Question / Help OBS settings OK, but still bad quality

P

papus

New Member
Hello everyone.

I came here in need for help. I'm having issues with quality of my stream though all my settings seem to be ok. I read lots of tutorials and guides, including those on this forum, also tried OBS Estimator settings. Nothing helped me yet.

The thing is - quality in motion simply sucks and things aren't sharp. Ofcourse I tried lowering and maxing quality, tried higher bitrate, tried faster/fast/medium presets, tried 720p. I'd really love to stream my gameplay in 1080p/720p in good and nice for eye quality (it doesn't have to be perfect/extreme). I asked few few streamers about their settings and they pretty much matched those testes below by me, they play LoL/BF3/BFBC2/CoD4.

Examples:
Quality 8, Max Bit rate/Buffer size 2000, Very Fast Preset, 30FPS, 1920x1080 (Neverwinter)
http://twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2237643

Quality 8, Max Bit rate/Buffer size 3000, Very Fast Preset, 30FPS, 1920x1080 (Neverwinter)
http://twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2237650

Constant Bit rate/Buffer size 2500 Very Fast Preset, 30FPS, 1920x1080 (Neverwinter)
http://twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2237652

Quality 7, Max Bit rate/Buffer size 3400, Fast Preset, 30FPS, 1280x720 (Neverwinter)
http://twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2237666

Quality 7, Max Bit rate/Buffer size 2000, Fast Preset, 30FPS, 1920x1080 (LoL) <- It's kind of watchable but could be better
http://twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2237140

Quality 7, Max Bit rate/Buffer size 2000, Fast Preset, 30FPS, 1920x1080 (LoL)
http://twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2237988
Log of the last streaming:
Open Broadcaster Software v0.51b - 32bit (´·?·`)
-------------------------------
CPU Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz
CPU Speed: 3502MHz
Physical Memory: 4095MB Total, 4095MB Free
stepping id: 7, model 10, family 6, type 0, extmodel 1, extfamily 0, HTT 1, logical cores 8, total cores 4
monitor 1: pos={0, 0}, size={1920, 1080}
monitor 2: pos={1920, 0}, size={1920, 1080}
Windows Version: 6.1 Build 7601 S
Aero is Disabled
------------------------------------------
Adapter 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Video Adapter Dedicated Video Memory: 1025966080
Video Adapter Shared System Memory: 3220779008
=====Stream Start: 2013-05-03, 21:34:32===============================================
Multithreaded optimizations: On
Base resolution: 1920x1080
Output resolution: 1920x1080
------------------------------------------
Loading up D3D10...
Playback device Default
------------------------------------------
Using desktop audio input: Logitech G35 (2 — Logitech G35 Headset)
Using 7.1 surround speaker setup (experimental)
------------------------------------------
Using auxilary audio input: Logitech G35 Mikrofon (2 — Logitech G35 Headset)
------------------------------------------
Audio Encoding: AAC
bitrate: 128
Using graphics capture
Using bitmap image
------------------------------------------
device: VF0530 Live! Cam Chat IM,
device id \\?\usb#vid_041e&pid_406b&mi_00#7&e37c82&0&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global,
chosen type: YUY2, usingFourCC: false, res: 640x480 - 640x480, frameIntervals: 333333-666667, fourCC: 'YUY2'
audio device: Disable,
audio device id Disabled,

Using directshow input
Using bitmap image
------------------------------------------
device: Live! Cam Sync HD VF0770,
device id \\?\usb#vid_041e&pid_4095&mi_00#7&340793b3&0&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global,
chosen type: YUY2, usingFourCC: false, res: 640x360 - 640x360, frameIntervals: 333333-2000000, fourCC: 'YUY2'
audio device: Wyłącz,
audio device id Disabled,

Using directshow input
Using Monitor Capture
------------------------------------------
Video Encoding: x264
fps: 30
width: 1920, height: 1080
preset: fast
CBR: no
CFR: no
max bitrate: 2000
buffer size: 2000
quality: 7
------------------------------------------
Using RTMP service: Twitch / Justin.tv
Server selection: rtmp://live-fra.justin.tv/app
SO_SNDBUF was at 8192
SO_SNDBUF is now 65536
Total frames rendered: 102981, number of frames that lagged: 82 (0.08%) (it's okay for some frames to lag)
RTMPPublisher::SocketLoop: Aborting due to bStopping
Number of times waited to send: 0, Waited for a total of 0 bytes
Number of b-frames dropped: 0 (0%), Number of p-frames dropped: 0 (0%), Total 0 (0%)
=====Stream End: 2013-05-03, 22:31:48=================================================

