Grainy quality when streaming

[Moonzy]

I've been trying to stream monster hunter world on OBS to youtube for a while now

no matter what i try, the footage is grainy

i'm wondering what i can do to improve my stream quality

 

rig:

CPU: R9 3900x (cores at 3.7-3.9ghz)

RAM: 2x8gb 3600MHz CL18

GPU: RTX2070 Super

full spec: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YZvFGc

 

setting i've tried:

Spoiler

i also tried 9000Kbps, as well as software(x264) encoder on slow preset, around 7000-8500kbps tested

all produced grainy footage

 

is there some setting im missing?

 

edit: i tried recording locally using the same setting as stream, it seems better than when i stream it to youtube, perhaps it's youtube's side?

[narrdarr]

What is your internet speed, what router do you have, and are you wired or wireless?

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, narrdarr said:

What is your internet speed, what router do you have, and are you wired or wireless?

my internet speed is 30mbps down 10-15mbps up

my router is an Asus RT-AXC55UHP, and im connected to it thru 1Gbe LAN

[narrdarr]

considering you have a 3900x with a gtx 1070 how well does cpu encoding(x264) work compare to gpu encoding(nvenc)?

[Moonzy]

12 hours ago, narrdarr said:

considering you have a 3900x with a gtx 1070 how well does cpu encoding(x264) work compare to gpu encoding(nvenc)?

i tried encoding on software x264, nvenc on both my GTX 970 and RTX 2070S, all 3 produced blurry results when im moving (fighting monsters)

they're fine when im standing idle, but it takes like few frames for it to slowly get back the details (ie lines in the bricks)

 

i tried recording locally with 6000kbps, both 720p and 1080p, 60fps

the local recording seems clearer than when i uploaded it to youtube, seems like youtube is doing some of its own compression

 

i will try streaming to twitch, see how it goes

also, if u have any idea how to reduce youtube's compression (i've seen decent looking MHW gameplays on there that isnt nearly as blurry), do let me know

[narrdarr]

Nvenc should mostly be the way to go for you.

look-ahead should be on and leave max b frames @ 2 this should help. But wouldn't use it with the 970 encoding. the 2070 should be fine.

bit rate simply the higher the better, but if you set it to high and your internet speed cant handle it you stream will lag or want to buffer.

so maybe like 7-8k (fyi most people stream 1080@60 are usually between 12-15k)

under the video tab

set setting to

1080

1080

try lanczos or bicubic even tho your not downscaling

 

 

If you had a higher res monitor downscale would help but its only 1080 so cant really down scale unless you want to stream at 960 or 720

 

 

For your recording and uploads to TY. Usually when the video first gets upload it always looks worse as it first gets uploaded as SD but it will be better later and change to HD.

 

but set the

recording format to mp4

bump up the bit rate

and enable look-ahead

 

 

You can try up-scaling the video before uploading. Then let youtube compression downscale.

 

this should help

 

 

[Moonzy]

On 7/5/2020 at 5:45 AM, narrdarr said:

(fyi most people stream 1080@60 are usually between 12-15k)

dont twitch limit people at 6000? and affiliates at around 8000? their stream looks clean compared to mine at 1080p60

On 7/5/2020 at 5:45 AM, narrdarr said:

try lanczos or bicubic even tho your not downscaling

im using lanczos already

 

 

thanks for the suggestions, i'll test them out and let you know how it goes

[Moonzy]

On 7/5/2020 at 5:45 AM, narrdarr said:

this should help

quote for notifying

 

disclaimer: i know it's a flawed test, im no expert in these kind of stuffs

 

i used a service called restream to stream simultaneously to both youtube and twitch, so that both get the same video

my stream setting: 720p60, nvenc, 6000kbps, keyframe = 2

then i downloaded the youtube video from youtube studio, and did a screen capture for the twitch video (at 60000kbps nvenc)

and then i used shotcut to combine both videos, align frame to frame, then export them at lossless quality into a single video file

 

these are the results: (left = twitch, right = youtube)

idle: https://imgur.com/a/Z8fPV27

moving: https://imgur.com/a/W9S3BD8

 

do note that the youtube stream slowly becomes more and more blurry until a certain point, then it suddenly became clear again, and then repeat

it cycles like this for the entire video, each cycle lasts about 2-3 seconds, i think

 

so i think youtube is doing some compression, making it look way worse than what I'm sending

[narrdarr]

3 hours ago, Moonzy said:

quote for notifying

 

disclaimer: i know it's a flawed test, im no expert in these kind of stuffs

 

i used a service called restream to stream simultaneously to both youtube and twitch, so that both get the same video

my stream setting: 720p60, nvenc, 6000kbps, keyframe = 2

then i downloaded the youtube video from youtube studio, and did a screen capture for the twitch video (at 60000kbps nvenc)

and then i used shotcut to combine both videos, align frame to frame, then export them at lossless quality into a single video file

 

these are the results: (left = twitch, right = youtube)

idle: https://imgur.com/a/Z8fPV27

moving: https://imgur.com/a/W9S3BD8

 

do note that the youtube stream slowly becomes more and more blurry until a certain point, then it suddenly became clear again, and then repeat

it cycles like this for the entire video, each cycle lasts about 2-3 seconds, i think

 

so i think youtube is doing some compression, making it look way worse than what I'm sending

its its way of trying not to buffer.

try these settings

under output

encoder=nvenc

enable Enforce streaming service encoder settings

Bitrate doesn't matter(Enforce streaming service encoder settings=the streaming service will pull max amount for choice settings) this should test if it a compression issue of a bitrate issue.)

