have a lot of views.
AV1 is not available for live broadcasts.

You need to create a new stream key on YouTube in creative studio in 2K resolution. The stream delay will be 10-15 seconds. You can stream in FHD or QHD, it doesn't matter, the main thing is the stream key. But one is best to use native resolution, but not lower than 2K.

How to find out which codec is being used in your video/stream.
Right click on your video, statistics for sysadmin

 

[sandrix]

For YouTube, use the bitrate as high as possible, around 18,000 kbps to 51,000 kbps. Depends on the internet.

 

[sandrix]

As for the encoder, I would prefer to use x264. Medium or Slower preset

 

[Rednose58]

I would like to ask another question about OBS/NDI interface. Video quality is good. Sound quality is poor. Sounds scratchy as if there is clipping happening. To troubleshoot I streamed the following two videos at the same time. 1: Directly from my PC to OBS to YouTube. No sound issues. 2: From PC to OBS to Streaming Laptop through OBS/NDI interface and then to YouTube. Sounds are scratchy.
1: Prom PC to OBS to YouTube

2: From PC to OBS to NDI to Laptop to YouTube

What else do I need to check?

 

[zeek7V]

Hi All, I have the exactly same issue as described from @Rednose58 in the 2nd Video. Is there any hint or solution for this? Thanks

 

[lsaler84]

@zeek7V @Rednose58 Guys, you have to change your audio setting to MONO from STEREO on your gaming pc OBS. If your settings are greyed out, you can navigate to Tools > NDI Output settings > disable Main Output checkbox. Then restart your OBS and you can change your audio settings to MONO. After that, sound on your streaming PC should work.