Profiler results:

==============================================================
frame - [100%] [avg time: 7.376 ms] [avg calls per frame: 1] [children: 93.7%] [unaccounted: 6.29%]
| scene->Preprocess - [60%] [avg time: 4.429 ms] [avg calls per frame: 1]
| video encoding and uploading - [33.7%] [avg time: 2.483 ms] [avg calls per frame: 1] [children: 33.5%] [unaccounted: 0.136%]
| | CopyResource - [0.136%] [avg time: 0.01 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
| | conversion to 4:2:0 - [0.108%] [avg time: 0.008 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
| | call to encoder - [33.1%] [avg time: 2.442 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
| | sending stuff out - [0.176%] [avg time: 0.013 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
==============================================================
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

My PC:
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V LX
CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K 3.4 GHz @ 4.4GHz
CPU cooler: Asus Triton 81
GPU: GeForce GTX560Ti Hawk (1GB/256bit, 950/2100MHz)
Memory: HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz
SSD: OCZ-VERTEX4 (128 GB)
HDD: WDC WD7500AARX (750 GB)
Main screen: Benq XL2420T 120Hz (24")
Secondary screen: Samsung 2343BW 60Hz (23")
Click to expand...

Do you have any ideas what am I doing wrong? My connection is 40Mbit/s down, 4 Mbit/s up (though that 4Mbit/s usually stays around 3Mbit/s)

With best regards
Paul.

@EDIT: Forgot to add - yes, I tried game source and game capture.
 
dodgepong

dodgepong

Administrator
Community Helper
You're not doing anything wrong. You just have an unrealistically high expectation of the video quality you can get out of streaming. Relatively speaking, I think it looks fine. If you can run your CPU as the Fast preset without too much of a slowdown in performance, then that's great.

Personally, I would recommend going with Fast/720p/3000 bit rate. You might want to look into doing 60fps to increase the perceived quality more, too.
 
G

GuardianX

New Member
@hilalpro:

I agree.

I don't know I mean i don't want to pick his rig apart because it all seems pretty amazing except for his video card, which isn't BAD but can it really support pushing 2 monitors AND stream encoding or whatever goes along with it? mainly wondering for 1080p, anything else and the artifacts are minimal at worst.
 
P

papus

New Member
Thanks everyone for replies.

I really don't understand one thing:
2 gameplays
Lordscaremonger: http://www.twitch.tv/lordscaremonger/b/396964373 (and his other videos) (he plays CoD4/Witcher)
P4pus (mine): http://www.twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2238380 (fixed link)
His gameplay is much better than mine (especially around mid where character is). In these two videos there're same bitrates (3000) and same resolutions. I asked this streamer about his settings but he just told me about them only in general, nothing more. He's kind of "not advanced" (or who care) streamers so he doesn't have awesome rig and computer science skills but has better stream quality than me. I'm not jealous but it bothers me I can't get the same result.
GuardianX said:
@hilalpro:
I don't know I mean i don't want to pick his rig apart because it all seems pretty amazing except for his video card, which isn't BAD but can it really support pushing 2 monitors AND stream encoding or whatever goes along with it? mainly wondering for 1080p, anything else and the artifacts are minimal at worst.
Click to expand...
I'm going to change this card at the end of the year to 2 radeons (whatever's best at the time).

@EDIT:
Tried again higher bitrate:
http://pl.twitch.tv/p4pus/b/399077360
Quality 8, Bitrate 3400, 1280x720p, faster preset <- This is just a no, no. It lags the game and doesn't improve video quality.
Log:
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
Open Broadcaster Software v0.51b - 32bit (´・ω・｀)
-------------------------------
CPU Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz
CPU Speed: 3502MHz
Physical Memory: 4095MB Total, 4095MB Free
stepping id: 7, model 10, family 6, type 0, extmodel 1, extfamily 0, HTT 1, logical cores 8, total cores 4
monitor 1: pos={0, 0}, size={1920, 1080}
monitor 2: pos={1920, 0}, size={1920, 1080}
Windows Version: 6.1 Build 7601 S
Aero is Disabled
------------------------------------------
Adapter 1
Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Video Adapter Dedicated Video Memory: 1025966080
Video Adapter Shared System Memory: 3220779008
=====Stream Start: 2013-05-03, 23:40:57===============================================
Multithreaded optimizations: On
Base resolution: 1920x1080
Output resolution: 1280x720
------------------------------------------
Loading up D3D10...
Playback device Default
------------------------------------------
Using desktop audio input: Logitech G35 (2 — Logitech G35 Headset)
Using 7.1 surround speaker setup (experimental)
------------------------------------------
Using auxilary audio input: Logitech G35 Mikrofon (2 — Logitech G35 Headset)
------------------------------------------
Audio Encoding: AAC
bitrate: 128
Using graphics capture
Using bitmap image
------------------------------------------
device: VF0530 Live! Cam Chat IM,
device id \\?\usb#vid_041e&pid_406b&mi_00#7&e37c82&0&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global,
chosen type: YUY2, usingFourCC: false, res: 640x480 - 640x480, frameIntervals: 333333-666667, fourCC: 'YUY2'
audio device: Disable,
audio device id Disabled,