 

 

under video

1080

720

bicubic

try both 30 and 59.94

 

after testing with these setting 

disable Enforce streaming service encoder settings

set bitrate 8k

test

30 fps and 59.94

 

 

 

[Moonzy]

On 7/7/2020 at 8:47 AM, narrdarr said:

under output

encoder=nvenc

enable Enforce streaming service encoder settings

Bitrate doesn't matter(Enforce streaming service encoder settings=the streaming service will pull max amount for choice settings) this should test if it a compression issue of a bitrate issue.)

i tried, still kinda blurry

but the bitrate still follows what i picked, according to OBS at least, i tried setting 8000 or 9000, it follows

Spoiler

 

On 7/7/2020 at 8:47 AM, narrdarr said:

under video

1080

720

bicubic

try both 30 and 59.94

i tried both 1080 and 720p as output, i noticed 720p is significantly more blurry, even though same bit rate

which is kind of weird

i did not try bicubic as i was using bicubic before lanczos before all these

as for fps, i would love to stream at 60, or not at all, it's just a hobby after all haha

 

honestly im just bout to give up streaming mhw, or any fast paced games i guess

[narrdarr]

ok let approach this a different way

 

grab Twitch Bandwidth Test Tool: https://r1ch.net/projects/twitchtest

slap in your twitch key

tcp select OBS recommended

select region

time can be short

run it a couple times

watch for the one that performs the best over the couple runs

most important first is

quality

ping

bandwidth

 

This will tell you what what server you should use and what bit rate you should use.

Set the server in OBS under stream settings

 

under video

1920x1080

1440x810

Lanczos

59.94 fps

 

under out put

disable- enforce streaming service encoder service

optional( i would enable)-look ahead

disable- psycho  visual tuning

 

your bit rate should be set to 50-60% of your bandwidth

are here are the setting for you to go with

 

Chose the following bitrates for 60FPS live streams at 810p (1440x810)

12000+kbps = 6000 (NVENC)

10000kbps = 5000 (NVENC)

 

8000kbps = 4000 (x264)

7000kbps = 3500 (x264)

6000kbps = 3000 (x264)

5000kbps = 2500 (x264)

 

The best NVENC settings:

Rate Control: CBR

Bitrate: 6000 (non-partners) / 8000 (partners)

Preset: High Quality

Profile: High Use

Two-Pass Encoding: Yes (look ahead)

 

The best x264 settings:

Rate Control: CBR

Bitrate:6000 (non-partners) / 8000 (partners)

CPU Preset: super faster

 

 

[Moonzy]

On 7/8/2020 at 9:16 PM, narrdarr said:

grab Twitch Bandwidth Test Tool: https://r1ch.net/projects/twitchtest

slap in your twitch key

tcp select OBS recommended

select region

time can be short

run it a couple times

watch for the one that performs the best over the couple runs

most important first is

quality

ping

bandwidth

here's the result:

 

On 7/8/2020 at 9:16 PM, narrdarr said:

This will tell you what what server you should use and what bit rate you should use.

Set the server in OBS under stream settings

though im trying to stream to youtube... ahahaha

 

On 7/8/2020 at 9:16 PM, narrdarr said:

The best x264 settings:

Rate Control: CBR

Bitrate:6000 (non-partners) / 8000 (partners)

CPU Preset: super faster

hmm, if i use Super fast, will it be more blurry?

i thought the slower the better, up to a point of course.

 

i did some further test

i cropped out a short clip in shotcut and exported it with Youtube preset

these are the results, the exact same frame

 

source (uploaded video):

Spoiler

 

Youtube: link to video

Spoiler

idk what this means but i hope it helps somewhat, it's the youtube "stat for nerds"

 

also here's some video of MHW that someone uploaded, it's much clearer for some reason

 

 

edit: i think... it's because of the codec youtube is using

mine's avc, while the video i linked is vp9

 

edit 2: seems like youtube is favouring established creators by allowing VP09 codec for their uploads, while using avc on smaller creators, ah well i guess my problem is solved

 

AVC:

Spoiler

 

VP09:

Spoiler

 

 

edit 3: i tested streaming on 1440p (upscaled from 1080 in obs) to force youtube to use VP09, it worked, it's crystal clear now... relatively

case closed

[Moonzy]

On 7/8/2020 at 9:16 PM, narrdarr said:

ok let approach this a different way

thanks for the assist by the way, appreciated the effort

at least now i know if i ever wanna stream, i should use the hongkong server

[Beerzerker]

Suggestion:
Be sure to use the tool since things can change at any time, although that location is shown to be good at the time testing was done that doesn't mean it would be good all the time period.
Each time you want to stream you can do a quick check to see what's good and go with what's best.