Question / Help Twitch upload Cap (Limit)

G

Gradus

Member
Hi everyone,

I am a Twitch partner who stream at 1080p 60FPS using 8000kb/s bitrate and slow encoding settings via OBS Studio. When I set my stream bitrate above 8000kb/s Twitch automatically removes 1080p transcoding option from channel and my audience can select only 720p (3500kb/s) and below (480p-360p etc.) I raised this issue to Twitch support however they just redirected me to stream.twitch.com site for guidance which doesn't answer my question.

Please let me know if there is any hard cap for uploading at Twitch. Or what the issue might be related?

Thanks.
 
Fenrir

Fenrir

Forum Admin
6000kbps bitrate is their recommended limit. If you go over, they start pulling transcode options from you. Nothing we can do about it, you need to work with them.
 
G

Gradus

Member
Actually I was able to stream at 9000kbits a few months ago and there was no issue. However I believe Twitch changed the regulation and capped streamers upload speed to 8000kbits somewhere middle of July. Since then I am not able to push my bitrate further. It just removes the transcoding option as you mentioned.

Even Mixer let every streamer to upload speed up to 10000kbits so hopefully Twitch will change this rule soon.
 
F

Flathulenz

New Member
Hey Gradus, I'm on the same problem. I'm just exposing the size of the bitrate. I think it has something to do with buffer size. If I set the buffer size to 0, then I can set the bit rate to 9000kbits and it works. But i have no idea what exactly the buffer size does. so it's just try and error in my case. xD
 
F

Flathulenz

New Member
Why shouldn't I?
Could you explain what exactly happens if i adjust it and why that's bad?
You advise to always use the automatic buffer size, right?
 
S

sam686

Member
Flathulenz said:
Why shouldn't I?
Could you explain what exactly happens if i adjust it and why that's bad?
You advise to always use the automatic buffer size, right?
Click to expand...
Too little buffer might have poor quality keyframes.

Too much buffer increases latency over slow connection, and makes the bitrate less constant. This might cause Twitch to show a warning, because it produces higher peaks in bitrate, and may results in not allowing Source at all. Black screen for a few seconds followed by high motion high details is the most likely time to cause this excessive peak bitrate when buffer size is too high.

If buffer size is 0 (edit: not using custom buffer size), OBS use the default, that makes buffer size the same as bitrate.

Twitch's 1080p quality option is source, not transcoded. Twitch blocks the option for viewers to use source for streamers having too high of a peak bitrate.
 
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C

cmno

New Member
I stream at 7000 and it reaches peaks of 6500 and usually keeps on 6000~6200.
Is that a router limitation?
No matter how much I raise it keeps with these numbers.
I want to stream at 7000 and i don’t know what’s blocking it, since I have 20mb upload.
 
R

R1CH

Forum Admin
Developer
A buffer size of 0 disables the VBV system, so you're actually streaming VBR. High action scenes could spike the bitrate far higher than you intend.
 
G

Gradus

Member
Flathulenz said:
Hey Gradus, I'm on the same problem. I'm just exposing the size of the bitrate. I think it has something to do with buffer size. If I set the buffer size to 0, then I can set the bit rate to 9000kbits and it works. But i have no idea what exactly the buffer size does. so it's just try and error in my case. xD
Click to expand...

Hey man!

Thanks for your comment. Streaming at 1080p-60FPS (SLOW encoding) provides crystal clear sharpness however 8000kb/s bitrate is not enough to prevent the pixellation at high motion scenes like PUBG where you drive a car on grass. The pixellation becomes very visible. I also tried 720p-60FPS (SLOWER encoding) using 8000kb/s bitrate, but the video is not sharp as 1080p. Becasue of downscaling the video looks blurry.

I really hope that Twitch will increase the bitrate cap to at least to 10000kb/s so that we can provide a flawless streaming experience to Twitch audience.
 
Last edited:
G

Gradus

Member
R1CH said:
A buffer size of 0 disables the VBV system, so you're actually streaming VBR. High action scenes could spike the bitrate far higher than you intend.
Click to expand...

Hey R1CH,

Some of my viewers complain sometimes that video/sound de-sync issue happens during my stream. I believe their device (computer, tablet etc) is not powerfull enough to process 1080p-60FPS stream so when they reload the page or restart Twitch application the issue goes away.

Is there a someting I can do to prevent this issue as a streamer rather than reducing my bitrate or downscale video?

Thanks!
 
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