Webcam lagging massively in OBS

[gordonmullan]

I am trying to help a friend get OBS working to feed into Zoom. I've used this setup myself on Windows (VB-Cable for audio, OBS virtual camera, etc.) so I know how it *should* work.
When we start by calling each other on Zoom, everything is fine - all in sync, no problem. She's using a Logitech Brio webcam and a Rode Wireless Go mic.
However, as soon as we start OBS, the video starts lagging massively (at least 1 sec). This effect is visible in Zoom, and also in the preview window of OBS.
She has a recent (possibly latest) model Mac Mini, with 32GB RAM, quad-core 3.2Ghz processor, etc.
Anyone got *any* idea what's causing such a huge lag?

 

[ShadowBark]

Hello friend! I have the exact same situation. I've found that it is a combination of the Logitech Brio as well as the MacOS version of OBS. A lot of people recommended that I use the "Logitech Capture" software to fix this, however I do NOT suggest that in this case. I've found that when working with zoom, Logitech's software ends up creating more problems than it really fixes. There are only 2 solutions I've been able to come up with in the last 5 months, and neither are very good. But nevertheless, here is what I found:

1.) Lowering the webcam quality to 1080p or lower should fix the issue. Running the camera at higher resolution (since it is a 4k webcam) only increases this lag delay. However, since you paid for a 4k webcam, it's kind of annoying to have to use it under 1080p.

2.) The only other solution I managed to work out was to use Windows Bootcamp on my machine. Windows Bootcamp would work well on your friends computer, and ultimately on Windows the lag is much better (highest I ever got was 302ms; or 0.3 seconds to be exact). This is a complicated process, but ultimately will get the best results.

I lived with the Brio's lag for the longest time and I too can feel the frustration. Nobody responded to my OBS Forum post so I truly hope one of these solutions will work for you. Like I said I had to troubleshoot for 5 months and only came to these solutions. If you figure out anything different let me know. I think it may be something to do with the way OBS works on Mac. Maybe there will be a update down the line.

You are a great friend for helping her figure this out! Let me know if you have any other questions (being that our situations are almost exactly the same). Good luck!

 

[Broadercasting]

For any other frustrated C920 owners, I've found a cure that works to near-eliminate the Webcam Lag

Under Sources, right click on the Video Capture Device you have created
Click on Properties
Navigate to the lower third of the page and click on Video Format drop down list box,
Deselect H.264 or Any and select MJPEG.

Instead of about one second plus of lag, you should find it useable and almost in real time. You may have to lag the audio by some milliseconds or so.

OBS staff, consider why the H.264 option has so much lag. Encoding-Decoding issue?

 

[misterben]

Under Sources, right click on the Video Capture Device you have created
Click on Properties
Navigate to the lower third of the page and click on Video Format drop down list box,
Deselect H.264 or Any and select MJPEG.

Any idea how to achieve this in MacOS? I don't have a "Video Format" option in the device properties....

 

[Broadercasting]

Any idea how to achieve this in MacOS? I don't have a "Video Format" option in the device properties....

I empathise with you that options depend on what the OS allows and in this case, it's not good news for MACOS users.
You are not the only one affected. See this thread here:

Question / Help - Video Capture Device missing properties options.

Hi, I have both a mac and a windows, On my windows machine I have tons of option to manipulate my webcam. However on my Mac I have none of these options. Whats the deal? Do I need to reinstall OBS on my Mac? Something is definitely not right. Windows OBS Mac:

obsproject.com

 

[ExcelWithChris]

Have same issue on my Windows machine. Brio is set for 4K, but when I record through OBS, the lag is big time.

 

[ExcelWithChris]

Hello friend! I have the exact same situation. I've found that it is a combination of the Logitech Brio as well as the MacOS version of OBS. A lot of people recommended that I use the "Logitech Capture" software to fix this, however I do NOT suggest that in this case. I've found that when working with zoom, Logitech's software ends up creating more problems than it really fixes. There are only 2 solutions I've been able to come up with in the last 5 months, and neither are very good. But nevertheless, here is what I found:

1.) Lowering the webcam quality to 1080p or lower should fix the issue. Running the camera at higher resolution (since it is a 4k webcam) only increases this lag delay. However, since you paid for a 4k webcam, it's kind of annoying to have to use it under 1080p.

2.) The only other solution I managed to work out was to use Windows Bootcamp on my machine. Windows Bootcamp would work well on your friends computer, and ultimately on Windows the lag is much better (highest I ever got was 302ms; or 0.3 seconds to be exact). This is a complicated process, but ultimately will get the best results.

