Copied a post I put on the OBS forums
Currently using OBS
Hi, I have been trying to get my Twitch.tv stream to look clear, however every time I try it ends up being blurry and distorted. Does anyone happen to have any ideas why I am having this issue? Obviously its a technical issue so I included every bit of information I could
Here is my SpeedTest. I have the TWC Ultimate package.
ENCODING:
x264
CBR
Max Bitrate and Buffer Size: 3500 kb/s
AAC 48khz at 128 bitrate
BROADCAST:
Checked to make sure it was the closest server.
Also I have tried with Minimize Network Impact on and off.
VIDEO:
Tried 720p and 1080p, however both look bad (720p with Lanczos filter).
ADVANCED:
Everything default for twitch.tv
Tried slower CPU presets, no real change in quality.
Sample video for reference:
720p 60fps. Faster preset. 3500 bitrate http://www.twitch.tv/bmearnhardt/v/7059450
Does not look clear and the filter does not appear to help it out much. Runs fine and no frames are dropped. I’ve seen other streamers 720p 60fps and their video is crystal clear compared to that.
1080p 30fps. Faster preset. 3500 bitrate http://www.twitch.tv/bmearnhardt/v/7059597
It looks alot better than the 720. I’ve heard that 720p with the Lanczos filter is only slightly lower than 1080p. However this seems to not be my case.
What are you encoding with? CPU? Dedicated hardware encoder? CUDA encoder running on your GPU? Quality encoding is a compute intensive process, and each has a different architecture at the circuit level, which is why each has its advantages and disadvantages.
I’m not too experienced with livestream video encoding, but from what I’ve heard it sounds like a lot of people prefer CPU encoding for its ability to make the complex calculations that result in a crisp image. So if you’re encoding it one way, you could try switching things up to see if you get better results another way.
I wouldn’t take my response as a first class answer though, I’m just throwing up my thoughts; there’s a lot of other people on these forums with boots-on-the-ground experience in this stuff.
I’m recording with CPU using x264 (I assume its using the CPU). I’m not sure the encoding part is whats wrong although its possible I guess. Starting to wonder if its my connection to Twitch.tv or something. Trying Nvidia’s encoder on OBS just makes my CPU go crazy. Possibly my upload speed 6.2MBps, not sure if that is enough or not. I’m starting to think it may not be compressed enough for the quality I get at the 3500kbps Twitch limits to.
This is a developer support forum, not a general support forum. It seems you already posted to the OBS forums, which is the correct place to get help for this issue.
If it’s 6.2 MB and not 6.2 Mb (‘B’ = 8 bits = 1 byte, ‘b’ = 1 bit = 1/8 byte), then that’s way more than enough; the max is 3500 Kbps = 0.4375 MBps like you said.
Though I looked at your stream, a little more closely this time, and IMO it doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong with the quality. Even for big streamers, the quality goes up and down depending on how they’re moving and what the map is. I may be wrong (and feel free to tell me off if I am, i could have missed something big), but it seems like you might just experiencing a completely normal level of quality loss from the compression. It may seem at times like some other streams are more crisp, and there may even be a few that are, but the stream will almost never be the same quality as what you see on your screen unless you’re standing still; and it probably seems much more pronounced too if you try to compare it to what you see on your screen while playing.
For example at 1080p stationary:
you vs phantoml0rd
And at 1080p moving:
you vs phantoml0rd
<img src="/uploads/default/620/3e2a8135645a8780.png" width=“240 height=“135”> <img src=”/uploads/default/621/5e8b9f6df9537fc7.png" width="240 height=“135”>
And at 720p kinda moving:
you vs godazed
<img src="/uploads/default/623/3c83d6e5db678179.png" width=“240 height=“135”> <img src=”/uploads/default/622/c8044c2b6cbd77a0.png" width="240 height=“135”>
No difference in quality from what I see, in any of them.
