Question / Help OBS Output blurry in NDI and Virtual Cam using Skype, ZOOM or VLC - DirectShow

M

MrSpock

Member
Hi folks, first of all congrats! OBS is amazing. I tested all expensive alternatives and must say, OBS does the Job best in terms of Hardware-Recognition.

I just assembled a "low budget" streaming Server to help out in a Teaching project.

Setup:
Win10 64-Bit
i5
12GB-Ram
Geforce 1050 using NVENC

Now here is the Issue:
When streaming 1080p to Youtube - Picture is perfect!

When using OBS Virtual Camera or NDI in:
Skype:
Picture us blurry, text is unreadable - its like scaled down to a low resolution

VLC-Mediaplayer as Source:
Picture is blurry and aspect ratio is 4:3

I figured out that this issue also came up when using the other Programms like vMix or Wirecast.

only Progress i had so far is by installing some shady codec pack.

Now when i open the source in VLC and edit the ratio to 16:9, the picture is usable.
since i can not do this kind of preference edit in Skype or Zoom, i am stuck now.

Also i had the same Results on my personal machine.
It must be something with DirectShow!

Win 7
i7
16GB
R9 280x

Any ideas?
Log: https://obsproject.com/logs/GlQ9tek1Pzjh0_VQ
healthy wishes and greetings from Berlin to everyone !
 
M

MrSpock

Member
this screenshot shows the best result i could get, with manually overriding 4:3 to 16:9 in VLC on a virgin Win 10 64Bit version in a VM
 

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quackpipe

quackpipe

New Member
marzomarz11 said:
I'm having the same issue. OBS to zoom is really low resolution. Is there a way to fix this?
Click to expand...

have you already seen this thread ? I'm reading through things now.

Bug Report - OBS Virtual Cam output is blury and pixelish

Hi! First of all, thx for your effort, much appriciated! :) I found a similiar post a view month ago but obviously nothing changed since then. I am using windows 10 64bit. No matter what App or Webapp I use - from Zoom, over Jitsi to Microsoft Teams - the output of OBS Virtual Cam gets somehow...
obsproject.com obsproject.com
 
D

Decoz.mcl

New Member
quackpipe said:
have you already seen this thread ? I'm reading through things now.

Bug Report - OBS Virtual Cam output is blury and pixelish

Hi! First of all, thx for your effort, much appriciated! :) I found a similiar post a view month ago but obviously nothing changed since then. I am using windows 10 64bit. No matter what App or Webapp I use - from Zoom, over Jitsi to Microsoft Teams - the output of OBS Virtual Cam gets somehow...
obsproject.com obsproject.com
Click to expand...

Hi all

I seemed to have found a work around for this issue.

I am using a variety of utilities to get my stream of my live classroom teaching to learners not at school.

Needed to be able to share powerpoint of work displayed via projector, video of what is happening in class, audio from me teaching - send all this to zoom.

Firstly, had the same prblem of text being incredibly blurry in Zoom - despite it looking good on the PC.

Set up : Using DroidCam on iPad and Pc to show what is happening in class - Video Capture Device in OBS
WO Client and WO Mic on my iPhone as a wireless mic in my pocket to record me walking around class teaching - using audio straight into zoom (selected that WO Mic is the Mic) - currently don't need PC audio to be shared (otherwise will use VB Cable).
Window share to share presentation into OBS.
Then using OBS VirtualCam to send stream to Zoom as the camera (was blurry).

How i have overcome, in Zoom, turn off video, and go share screen - advanced - share content from second camera - click the switch camera icon in the top left until i find the Virtual Cam Stream and then i am getting perfect quality. Will post some pics - hope this helps. You can see the orange slide is before i figured the share screen option - blue is good - screenshots from phone aren't great - but it way better.


Landscape - quality good.jpeg
Portrait.jpeg
Share Screen.jpg
 

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M

mwoodman

New Member
Decoz.mcl said:
How i have overcome, in Zoom, turn off video, and go share screen - advanced - share content from second camera - click the switch camera icon in the top left until i find the Virtual Cam Stream and then i am getting perfect quality. Will post some pics - hope this helps. You can see the orange slide is before i figured the share screen option - blue is good - screenshots from phone aren't great - but it way better.
Click to expand...

Thans for this solution. I had the same problem and this solved.
 
fabiopobrazil

fabiopobrazil

New Member
Decoz.mcl said:
Hi all

I seemed to have found a work around for this issue.

I am using a variety of utilities to get my stream of my live classroom teaching to learners not at school.

Needed to be able to share powerpoint of work displayed via projector, video of what is happening in class, audio from me teaching - send all this to zoom.

Firstly, had the same prblem of text being incredibly blurry in Zoom - despite it looking good on the PC.

Set up : Using DroidCam on iPad and Pc to show what is happening in class - Video Capture Device in OBS
WO Client and WO Mic on my iPhone as a wireless mic in my pocket to record me walking around class teaching - using audio straight into zoom (selected that WO Mic is the Mic) - currently don't need PC audio to be shared (otherwise will use VB Cable).
Window share to share presentation into OBS.
Then using OBS VirtualCam to send stream to Zoom as the camera (was blurry).

