Preview screen tearing issue from OBS-Studio-27.1-rc3 and onward, not present in rc2 and earlier

cloakedalien

cloakedalien

New Member
Just as the topic suggest. I've had this weird screen tearing issue since I upgraded to Windows 11 (on launch day so that would've been October 2021). I kinda just assumed it was Windows and forcing v.sync through NVidia control panel gave me massive issues with frame rendering times, etc. It affects the entire preview area so not specific to a source.

By downloading the ZIP archives of various versions I narrowed it down to OBS-Studio-27.1-rc2 working as expected and OBS-Studio-27.1-rc3 having the screen tearing issue which matches well with the date I upgraded to Windows 11. I've experienced this issue over all different versions of OBS, Windows 11 updates and Nvidia drivers since. Administrator mode or not does not make a difference.

Interestingly this coincides with the tweak "Added performance fixes for Windows 11 and Windows 10 Insider builds", but that's merely an observation on my part.

Specs:
64-bit OBS
Ryzen 9 3900X
Nvidia RTX 3080 (511.79)
4k@60hz screen (LG UM7100PLB, 3840x2160, HDR disabled in Windows Display Settings)
Windows 11 Pro (21H2)

I have not yet been able to verify if the problem exists in Windows 10 with the same setup for obvious reasons. I tried changing the resolution to 1080p on the 4K screen and the problem persisted. However on my secondary 1080p monitor it was a lot harder to notice. This problem is restricted to OBS preview and is not present in rc2 and earlier so shouldn't be the display specifically although it could be a part in the puzzle.

I'm aware that this might be a an extreme edge case if not easily reproducible, unfortunately I play through the preview so it's an uncomfortable edge but I'd be happy to do more tests and provide more info!

Here are a couple of camera captures that at least manages to capture the tearing in a "barebone" scene setup (video+audio capture only). It's much more obvious IRL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMvPyxP8Uwo (rc3 showing tearing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjQbyoBPAMk (rc2 showing lack of tearing)

Logfiles:
 
cloakedalien

cloakedalien

New Member
Sorry, the errors are from a different scene and not relevant (tested after removed). I can do updated captures and logs if necessary.

I know I shouldn't use a release candidate for a stream. I was merely narrowing the change down to specific versions to rule out external errors. Tearing exists in rc3 and later, it does not in rc2 and older.
 
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cyclemat

Active Member
Yes and you See how much problems we have with the New version so i had make a downgran and wait for 28

Did you use gsync freesync witch game did you habe tearing only on the capture device or on every game?
 
cloakedalien

cloakedalien

New Member
I don't have gsync / freesync. As stated it's does not seem to be the capture source - I've noticed it over the entire preview area so it happens even with just browser sources (I have a "fullscreen" overlay with lots of animation). I've had these problems consistently since October. When I get the time I can try to do captures and log extractions with just a browser source for reference to see if I can reproduce it even clearer =)
 
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djpromote

New Member
Ok so maybe Im not alone. Ive been on Mac only streaming DJ sets and finally copped a cheap MSI GF63 Thin 10SC-222. All my camera capture sources are tearing. I updated it to Windows 11 and wondering if I shouldve stayed on 10. Ive looked everywhere and cant find a solution. All I see are dual monitor gaming solutions. I hope you find the cluprit.
 
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djpromote

New Member
Based on your first post I decided to downgrade to Windows 10. I then reinstalled OBS 27.1.3 and Im pretty sure the tearing is gone. I do not use dual screens just multiple cameras.
 
cloakedalien

cloakedalien

New Member
Ok, so I've done some more tests using only a browser source to validate my previous claims. I've also validated that the problem exists on all my other monitors (it's a 3 monitor setup)

I have tested with OBS-Studio-27.1-rc2-Full-x64 and OBS-Studio-27.1-rc3-Full-x64. Problem also exists in the latest OBS (27.2.1)

This is the browser source I'm using for testing (1920x1080):

My OBS is set to 60 FPS but this also happens at 30 FPS

Again, this is not a specific capture source issue but my entire preview area. It happens in 27.1 rc3 and later and only there and across all different scenes, sources and stuff.

