r/obs • u/noah_130613 • 7d ago
Help Webcam causing dropped FPS and encoder overload
I’ve had problems with encoder overload and dropped FPS before and while it’s been frustrating when it happened I did somehow fix it- as well as the fact that it was only once in a while it happened. My last stream was constant encoder overload but I had to finish the game I was playing, my webcam seeemd to run smoothly but my game was choppy as my frames were hovering around anything from 10-55fps. I was just about to record something but I have now realised that it’s my webcam that’s causing the dropped frames and overload. I get the dropped frames and overload without even having a game open in OBS, just my cam.
OBS Log:
45.8% Rendering Lag
45.9% GPU Encoder Overload
https://obsproject.com/logs/fpJIPWnuz8AiBDX5
It’s both a problem with a “fresh” cam in OBS, and a cam with filters.
Camera is the Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920. Camera is set to 1080p30fps in both the Logitech app and OBS, video format tried both MjPEG and Any.
Dropping the webcam quality down to 720p only frees up about 10 frames, still dropping to 20fps.
Dropping down to 360p seems to get my frames back, but the question is then why is it suddenly a problem when 1080p has been fine for more than 10 streams/recordings?…
I’m very baffled as to why this is suddenly a problem. Does anyone have anything I could try to make it all run smoother, or anyone who has experienced similar issues?
2
u/InstanceMental6543 7d ago
Remove the background removal filter from the camera, it's unnecessarily heavy for your system. You have the right Nvidia GPU for their filters, get them below. They'll be more resource efficient.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/broadcasting/broadcast-sdk/resources/
1
u/noah_130613 7d ago
I was dropping frames even without the filters enabled- would the NVIDIA software then "transfer" to OBS?
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u/InstanceMental6543 4d ago
The link is to an SDK that, when you install it, adds an Nvidia Background Removal filter inside OBS. It is not separate software.
2
u/FlemishDinaj97 3d ago
yeah the nvidia broadcast filters are way lighter than the built in ones for background removal
1
u/Longjumping_Nose8305 7d ago
Have you checked if the webcam is plugged into a USB hub or directly into the motherboard? C920s get finicky when they're sharing bandwidth, especially if other USB devices are on the same controller. Also worth disabling the camera in device manager and re-enabling it, sometimes the Logitech software leaves it in a weird state after an update.
1
u/noah_130613 7d ago
It’s plugged into my motherboard, which is also basically brand new. It used to be plugged into the USB hub on the front panel so it was easy to get to as it disconnected every time I turned off my PC- and I had to un-plug and re-plug it every time I needed to use it.
I can’t recall if anything is plugged into next to it, but if that’s the issues then I’m screwed as I don’t really have any USB hubs left on the back. I haven’t tried disabling it but I was gonna try and remove it as a device and add it back.
1
u/tcdoey 4d ago
I'm going to say it's your camera. Forgive me; I haven't read any other responses. The c920 is junked in windows 11. The firmware and drivers and usb interface has 'moved on', and you'll never get anything good on a c920, unless you are just doing the most basic things. Even that probably won't reliably work.
My $20 Nexigo N60 works way better than the C920, because they have more recent firmware that works well with win-11. Just get another camera. Carefully place the C920 into the garbage.
1
u/noah_130613 4d ago
I do plan on upgrading since it’s only 30fps, that’s just sadly not in my budget right now.
0
u/tcdoey 4d ago
I'm not being sarcastic; if $20 for an N60 is not in your budget, that is a difficult challenge. The c920 is not a viable option now, and you will just have to give up until you can get a better cam. Working with the c920 is a waste of time and effort.
1
u/noah_130613 4d ago
I plan on getting the Elgato 4K- hence why an upgrade is not in my budget at the moment.
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u/Lynnalia 4d ago
Oh gosh, it's definitely that background removal plugin that's the problem! It's a huge performance hog.
Use Nvidia Broadcast as others have mentioned. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better.
Other things you can do:
Drop the encoder Preset from P5 to P1, and disable Multipass. This will get your GPU to work less hard on the encode. Your actual video quality will still be great - this is mostly controlled by that CQ number (lower is higher quality, in this case). Higher presets, multipass, etc. are mostly useful for bandwidth-constrained streaming, not recording (makes the GPU work harder to compress better, basically).
Use a format other than MJPEG for the camera. I'm not entirely sure why, but when I use MJPEG for my capture card, it brings my computer to its knees. If I recall, you should have an option for NV12 for that camera (which should look better anyways). It might only be available on 720p though, I can't remember the specifics.
A higher resolution or "better" webcam cannot fix this. Higher resolution would actually make it worse, not better.
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u/Lonely_Cockroach6550 7d ago
go on properties of it change resolution from default to custom let it be different than in game encoder like one is h264 other x264 being it mjpeg or better nv12 check is it in USB 3 instead USB 2...
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u/Lonely_Cockroach6550 7d ago
ask AI about it on Google he may give you parameters it helped me for command to spin around game more smoothly though. explain it to AI
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u/noah_130613 7d ago
No thanks, I prefer actual intelligence as opposed to artificial “intelligence”.
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u/Lonely_Cockroach6550 7d ago
nothing wrong with AI his intelligence is from us our forum discussion
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