Using directshow input
Using bitmap image
------------------------------------------
device: Live! Cam Sync HD VF0770,
device id \\?\usb#vid_041e&pid_4095&mi_00#7&340793b3&0&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global,
chosen type: YUY2, usingFourCC: false, res: 640x360 - 640x360, frameIntervals: 333333-2000000, fourCC: 'YUY2'
audio device: Wyłącz,
audio device id Disabled,

Using directshow input
Using Monitor Capture
------------------------------------------
Video Encoding: x264
fps: 30
width: 1280, height: 720
preset: fast
CBR: yes
CFR: no
max bitrate: 3000
------------------------------------------
SharedTexCapture hooked
Using RTMP service: Twitch / Justin.tv
Server selection: rtmp://live-fra.justin.tv/app
SO_SNDBUF was at 8192
SO_SNDBUF is now 65536
Total frames rendered: 4103, number of frames that lagged: 3 (0.07%) (it's okay for some frames to lag)
RTMPPublisher::SocketLoop: Aborting due to bStopping
Number of times waited to send: 4, Waited for a total of 16388 bytes
Number of b-frames dropped: 0 (0%), Number of p-frames dropped: 0 (0%), Total 0 (0%)
=====Stream End: 2013-05-03, 23:43:14=================================================
------------------------------------------
=====Stream Start: 2013-05-04, 00:27:38===============================================
Multithreaded optimizations: On
Base resolution: 1920x1080
Output resolution: 1280x720
------------------------------------------
Loading up D3D10...
Playback device Default
------------------------------------------
Using desktop audio input: Logitech G35 (2 — Logitech G35 Headset)
Using 7.1 surround speaker setup (experimental)
------------------------------------------
Using auxilary audio input: Logitech G35 Mikrofon (2 — Logitech G35 Headset)
------------------------------------------
Audio Encoding: AAC
bitrate: 128
Using graphics capture
Using bitmap image
------------------------------------------
device: VF0530 Live! Cam Chat IM,
device id \\?\usb#vid_041e&pid_406b&mi_00#7&e37c82&0&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global,
chosen type: YUY2, usingFourCC: false, res: 640x480 - 640x480, frameIntervals: 333333-666667, fourCC: 'YUY2'
audio device: Disable,
audio device id Disabled,

Using directshow input
Using bitmap image
------------------------------------------
device: Live! Cam Sync HD VF0770,
device id \\?\usb#vid_041e&pid_4095&mi_00#7&340793b3&0&0000#{65e8773d-8f56-11d0-a3b9-00a0c9223196}\global,
chosen type: YUY2, usingFourCC: false, res: 640x360 - 640x360, frameIntervals: 333333-2000000, fourCC: 'YUY2'
audio device: Wyłącz,
audio device id Disabled,

Using directshow input
Using Monitor Capture
------------------------------------------
Video Encoding: x264
fps: 30
width: 1280, height: 720
preset: faster
CBR: no
CFR: no
max bitrate: 3400
buffer size: 3400
quality: 8
------------------------------------------
SharedTexCapture hooked
Using RTMP service: Twitch / Justin.tv
Server selection: rtmp://live-fra.justin.tv/app
SO_SNDBUF was at 8192
SO_SNDBUF is now 65536
Total frames rendered: 1356, number of frames that lagged: 2 (0.15%) (it's okay for some frames to lag)
RTMPPublisher::SocketLoop: Aborting due to bStopping
Number of times waited to send: 0, Waited for a total of 0 bytes
Number of b-frames dropped: 0 (0%), Number of p-frames dropped: 0 (0%), Total 0 (0%)
=====Stream End: 2013-05-04, 00:28:23=================================================

Profiler results:

