OBS output settings for streaming

Your stream settings

Finish the audio and tracks in your platform’s section below, then do a test stream: these settings don’t check your computer or your stream account.

Start with the output you want

Open OBS Settings with streaming and recording stopped. Use a separate named profile for the destination so changing a rehearsal does not overwrite your working output. Keep a copy of the scene collection as well: a profile stores output settings, while scenes describe what appears and sounds in the program.

Write down the destination, video codec, output size, frame rate and sustained upload. If you arrived from a tool, the selected output appears below. These are the settings you chose; your computer and the platform still have to accept them. Field names here were checked against OBS documentation on September 7, 2026; available encoder options depend on your OBS build, operating system, drivers and hardware.

Run the bandwidth calculation for your selected output before entering video bitrate. A source-camera mode, an HDMI display mode and the stream output are three different choices. A TV getting 4K through the card doesn’t mean the card captures 4K or that your upload can carry it.

Set Video: canvas, scaled output and FPS

In Settings → Video, Base (Canvas) Resolution is the space in which you arrange the scene. Output (Scaled) Resolution is the frame sent to the encoder. Set the output to the intended stream size; keep its aspect ratio consistent with your layout or deliberately crop and inspect the result. A smaller input cannot gain captured detail by being enlarged.

Choose Common FPS Values to match the planned output. Check motion in the source before increasing the stream frame rate; sending more frames cannot repair a camera or capture device that is delivering fewer. Leave an extra rescale in Output disabled unless you intentionally need a different encoded size, so the Video output remains the single scaling decision.

The field map is an original schematic, not an OBS screenshot. Follow the arrows from the choice you made to the setting it controls.

Choose the available encoder and rate control

In Settings → Output, switch Output Mode to Advanced and open Streaming. Select a Video Encoder that implements the codec accepted by your destination. H.264 may appear as a hardware option associated with NVIDIA, AMD, Intel or Apple, or as the software encoder x264. Which options you see depends on your own computer, not on the graphics card named in a shopping list.

Keep the encoder’s normal service-compatible preset for the first rehearsal. Save its exact name in your notes. Hardware encoding can move compression work away from x264’s CPU path, but OBS still needs resources to compose the scene. Do not copy another machine’s preset, multipass or quality settings as a performance guarantee.

For the conventional live profiles below, Rate Control is CBR. Enter video bitrate in Kbps, not Mbps: multiply the Mbps figure by 1,000. A recording quality control such as CQP, CRF or a quality slider is not the same field. Enter an explicit Keyframe Interval in seconds. Keep the service’s limits enabled; do not bypass them to force an unsupported profile.

YouTube example: 1080p60 with H.264

For an SDR stereo stream, YouTube’s encoder table currently recommends 17 Mbps video for 1080p60 H.264, CBR and a 2-second keyframe interval (no more than 4 seconds). Its stereo guidance is AAC or MP3, 128 Kbps and 44.1 kHz. Use AAC here. This example follows that published profile; it is not a hardware benchmark.

Set Base Canvas to your composition size, for example 1920 × 1080; Output Scaled to 1920 × 1080; FPS to 60; Video Encoder to an available H.264 implementation; Rate Control to CBR; Bitrate to 17000 Kbps; Keyframe Interval to 2 seconds. In Audio choose Stereo and 44.1 kHz; in Output → Audio set the selected stream track to 128 Kbps and use AAC.

Worked upload check: one stream at (17 + 0.128) ÷ 0.80 + 2 = 23.41 Mbps, keeping the 20% of upload that YouTube recommends leaving free, plus a 2 Mbps household reserve you choose yourself. A measured 20 Mbps is 3.41 Mbps below that plan. In that case, keep 1080p60 with HEVC or AV1 if your encoder offers it: YouTube recommends 12 Mbps, so (12 + 0.128) ÷ 0.80 + 2 = 17.16 Mbps. With H.264, drop to 1080p30: YouTube recommends 14 Mbps, so (14 + 0.128) ÷ 0.80 + 2 = 19.66 Mbps, which fits under 20 Mbps. The margin and the room left for the rest of the house are estimates; a pass in the calculator still needs a test stream. If the test fails, choose a lower output in the calculator and bring its bitrate back here.

Twitch example: 720p30 from Twitch’s own table

Twitch publishes its own recommended settings: 6000 kbps for 1080p at 60 fps, 4500 kbps for 1080p at 30 fps and for 720p at 60 fps, and 3000 kbps for 720p at 30 fps, all with CBR and a 2-second keyframe interval. For audio it recommends AAC-LC at 96 kbps, with 160 kbps as the maximum. The full table, with the NVENC and x264 presets, is on the Twitch settings page.

Example: 1280 × 720 at 30 fps. Set Output Scaled to 1280 × 720 and FPS to 30. In Output → Streaming choose an H.264 encoder, Rate Control CBR, Bitrate 3000 Kbps and Keyframe Interval 2. In Output → Audio set the stream track to 96 Kbps. If Enhanced Broadcasting is on in the OBS Twitch service, it negotiates its own encodes and bandwidth budget; do not overwrite that with this single-encode example.

Then run a test broadcast and open it in Twitch Inspector. Compare the received resolution, frame rate and bitrate with what you set, and look for reported errors. A profile that has not passed that test is still unchecked.

Upload check for the example: (3 + 0.096) × 1.30 + 2 = 6.02 Mbps. Twitch asks for upload equal to the stream’s bitrate plus 30%; the 2 Mbps household reserve is one you choose yourself. The upload calculator runs the same sum for every Twitch row.

Choose the stream track and verify its contents

Output → Streaming selects the audio track broadcast to the service. Advanced Audio Properties determines which sources feed that track. Confirm the microphone, game, alerts and any guest are assigned once. Listen to the destination, because hearing a source in your headphones doesn’t mean it is on the stream track.

Use the OBS audio-routing steps to assign sources and monitoring. If the live mix and archive must differ, follow the separate stream and VOD track steps; selecting another track number alone does not remove a sound from the live program. Check sample-rate settings across OBS and the audio device if you hear clicks or drift.

Test recording and streaming together

For the first comparison, use the stream encoder for recording (Same as stream in Simple mode, or the equivalent stream-encoder choice in Advanced). OBS notes that a separate recording quality or encoder adds resource demand. MKV is a resilient recording container if a session stops unexpectedly; remux a copy afterward when your editor needs MP4. Verify free disk space before the rehearsal.

Play the actual saved file in another player. Check a scene transition, a movement-heavy segment, speech, alerts and any camera cut. A good recording verifies part of the local path, not the upload path. If you later choose a separate high-quality recording encoder, repeat the test while streaming and recording together. Which file format to record to is covered in MKV, MP4 or Hybrid MP4.

Confirm the received stream before saving the profile

Use a private or unlisted test where your destination supports it, or the destination’s documented test mode. Confirm its visibility before starting. Watch the destination preview on another device, with headphones or the preview muted locally to prevent a feedback loop. Check the received output size/FPS and audio, not only the OBS preview.

Open View → Stats and compare the counters before and after a representative rehearsal. Save the profile only after output, sound and destination health match the plan. Record the OBS version, encoder name/preset, date, stream profile and result so the next rehearsal has a baseline.

If motion breaks up, the encoder warns, or viewers buffer, separate network drops, rendering lag and encoding lag in OBS Stats before changing equipment. The repair guide supplies a worksheet and a distinct first check for each symptom.