How i have overcome, in Zoom, turn off video, and go share screen - advanced - share content from second camera - click the switch camera icon in the top left until i find the Virtual Cam Stream and then i am getting perfect quality. Will post some pics - hope this helps. You can see the orange slide is before i figured the share screen option - blue is good - screenshots from phone aren't great - but it way better.


View attachment 58331View attachment 58333View attachment 58334
Click to expand...

That was indeed a great workaround! Thanks!

The participants in Zoom meetings I have tried that with have reported that my video was quite laggy though. If I use OBS output directly as a virtual camera there is not such issue (though it's blurry). Have you had any similar problem?
 
3

3sls

New Member
I agree that using virtual cam as secondary camera on Zoom improved quality significantly.

Why does Zoom retard the quality of virtual cams?

Has anyone tried the NDI tools solution to push into Zoom?

I am having trouble with NDI because it just freezes after the first frame when I activate it in Zoom
 
3

3sls

New Member
Another question - now that OBS 26 beta has a built in virtual cam - has anyone tried this solution to see if it improves the quality in Zoom?
 
joeparislbcc

joeparislbcc

New Member
fabiopobrazil said:
That was indeed a great workaround! Thanks!

The participants in Zoom meetings I have tried that with have reported that my video was quite laggy though. If I use OBS output directly as a virtual camera there is not such issue (though it's blurry). Have you had any similar problem?
Click to expand...
Decoz.mcl said:
Hi all

I seemed to have found a work around for this issue.

I am using a variety of utilities to get my stream of my live classroom teaching to learners not at school.

Needed to be able to share powerpoint of work displayed via projector, video of what is happening in class, audio from me teaching - send all this to zoom.

Firstly, had the same prblem of text being incredibly blurry in Zoom - despite it looking good on the PC.

Set up : Using DroidCam on iPad and Pc to show what is happening in class - Video Capture Device in OBS
WO Client and WO Mic on my iPhone as a wireless mic in my pocket to record me walking around class teaching - using audio straight into zoom (selected that WO Mic is the Mic) - currently don't need PC audio to be shared (otherwise will use VB Cable).
Window share to share presentation into OBS.
Then using OBS VirtualCam to send stream to Zoom as the camera (was blurry).

How i have overcome, in Zoom, turn off video, and go share screen - advanced - share content from second camera - click the switch camera icon in the top left until i find the Virtual Cam Stream and then i am getting perfect quality. Will post some pics - hope this helps. You can see the orange slide is before i figured the share screen option - blue is good - screenshots from phone aren't great - but it way better.


View attachment 58331View attachment 58333View attachment 58334
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, I was having the exact same problem and your suggestion solved it!
 
I

igor_k

New Member
Hello,
v 26 "Virtual Camera" has exactly the same problem.
I verified the problem exists in Zoom, Webex and Skype. The workaround with Zoom may be an option, but what to do with other apps?
Something is wrong in Virtual Camera output provided to conferencing apps.
 
I

igor_k

New Member
Finally I found the solution that works for me. Well, workaround. There were some bits of such solution discussed already in threads about Virtual cam poor quality, but I didn't find the detail "How-to".
My setup:
I use OBS to merge 2x overview cams, one close-up cam and 2x screen captures into one stream for group meetings (technical training), primarily using Webex, Skype and Zoom. These "screen captures" were actually the primary headache, quality was always awful.

The PC setup is far from high-end: i7-6700, 32Gb RAM, SSDs, 2x GTX 1050Ti with 4 screens connected:
First screen I use for OBS window control.
2nd screen is used to arrange 2x TeamViewer Remote Desktop windows for desktop capture of computers used in demo.
As a close-up camera, I use the mobile phone with Skype video call which is displayed in full screen on 3rd display for OBS to capture.
And the 4th screen is assigned in the OBS as "Projector" (r-click on canvas, select screen).
In conferencing software( I mean Skype/Zoom/etc), instead of selecting the "Virtual Camera" as a video input, simply select "Share screen" and choose that "OBS Projector" screen.
Quality is perfect. No much lags, at least while testing and streaming to myself. I will have first crowded "live" at the end of the week, I will update the thread if I discover some issues.
 
Stevens R. Miller

Stevens R. Miller

New Member
igor_k said:
Finally I found the solution that works for me.

The PC setup is far from high-end: i7-6700, 32Gb RAM, SSDs, 2x GTX 1050Ti with 4 screens connected
Click to expand...

This is a great workaround. You can do it with two screens. On one screen, configure OBS. If you need to show a display in your stream, use this screen for that, too. Project to your second screen. Start Zoom and share your second screen. Minimize OBS, Zoom, and anything else on your first screen, other than whatever you want included in your stream. So, if you are streaming to Twitch, for example, you can use the classic setup where you have a game or your code editor open on Screen 1, use your webcam to put a picture of yourself over that source in the corner, and project that composite image to Screen 2. Use Zoom to share Screen 2 and you're in business.
 
L

LeoLmx

New Member
I'm aware of this workaround in Zoom (use the share screen method). Problem is, I need to see the other person I'm streaming for and the share screen tool doesn't allow me to get a big picture of this person.
 
L

LeoLmx

New Member
Yeah, someone said on another thread that Zoom throttles the video to 360p. I have to try other video conferencing apps then. Will try TeamViewer, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.
 
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