==============================================================
frame - [100%] [avg time: 7.427 ms] [avg calls per frame: 1] [children: 92.7%] [unaccounted: 7.31%]
| scene->Preprocess - [76.5%] [avg time: 5.683 ms] [avg calls per frame: 1]
| video encoding and uploading - [16.2%] [avg time: 1.201 ms] [avg calls per frame: 1] [children: 15.8%] [unaccounted: 0.323%]
| | CopyResource - [0.148%] [avg time: 0.011 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
| | conversion to 4:2:0 - [0.175%] [avg time: 0.013 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
| | call to encoder - [15.2%] [avg time: 1.127 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
| | sending stuff out - [0.35%] [avg time: 0.026 ms] [avg calls per frame: 0]
==============================================================
Click to expand...
 
G

GuardianX

New Member
I honestly wonder if a capture card would be better for you instead / in addition to upgrading your card, been wondering this myself as well.

I mean if you can effectively cut the lag AND get better quality, why not?

I've only seen a couple claims / reviews though.

EDIT:

About that other one you posted.

Looks like he is playing on console, his movements are really stuttery and not fluid like mouse / keyboard.

Which means he is likely using a go between to stream like a capture hardware of some sort.
 
P

papus

New Member
GuardianX said:
I honestly wonder if a capture card would be better for you instead / in addition to upgrading your card, been wondering this myself as well.
I mean if you can effectively cut the lag AND get better quality, why not?
I've only seen a couple claims / reviews though.
Click to expand...
Capture card? I don't know, would it really improve the quality? Can you recommend something not very expensive?
@EDIT: Wouldn't I need second PC to use as streaming machine with capture card?

@EDIT2:

GuardianX said:
EDIT:
About that other one you posted.
Looks like he is playing on console, his movements are really stuttery and not fluid like mouse / keyboard.
Which means he is likely using a go between to stream like a capture hardware of some sort.
Click to expand...
No he's not, he's devoted pc player with hate for consoles :P
 
P

papus

New Member
hilalpro said:
If you wanna be running crossfire then it's not something recommended with obs.
Click to expand...
BF4 premiere is far away so maybe OBS will hit 1.0ver by the time :D With full cfx support. I'm going to buy new cards when the game is released.
 
G

GuardianX

New Member
hilalpro said:
I'm going to change this card at the end of the year to 2 radeons (whatever's best at the time).
Click to expand...

If you wanna be running crossfire then it's not something recommended with obs.
Click to expand...

So this basically confirms it. If you want to run crossfire you WILL need a capture card currently, it should help you in the future too.

The way a capture card like this works is basically like hooking your video card up to a camcorder directly. It acts as a semi independent device recording whatever goes by it or so I gather.
 
A

Arida

New Member
Papus, I have been having the same issues. I run an i7 3770 @ 4.1ghz and I have a gtx 660ti with 16gb or ram. When standing still in any game it looks amazing. However, as soon as I fly, run, walk or do anything besides sit still, I have pixels everywhere! It makes me want to pull my eyes out and eat them. Especially after seeing people with worse systems than mine and they get amazing looking streams. I have been searching all over trying to figure out what it is that's causing it and it has lead me here. The only thing I can think of is it must be something to do with the graphics card...

I am at my wits end with this. I cant seem to get a clear stream when in action.

This doesnt look too bad however. http://www.twitch.tv/p4pus/c/2237666
 
X

XAM

New Member
I'm currently using these settings and I'm getting great results regarding quality of the image. In my opinion at least.

  • Quality: 10
  • Max bitrate: 4000
  • Buffer size: 8000
  • Audio: AAC / 192
  • Resolution: 1280x720 @ 60fps
  • Preset: Very Fast
Example: http://www.twitch.tv/xaam/b/398916004
The "blurryness" is due to me downscaling it from 1080p to 720p.
 
A

Arida

New Member
XAM I noticed your not using a game capture option but rather a screen overlay. I wonder if that has anything to do with pixelation when moving. I changed my settings to this and it looks alot better.

Try a 720p@40fps 4000 bitrate stream with the preset "faster" and keep the quality at 6 or 7
 
X

XAM

New Member
Arida said:
XAM I noticed your not using a game capture option but rather a screen overlay. I wonder if that has anything to do with pixelation when moving. I changed my settings to this and it looks alot better.

Try a 720p@40fps 4000 bitrate stream with the preset "faster" and keep the quality at 6 or 7
Click to expand...
Actually I'm using a AVerMedia Live HD Gamer. I will not lower my fps to 40, but I could try those other changes out to see if it improves the quality and if the performance loss is worth it.
 
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