When using OBS Studio to live stream, OBS Studio sends your video to Halogen's servers. This article is about some settings that can help tweak OBS Studio for the best possible performance with Halogen.
Problem: High Latency
Are you experiencing high latency (a delay between when viewers see what you’re broadcasting, versus your real-time broadcast)?
Latency is usually caused by trying to send more data than your internet connection and broadcasting equipment can handle. High-quality videos will result in higher latency because there’s more data your broadcast is trying to send through.
To decrease latency in OBS Studio (while still keeping high-quality videos), we recommend trying the following:
- Go to the Settings menu in OBS Studio and select the Output tab.
- Set the Output Mode to Advanced.
- Set the Encoder to a Hardware Encoder if available. Generally, hardware encoders are more efficient than software encoders.
- Set the Rate Control to CBR. CBR, which stands for “constant bit rate”, results in the lowest latency with Halogen.
- Set the Bitrate to 800. A higher rate will result in better quality video, but likely more latency. A lower rate will result in a lower-quality video, but with likely less latency.
Of these changes, Bitrate will have the largest impact on the quality of your broadcast. Experiment with each of these suggestions to find a happy medium between quality and latency in your broadcasts.
For the Rate Control, you may also want to experiment with CRF, or “constant rate factor”. The CRF is a number between 0 and 51 - the lower the number, the higher the quality. Changing this number will vary the bitrate to try and maintain a level of perceived quality. Scenes with a lot of motion will use a higher bitrate whereas still scenes can use a lower bitrate for the same quality level. Generally, anything between 18-28 is a good compromise between size and quality.
Problem: Stutter
Are you experiencing broadcasts that frequently stop? This problem, known as “stutter”, is most likely caused by the Keyframe Interval being set to auto.
For the best performance:
- Go to the Settings menu in OBS Studio and select the Output tab.
- Set the Output Mode to Advanced.
- Set the Keyframe Interval to 2.
