Question / Help OBS preview stutters while not recording

[darthclide]

Sorry for sorta necro'ing this, but since you have fiddled with the code, did you consider comparing the current frame with the previous frame and ignoring duplicate frames? It may have been worth looking into...

I am assuming this is one of the first things they tried way back then. But perhaps there are now better "algorithms" to detect duplicate frames? Sadly this is only putting a band-aid on the problem. The developers here need to work on the underlying problem so it is gone forever.

 

[Ken Ishizu]

Sorry for sorta necro'ing this, but since you have fiddled with the code, did you consider comparing the current frame with the previous frame and ignoring duplicate frames? It may have been worth looking into...

I didn't try that, but I'm not sure it would help solve this. :(
I can't ignore any duplicated frames or else the audio would desync.

 

[TheChill]

I didn't try that, but I'm not sure it would help solve this. :(
I can't ignore any duplicated frames or else the audio would desync.

I think the kicker for me throughout all of this - and it has been an issue for so long that I've pretty much stopped using OBS and only drop into the forums from time-to-time on the offchance there's a resolution - is that Display Capture provides a far smoother (with periodic stutter timed inline with the vertical blank - which is completely removed if I capture at twice the refresh rate), whereas Game Capture - the advised capture method - is a stuttery mess where nothing seems to improve the capture smoothness, and provides a far worse result than Display Capture at even half the original refresh rate.

And while I agree that it's probably an issue on the OS/driver side, I can't help feel that there is a software solution that just hasn't been considered.

 

[darthclide]

I think the kicker for me throughout all of this - and it has been an issue for so long that I've pretty much stopped using OBS and only drop into the forums from time-to-time on the offchance there's a resolution - is that Display Capture provides a far smoother (with periodic stutter timed inline with the vertical blank - which is completely removed if I capture at twice the refresh rate), whereas Game Capture - the advised capture method - is a stuttery mess where nothing seems to improve the capture smoothness, and provides a far worse result than Display Capture at even half the original refresh rate.

And while I agree that it's probably an issue on the OS/driver side, I can't help feel that there is a software solution that just hasn't been considered.

Don't say "I can't help but feel". This is exactly how any other development team works. If a driver comes along, the developers should match it with any fixes that are required. Sure, in a utopia drivers would only be released if they are 100% guaranteed to not break any application, but this is the real world. Unfortunately as this post reaches 3 pages, we still haven't had 1 developer have the courage to admit 1. This is a real problem (and not just blame it on some mysterious 3rd party application) and 2. That it can be fixed by the OBS devs (even if it means contacting Microsoft to help resolve this DirectX issue)

 

[darthclide]

Just noticed there is an intel chipset driver update that came out for my board 3 days ago. I also notice there is a bios update from 5/31:
ROG MAXIMUS X HERO BIOS 2003
"Improve System Performance.

I am just curious if anyone else has installed these updates and noticed a difference? (I think people on this post are mostly hobbyists, and it won't kill them if their stream has some downtime. Otherwise I would do it myself immediately.)

 

[darthclide]

Still waiting to here if anyone has had any luck with motherboard updates (that have come in the past few weeks).

 

[TheChill]

Maximus VIII Hero and Z97-Pro gamer, both latest BIOS. All drivers up to date. Fresh install, three games (PUBG, thehunter: Call of the Wild, Sea of Thieves), all have microstutter in OBS preview/captures even if the gameplay is silky smooth.

Setting the refresh rates of all panels to 60Hz (accurate to within .002Hz), with or without RTSS capping FPS, VSync ON and OFF, GSync OFF, SLI off, displays on same or separate GPUs (pair of 1080s), single or multi-GPU, stock clocks. Microstutter.

VSync ON, all panels rocking 60Hz, the FPS sometimes plummets.

Latest OBS. The FPS only plummets if OBS is running. It doesn't have to be recording/streaming.

The more I play, the less I'm convinced it's a Windows/driver issue. No other capture software results in the degree of microstutter or FPS plummets I witness in OBS.

There's something fundamentally wrong going on in OBS.

 

[darthclide]

Maximus VIII Hero and Z97-Pro gamer, both latest BIOS. All drivers up to date. Fresh install, three games (PUBG, thehunter: Call of the Wild, Sea of Thieves), all have microstutter in OBS preview/captures even if the gameplay is silky smooth.

Setting the refresh rates of all panels to 60Hz (accurate to within .002Hz), with or without RTSS capping FPS, VSync ON and OFF, GSync OFF, SLI off, displays on same or separate GPUs (pair of 1080s), single or multi-GPU, stock clocks. Microstutter.

VSync ON, all panels rocking 60Hz, the FPS sometimes plummets.

Latest OBS. The FPS only plummets if OBS is running. It doesn't have to be recording/streaming.

The more I play, the less I'm convinced it's a Windows/driver issue. No other capture software results in the degree of microstutter or FPS plummets I witness in OBS.

There's something fundamentally wrong going on in OBS.

Ah, I see you are using older hardware. I know we all want to believe that comparability is the developer's primary concern, but I fear that they are unintentionally (I hope) supporting planned obsolescence. As I mentioned a few posts ago, a guy with an x299 board with the latest Core-X cpu has 0 problems. Sure, I guess we can doubt an EVGA technician's testing, but I find it too much of a coincidence that OBS worked fine for years at 60fps, but now all of a sudden it doesn't on the same hardware?

As a reminder, we need to be also testing on actual 60hz panels. Not just cranking down the settings on variable refresh monitors.

And as for your FPS plummets, I have not encountered such a thing. I am thinking it is probably unrelated to the OP. OBS did release an update so maybe you could try going back 1 version?

