BITRATE, RESOLUTION AND FRAMERATE
Encoding is all about compressing images. The smaller the size of the image, the less we must compress it and the more quality it keeps. While the same applies for framerate, a viewer can really notice a drop in FPS but not so much in resolution, so we will always try to stream at 60 FPS.
First, run a speed test to determine your upload speed (e.g.Speed Test). We want to use around 75% of your upload speed, as the game and other programs such as Discord will also fight for bandwidth.
- *Important Note for High Motion Content. If you are going to stream high motion scenes (i.e. Racing games, some Battle Royale games, etc.) we highly recommend reducing your resolution. High motion content cannot be compressed as much, and can suffer from more artifacting (encoding errors) that make your stream look “blocky”. If you reduce the resolution, you reduce the data being encoded, and the resulting viewer quality is higher. For example, for Fortnite, many streamers decide to stream at 1600x900 60 FPS.
- Note for New and Upcoming Streamers to Twitch. Transcoding allows a viewer to view your video on a different resolution, thus requiring a lower bandwidth. Twitch only offers guaranteed transcoding to Partners; non-partners may receive transcoding, but it is not guaranteed. This is important if your viewers are on mobile phones or their internet speed is not as fast. You may want to consider streaming at a lower bitrate and resolution to lower the bandwidth required to see your channel.
- Note for Streamers to Mixer. Mixer allows you to stream through the standard protocol (RTMP) or an improved one called Faster Than Light (FTL). FTL provides very low latency. However, when you use it Mixer recommends to limit your bitrate to 7 Mbps and not use B-Frames. You select this in the OBS settings > Stream, under service.
- If you want to get the most quality, use RTMP with up to 10 Mbps and B-Frames.
- If you want the lowest possible latency, use FTL.
RECOMMENDED SETTINGS
These are our recommended settings for XSplit Broadcaster 3.7 and up. You’ll want to test and adjust these settings using a private account where you can verify you’re happy with the results.
If you want an easy, out of the box configuration, then do the following:
BROADCAST SETTINGS
- In the top menu, select Broadcast, then click on the Settings icon
- Under Video Encoding, adjust the following 2 settings:
- Codec: NVENC H.264
- Bitrate: Enter the Bitrate appropriate for your Upload Speed, as we discussed in the previous section
- Press OK to accept settings
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RESOLUTION AND FPS
- Select the Frame menu located on the top right corner
- Resolution: Enter the resolution appropriate for your Upload Speed and Bitrate
- Framerate: Enter the FPS appropriate for your Upload Speed and Bitrate
