Video Recording is very choppy - after years of working perfectly... help!

LFactress

New Member
Hi! I use OBS to screen record online webinars I want to rewatch later (not a lot of fast movement), so the data is coming in through Google Chrome on my Windows 10 laptop. I've been doing it successfully for years, but the last 6 months or so I've started having issues with the video being so choppy it's almost useless. Last time this happened, 2 years ago, I was told to start using NVIDIA and optimize it for OBS (Which I have done), and that worked for a while, but now the choppiness is back.

My laptop settings won't go higher than 60fps, and I just confirmed that NVIDIA GEForce settings for OBS are optimized. I see an error in the OBS application saying "Encoding Overloaded! Consider turning down video settings or using a faster encoding preset." I went into Video Settings and Advanced Settings, I'm on Version 29.1.2, and I can't find either of those. I tried changing "Common FPS Values" to 30 (on Video Settings screen) and nothing changed, I'm still getting the error and the chopiness is still bad.

Thank you in advance for your help!
 

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  • 2023-07-17 12-12-12.txt
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rockbottom

Active Member
Interesting, according to the log, you don't have an Nvdia GPU.

iGPU has reached EOL & your installed driver is very old but an updated driver was released on 6/15/23.

That said, reducing the output resolution or using a faster preset should help to reduce/eliminate the lag.
 

rockbottom

Active Member
You're probably going to need to do something with this too:
12:12:12.852: Avast Antivirus: enabled (AV)
12:12:12.853: Avast Antivirus: enabled (FW)
 

rockbottom

Active Member
Disable game DVR (Windows)

These stats are at the end of the log. There needs to be significant improvement here, way too slow, even for 30FPS. Updating the driver & disabling Avast should hopefully get these numbers where they need to be.

obs_graphics_thread(33.3333 ms): min=0.067 ms, median=3.235 ms, max=53.167 ms, 99th percentile=41.758 ms, 97.2574% below 33.333 ms
12:12:31.845: ┣tick_sources: min=0.001 ms, median=0.302 ms, max=27.298 ms, 99th percentile=7.899 ms
12:12:31.845: ┣output_frame: min=0.052 ms, median=1.28 ms, max=40.705 ms, 99th percentile=35.884 ms
12:12:31.845: ┃ ┣gs_context(video->graphics): min=0.051 ms, median=0.971 ms, max=35.753 ms, 99th percentile=24.063 ms
12:12:31.845: ┃ ┃ ┣render_video: min=0.013 ms, median=0.645 ms, max=20.755 ms, 99th percentile=9.363 ms
12:12:31.845: ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣render_main_texture: min=0.008 ms, median=0.343 ms, max=20.464 ms, 99th percentile=7.288 ms
12:12:31.845: ┃ ┃ ┃ ┣render_convert_texture: min=0.057 ms, median=0.239 ms, max=13.567 ms, 99th percentile=8.103 ms, 0.71519 calls per parent call
12:12:31.845: ┃ ┃ ┃ ┗stage_output_texture: min=0.015 ms, median=0.067 ms, max=2.722 ms, 99th percentile=0.566 ms, 0.71519 calls per parent call
12:12:31.845: ┃ ┃ ┣gs_flush: min=0.02 ms, median=0.123 ms, max=29.783 ms, 99th percentile=8.09 ms
12:12:31.845: ┃ ┃ ┗download_frame: min=0 ms, median=0.026 ms, max=34.828 ms, 99th percentile=20.928 ms, 0.71519 calls per parent call
12:12:31.846: ┃ ┗output_video_data: min=0.001 ms, median=0.008 ms, max=36.215 ms, 99th percentile=30.695 ms, 0.71308 calls per parent call
12:12:31.846: ┗render_displays: min=0 ms, median=0.236 ms, max=17.098 ms, 99th percentile=11.063 ms
12:12:31.846: video_thread(video): min=0.002 ms, median=84.436 ms, max=238.614 ms, 99th percentile=220.016 ms
12:12:31.846: ┗receive_video: min=10.351 ms, median=33.747 ms, max=145.054 ms, 99th percentile=68.271 ms, 2.61667 calls per parent call
12:12:31.846: ┗do_encode: min=10.336 ms, median=33.743 ms, max=145.052 ms, 99th percentile=68.269 ms
12:12:31.846: ┣encode(simple_video_recording): min=10.285 ms, median=33.34 ms, max=144.895 ms, 99th percentile=68.266 ms
12:12:31.846: ┗send_packet: min=0.03 ms, median=0.088 ms, max=21.777 ms, 99th percentile=7.714 ms, 0.917197 calls per parent call
 
Last edited:

rockbottom

Active Member
I still had the log open & just noticed your monitor appears to be scaled @ 200%. Scaling was causing issues & I'm not sure if it's been fixed in the version you are using or in any new version of OBS yet. Try setting it @ 100%.

12:12:13.360: name=TDM13O56
12:12:13.360: pos={0, 0}
12:12:13.360: size={3000, 2000}
12:12:13.360: attached=true
12:12:13.360: refresh=60
12:12:13.360: bits_per_color=8
12:12:13.360: space=RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
12:12:13.360: sdr_white_nits=80
12:12:13.360: nit_range=[min=0.500000, max=270.000000, max_full_frame=270.000000]
12:12:13.360: dpi=192 (200%)
 

LFactress

New Member
Interesting, according to the log, you don't have an Nvdia GPU.

iGPU has reached EOL & your installed driver is very old but an updated driver was released on 6/15/23.

That said, reducing the output resolution or using a faster preset should help to reduce/eliminate the lag
4 out of your 7 recommendations were successfully implemented.
Here's where I'm stuck:
  • According to Device Mgr, I have 2 Display adaptors installed. The 1st one - Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 - when I go to Update Device Driver in Device Manager - it tells me I have the latest version (I tried to install the one in the link you sent, and got an error saying my laptop was locked from installing it, and to go through Windows Update, which of course told me there was no update). So... catch-22 there. The 2nd Driver is the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 1050 that I installed a while back, and it says it's working when I open the App, but OBS isn't using it? Or maybe I installed a driver that isn't associated with my computer - I didn't know that was possible, but maybe?
  • Reducing the output resolution - where do I do this? Is it called something else? I've been through all the Video, Output and advanced settings and can't find what you're referring to.
Need more Information
  • You suggested I "switch from x264 to the QSV (QuickSync) encoder", and when I clicked the dropdown box to change it, I saw 2 NVIDIA options listed: NVIDIA NVENC H.264 and NVIDIA NVENC HEVC. Should I switch to one of those? If not, there are also 2 QuickSync options: H.264 and HEVC. Which one do I want? (and thank you!)

Successful:
  • As for faster preset -I found this and will give it a try.
  • Thank you for the "Disable game DVR (Windows)" suggestion. I have never played a game on this computer, or on any computer since 1999 if I'm being honest. LOL... and i had to google this one, but it's off now and forever. :)
  • I disabled Avast
  • Scaling changed from 200% to 100% (although 200% is what Windows says is recommended, so I may play around with this once all the other settings are changed).
Thank you so much!
 

rockbottom

Active Member
I'm not sure what's going on with your hardware but OBS isn't picking up the 1050.

For the iGPU, check your laptops manufacturer's support site for the latest driver.

OBS Settings > Video, Base & Output resolutions can be found here.

QSV, try both & pick what works best for you.. H265 should produce a smaller file than H264, quality being the same but will cost more resources to encode & decode.
 
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