 

[TheChill]

Running two of my panels via HDMI is as close as I can get to fixed 60 FPS, since that's the only resolutions they present. And with overclocking disabled, the X34 only supports 60Hz. Since the issue only occurs on the PC, in software, then as long as the panels are running at 60Hz then we're still within the bounds of the problem space (assuming VRR - free/GSync - is OFF).

As for the FPS plummeting... There are a number of accounts of on reddit, right around now, that have drawn attention to it. If I revert to earlier versions of OBS all the outlined issues persist (microstutter), other than plummeting FPS. If OBS isn't the cause of the plumetting FPS, it is certainly exacerbating it (because I never experience it when OBS isn't running, and if - after a plummet - I terminate OBS, the plumetting ceases. That's not to suggest that DWM.exe isn't the culprit, but this also occurs in true fullscreen exclusive screen modes.

Huh. Random thought with no experimentation: the plummeting may be caused by Hz-halving on non-primary displays. I'll have to experiment with VSync. But the whole stutter issue itself smacks of a timing/contention problem.

Huh. Has anyone actually looked at the frame times/pacing of output generated by OBS? Because if games are stutter-free but OBS preview/output isn't then there's a timing issue somewhere within the implementation.

I can see me setting up an OBS build environment over the coming week...

 

[darthclide]

then as long as the panels are running at 60Hz then we're still within the bounds of the problem space

Don't assume anything. There are huge hardware differences between normal 60hz panels and vrf or high refresh rate monitors.

In any case, I don't see how the FPS plummeting has anything to do with the preview stutter. The whole point of this thread is preview stutter with a perfectly smooth game running at 60fps, with OBS reporting 0 frames dropped due to encoding lag. And although it sounds harsh, I have had 0 FPS problems in any game I play. This is on the latest version of OBS as well.

It is sad that you have to tweak OBS yourself to test things. Perhaps you or someone else will discover something. I hope this thread continues to gain traction, and showcase to the public that if you have a serious problem with OBS, you will just have to fix it yourself. The devs would rather tackle 100 easy problems instead.

 

[darthclide]

Just curious if anyone has had any luck resolving this? Still waiting for a developer to assist with this long-standing bug.

 

[kzpl23]

feel like I had a similar issue forever now and never found a fix for it. Pretty much the preview would drop and like you said everything was set to 60 fps but the preview would look like 30-40. Iv tried windows 7 before too and still same issue. Tried a lot of different suggestions and nothing fixed it. Only reason im here now is cuz im still looking for a fix and there was a solution but guess not.

 

[Unconquered]

Idk if I'd count on that. I've been trying to resolve this since February with no luck. Tried everything listed here and in other threads, as well as had tech savvy friends take a look. I'm about to build a brand new computer as a last ditch effort to get things working lol, but I'm afraid of using Nvidia in case the issue persists - which sucks because I've had nothing but bad experiences with AMD.

Has anyone found a different capture program that they don't have these issues with?

 

[kzpl23]

I just dont understand how for some people it works and for others it doesnt. I tried pretty much everything single pc and dual pc streaming. Limiting FPS, disabling fullscreen optimization, changing from 144hz to 120 and 60, got rid of the capture card and tried NDI and same shit. Honestly, iv been trying to get into streaming but all i have is issues cant even get it to work.

So my gaming pc is a 4790k with 980ti streaming one is fx8320 with a r9 200 or something like that. I tried it on the amd build and its still the same so I have no clue what causes this problem.

I was thinking the same just build a brand new pc and hope that it works because every suggestion i tried it does nothing or i guess i can just record and stream at 30fps at least this way it wont be dipping from 60fps.

 

[kzpl23]

Well i gave xsplit a try and what do you know it works just fine holds 60fps smooth.

 

[SteevE-G]

Hello,

Please anyone got any update or solution for this issue? I have the same problem, it happens exactly every 12 minutes, stuttering for 20-30 seconds every 12 minutes. However it works perfectly fine again during 12 more minutes after that... The only thing I can say is it is not due to an overload of GPU or CPU because it happens anyway, at any settings, fps or resolution.

It's probably in relation with how Windows manage the screen capturing internally, but it's very sad if there is no solution :(

Thanks

 

[BuskingGuyTV]

Having the exact same Issue... My Build : rtx 3070 / Ryzen 9 5900x / X570 A-PRO / 32gb Gskill 3200mhz cl16 / 700w Thermaltake smart RGB

Im totally lost with this topic and i tried everything i possibly could. starting now to swap parts and throw money at it, completely blind btw. im so sad...

Video Example : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZSAcVdI3g
At around 8mins the stutter starts.. it persists for about 30min until it starts to behave normal again. .

Logfile from the video is attached

 

[konsolenritter]

@BuskingGuyTV Das sagt der Analyzer zu deinem Log: https://obsproject.com/tools/analyzer?log_url=https://obsproject.com/logs/GBtb6i2VJupdWSRT

Also erstmal im Windows den GPU-Scheduler ausschalten...

 

[BuskingGuyTV]

@BuskingGuyTV Das sagt der Analyzer zu deinem Log: https://obsproject.com/tools/analyzer?log_url=https://obsproject.com/logs/GBtb6i2VJupdWSRT

Also erstmal im Windows den GPU-Scheduler ausschalten...

Leider keine Verbesserung :(

 

[BuskingGuyTV]

ein bekannter hat mein Netzteil im Verdacht, dass wenn spannungsspitzen erreicht werden das system nicht mehr bekommt was es braucht. hab aber keine ahnung ob es daran liegen kann. Thermaltake SMART RGB 700W