Question / Help Viewers still complaining about lag...

[KamelJabber]

My viewers on twitch have been reporting to me that my stream is laggy.
I am a bit confused about this because I don't know what other settings to tweak.
Any help would be appreciated!

My ISP says I have 50 Mbps download and 25 Mbps upload
According to testmy.net SmartTest my average upload is actually 15 Mbps.

Based on that information I set my Max Bitrate to 10,000 and the Buffer Size to 1,000
Audio Encoding: AAC / Bitrate: 128

Since my PC apparently handles it well and my upload speed is good I set my video to full 1920x1080 at 40 FPS. No resolution downscale.

I also was using gamesource to stream Diablo III.

After some complaints, I changed the settings to the following:
Bitrate: 8,000
Resolution downscale to: 1280x720
FPS: 30
Source: Screen region

According to OBS I did not drop any frames.

I don't know what else to tweak/adjust...

Video of settings: http://www.twitch.tv/kameljabber/b/401206895

 

[secretply]

Re: Help me figure out streaming lag...

Your stream is lagging because your viewers need about 10 Mbps of download to actually watch your stream (since your max bitrate is 10000 kbps). Twitch can't really handle bitrate that high anyways. Lower it to about 2500-3500, depending on your resolution. Since your resolution is 720p, 2500 should be more than enough to display a 720p quality like stream while viewers being able to properly view the stream.

 

[KamelJabber]

Re: Help me figure out streaming lag...

Your stream is lagging because your viewers need about 10 Mbps of download to actually watch your stream (since your max bitrate is 10000 kbps). Twitch can't really handle bitrate that high anyways. Lower it to about 2500-3500, depending on your resolution. Since your resolution is 720p, 2500 should be more than enough to display a 720p quality like stream while viewers being able to properly view the stream.

Oh, wow, I totally mis understood the settings!!! I thought the Buffer size (the 1,000 number) is what effects what the viewers download.

I'll change it to 3500 since I like to stream at 1080 when I can.

 

[KamelJabber]

My viewers are still complaining about lag.
Is there a client side test application/monitor?

The particular viewer says he has 14 Mb down.
I lowered my max bit rate to 2500 and the buffer to 1000
Checked CBR
I have 15mb upload speeds
I also selected 720 downscale and 30 fps.
I even selected faster for the x.264 (instead of veryfast) since my CPU can handle it.

OBS says zero dropped frames and my upload and CPU are doing just fine.

Any ideas how to debug this further?

 

[Jack0r]

Tell him, unless you have dropped frames, its not your connection, its the viewers connection to twitch. He should message twitch and talk with them or his ISP. EVEN if he can watch other streams fine.

 

[AndehX]

if by chance this viewer lives in the UK and uses Virgin Media, then that will most likely be his problem. Virgin Media have had issues with twitch for months now, but they never show any interest in fixing the issue. I switched to a different provider 3 month ago because I was tired of their crap.

 

[KamelJabber]

OK, that makes me feel better

So if I watch the recorded footage and I have zero lag, I assume that is a test of how the stream would look to a user if their connection was good?

whew, watching a ~3 hour stream to check for lag is going to be brutal!

I'll have to try to narrow down the time window...

 

[AndehX]

you're better off asking multiple viewers how the stream looks. going by 1 viewer is not a good way to tell if your stream is stable.

 

[KamelJabber]

Multiple viewers still complaining...I'm at a loss, everything on my end looks file.
I'm just simply going to lower the bit rate to 1800 and check CBR (i had it checked on and off previously)
I even set the x.264 preset to medium.

Perhaps twitch is the bottle neck, I have not been having any luck with anything over 2500.
The last session got no complaints at 1800 but it was a short session.
I hope 720 comes out ok at that bit rate.

p.s. I did a google search and this thread came up, lol

 

[R1CH]

If you don't have any lag on the VOD then it's likely a Twitch distribution problem to your viewers.