I lived with the Brio's lag for the longest time and I too can feel the frustration. Nobody responded to my OBS Forum post so I truly hope one of these solutions will work for you. Like I said I had to troubleshoot for 5 months and only came to these solutions. If you figure out anything different let me know. I think it may be something to do with the way OBS works on Mac. Maybe there will be a update down the line.

You are a great friend for helping her figure this out! Let me know if you have any other questions (being that our situations are almost exactly the same). Good luck!

Solved it!!! Watch this video. Its a audio setting in OBS. Watch especially last section. I changed mine to 250 and perfect sync now. https://youtu.be/DZnkyq4kqkE

 

[kilon]

I had the same issue with a C922 Pro, plus some frame issues. Changing to RBG in the color format allowed me to choose framerate larger than 10 FPS , I chose 30. Also I managed to solve the audio issue by going to my audio settings in my mic inside obs audio mixer and setting the sync to lag by 150 ms for my 1080->720 resolution , I also went to advanced setting in video recording and chose my nvidia encoder which also made things a bit faster. The video still lags on preview but is in sync when recording or streaming, thanks to the suggestions in this forum.

Please note I am on manjaro linux and not on macos but the solution should work for mac apart from the nvidia encoder if your mac is not old enough to have a nvidia gpu.

 

[ProjectCarry_]

So none of the solutions worked for my c920. So I right clicked the camera > went to properties > configure video > click the "camera control" tab > uncheck low light compensation.

This fixed my lag problem and also made my camera look a lot better (at least with my lighting) hope this helps someone.

 

[mandriloquai]

I have OBS under Ubuntu Linux 20.04 LTS with a generic 1080p webcam under an AMD processor. After the latest update from OBS, my camera started lagging. I found out that by going to the camera properties under Source > Video Capture Device and changing the Video Format to BGR3(Emulated) I was able to solve the problem. I also noticed that the default frame rate is 30fps now.

Hope this is useful

 

[cmms1988]

For any other frustrated C920 owners, I've found a cure that works to near-eliminate the Webcam Lag

Under Sources, right click on the Video Capture Device you have created
Click on Properties
Navigate to the lower third of the page and click on Video Format drop down list box,
Deselect H.264 or Any and select MJPEG.

Instead of about one second plus of lag, you should find it useable and almost in real time. You may have to lag the audio by some milliseconds or so.

OBS staff, consider why the H.264 option has so much lag. Encoding-Decoding issue?

I signed up to this forum just so I could thank you. Thank you!

 

[mfhepp]

Hi all,

I found a different solution that works for me so far (OBS 27.2.0 on OSX 11.6.4):

- Right-click on the camera you are using in the scene "Sources" frame (where all the sources are listed).
- Select "Properties"
- Uncheck "Use Buffering".
- Click "OK".

That fixed it for me - even though I am not routing my audio via OBS (just the camera + background picture), the output is now almost in real-time on a 2018 Macbook Pro (2,7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7).

Hope that helps!

 

[eadnams]

For any other frustrated C920 owners, I've found a cure that works to near-eliminate the Webcam Lag

Under Sources, right click on the Video Capture Device you have created
Click on Properties
Navigate to the lower third of the page and click on Video Format drop down list box,
Deselect H.264 or Any and select MJPEG.

Instead of about one second plus of lag, you should find it useable and almost in real time. You may have to lag the audio by some milliseconds or so.

OBS staff, consider why the H.264 option has so much lag. Encoding-Decoding issue?

MJPEG is no longer available in MacOS Monterrey. That's why this issue exists in the first place. Apple needs to put it backj, or we need a hack to restore it.

I can't even 'roll back' to Big Sur in an M1 Pro, as Big Sur is unsupported.

 

[Obsmania1983]

Any help with this issue in Windows and latest version of OBS ? Many thanks!

 

[BuzzCityMack]

I have OBS under Ubuntu Linux 20.04 LTS with a generic 1080p webcam under an AMD processor. After the latest update from OBS, my camera started lagging. I found out that by going to the camera properties under Source > Video Capture Device and changing the Video Format to BGR3(Emulated) I was able to solve the problem. I also noticed that the default frame rate is 30fps now.

Hope this is useful

so, I am having the same problem now my camera is lagging massively. Hoping you could help

 

[rffc]

For any other frustrated C920 owners, I've found a cure that works to near-eliminate the Webcam Lag

Under Sources, right click on the Video Capture Device you have created
Click on Properties
Navigate to the lower third of the page and click on Video Format drop down list box,
Deselect H.264 or Any and select MJPEG.

Instead of about one second plus of lag, you should find it useable and almost in real time. You may have to lag the audio by some milliseconds or so.

OBS staff, consider why the H.264 option has so much lag. Encoding-Decoding issue?

I've registered on this forum only to upvote your answer and say thanks.
I was having a big lag issue on Linux, changed the video format and now everything is working fine.