OBS-Studio-27.1-rc3-Full-x64:
Log: https://cloakedalien.tv/tearing_test/logs/rc3_2022-02-27 22-00-15.txt
Video: https://youtu.be/smK-I-mqD-Q

OBS-Studio-27.1-rc2-Full-x64:
Log: https://cloakedalien.tv/tearing_test/logs/rc2_2022-02-27 22-01-19.txt
Video: https://youtu.be/kCv9uJ7_owI
 
cloakedalien

cloakedalien

New Member
Just installed Windows 10 side-by-side for comparison on the same system and a quick 'n' dirty test did not show the problem even in the latest (27.2.3) version so does seem to be specific for Windows 11. I'll see if I can reproduce it on another machine running Windows 11.
 
cloakedalien

cloakedalien

New Member
Oh yes, this was very much reproduceable on another PC running Windows 11. Totally different configuration (i7 4770, GTX 960). I think this is an OBS + Win 11 combo. rc3 and has the issue, rc2 does not so at least it doesn't seem to be confined to my system and is hopefully easy to test for someone else running Windows 11 =)
 
ninbura

ninbura

New Member
I'm also experiencing this on my system after upgrading to Windows 11, tearing in preview panes regardless of source.

Big problem for me as I use the OBS preview (full-screen) feature to stream to Discord, was not happening on Windows 10.

I'm using a X399 system with a Threadripper 2950X and a GTX 2080 Ti, so not an Intel only thing.
 
ninbura

ninbura

New Member
Would like to add that forcing V-sync solved the tearing issue, but has me dropping mad frames like OP was saying.
 
cloakedalien

cloakedalien

New Member
Thank you for confirming this! I have actually reverted to Windows 10 to avoid this issue, but I have my Windows 11 installed in parallell for testing purposes whenever this gets addressed.
 
FatPig

FatPig

New Member
This is still happening in the most recent release (27.2.4). It's fine on Windows 10. The preview is set to 60FPS as is my monitor. I do not have this issue in any other software.
 
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steve_muc

New Member
Same problem here. Windows 11 & latest OBS version 27.2.4
Since that OBS version I have terrible screen tearings (preview/program/projector) - no matter what I configure: tested all framerates (capturing via Blackmagic Webpresenter 4K), vsync forcing and so on. Nothing fixed this issue.
Downgraded to OBS 25.08 and tearing was immediately gone. That's a quite dangerous workaround for streaming but what else could I do? Any ideas? Guess this is a special problem with OBS because ZOOM preview doesn't tear at all.
 
ljwser

ljwser

New Member
Exactly same problem. Win11+ OBS leads to tearing in preview/projector/recording, especially when I move my camera fast in FPS games like CSGO, COD, and Apex. OBS-Studio-27.1-rc2 (released on Sep/05/21) has no tearing, but from my test it still has some stutters under WIN11 when compared to running it with WIN10.

My current theory :
1. D3D swap chain enhancements are introduced by Mircosoft to boost performance for rendering.
2. OBS devs saw this and added these swap chain enhancements, but their test cases didn't cover all situations.
2. These enhancements are not working exactly the same for WIN11 and WIN10.

I checked the source code and found that they added a D3D swap chain enhancement for WIN10/WIN11 on Sep/06/21:
https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/pull/2064/commits
And then a few days later, they used FILP_DISCARD and added the ALLOW_TEARING flag to the swap chain enhancements. Their motivations can be found in the links below.
https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/pull/5265
https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio/pull/5266

Using FILP_DISCARD with ALLOW_TEARING is recommended by Microsoft. I tried to compile a version without ALLOW_TEARING (since the name of this flag is way too suspect) but only introduce severe latency problem under WIN11.

Since this combo has no problem under WIN10, either MS fixes their shitty "optimizations" for WIN11 or we have to use older version without swap chain enhancements (and the older version still introduces stutter under WIN11 and not working properly, just less screen tearings). I suspect the stutters/tearings are due to the rendering frames are out of sync with capture card/monitor refresh rate, and also it may be related to the Variable Refresh Rate. My capture card doesn't support any form of VRR so I can only boost its refresh rate to minimize the tearing.
 
D

Deleted member 407932

Just want to confirm that this still holds true for 28.0.0-beta1.
One change I've noticed is that the place it tears (think of this as of a "scan line") is rather "stable" now.
Like it always happens 15% from the bottom of a preview window.

OBS fails to show UI with opengl renderer selected for me, so can't test that.
 
A

andsonsouza

New Member
Hi Guys,

I was having the same problem on Win11. Trying to figure it out what's the problem could be. Did so many test til find this topic.
I installed the new version of obs(28.0.0-rc2) release today and the problem seems it's fixed. My screen tearing has stoped.

Highly suggest you guy upgrade to the new version or install the old version that @steve_muc has suggested.
 
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