OBS's default bitrate, 2500kbps, is unfit even for 720p. It is important to set this bitrate in accord with your resolution, framerate and upload speed.
⚠️please check this regularly (including right now) because OBS tends to reset this bitrate to 2500 on certain changes.
Twitch has a cap of 6000kbps
Youtube has an arbitrarily high cap
Here's some easy numbers:
9000 for 1080p60 (youtube only)
6000 for 1080p30, 1080p60 (twitch, low movement) 900p60 (twitch, high movement)
4500 for 720p60
3000 for 720p30
(twitch) If you're a mod/viewer and the stream you're watching is blocky, you can check for yourself if the streamer is streaming at an appropriate bitrate for their resolution/fps by clicking on the gear in the bottom right, then going to 'advanced' then turning on 'video stats'. Look at the 'playback bitrate'. Average it out since it can peak and dip significantly above and below the set bitrate.
Bitrates can be changed while live, unlike resolution or fps.
⚠️When informing a streamer about a mismatch in bitrate, use common courtesy! Streamers are often glad to hear about technical problems they can fix, like mismatched audio, but this is a little more niche so it might not click right away, and this might derail the stream.
Setting it up your bitrate:
(or else, thank you for your attention!)
I will be using OBS. Streamlabs is similar though the right buttons might be in different places. The theory is the same
Go to Settings, then to Output. It should look a little like this:
Or a bit more like this if you use advanced mode (be sure to stream in CBR):
It's over here where you can see your current bitrate and change it to what's more fitting to your stream.
In the Video menu you can set the size and fps. It's the Output (Scaled) Resolution that determines the max resolution your stream will be on.
You would probably want to know what the max bitrate is you can stream at. On Twitch the maximum is 6000kbps, but in reality your internet might lower this maximum even more.
To find your maximum speed, you can use Speedtest. It's the upload speed that's important here. The results will likely be in mbps rather than kbps so to get the proper result for OBS, multiply your number by 1000. Then you want some overhead so your connection isn't strained. This can cause disconnections and lag that builds up during the stream. A rule of thumb is to not put your bitrate above 80% of your max upload speed.
Or in short, take the speedtest upload mbps and multiply this by 800 for your stream bitrate.
If you currently stream through wifi, try going wired instead. It greatly increases stability and somewhat to greatly increases speed.
I hope this was helpful! Stay tuned for more Streamer Tech blogs!
Bitter shows how many of the available bits are being used by the audio signal, reports clipping samples, and estimates when digital-to-analog conversion would cause inter-sample clips. Typical uses for a bitscope include: verifying that a render dither is working properly; verifying that a particular plugin is not reducing the signal bit depth; testing for faulty audio source…
