If you are a streamer on Twitch, you might have come across the term “dropped frames” while using Open Broadcaster Software (OBS).
Dropped frames are a common problem for streamers, and they can be frustrating because they can cause the stream to stutter or become unwatchable.
In this article, we will explore what dropped frames are within OBS and provide some potential solutions to help you stop dropping frames while streaming on Twitch.
What are Dropped Frames in OBS?
Dropped frames occur when the frames that your computer is capturing do not make it to the Twitch or Youtube servers.
This means that some frames are being lost or dropped along the way.
These dropped frames can cause your stream to stutter or become choppy, which can be very frustrating for your viewers.
There are several reasons why dropped frames can occur, including internet connectivity issues, hardware limitations, and software issues.
In the next section, we will explore some potential solutions to help you stop dropping frames while streaming on Twitch.
How to check what’s actually causing the dropped frames in OBS?
You first need to enable the stats window as this is going to give you some of the information that you need to hopefully diagnose your issue faster.
In OBS, you need to go to the toolbar at the top and choose View and then Stats.
The following screen will pop up and you should hopefully be able to see the stats for your livestream.
Now, if there are any parts of this that are showing as red beside either the Encoding Lag or Rendering Lag or Network Lag, we’ll be a step closer to getting to the bottom of it.
If the dropped frames are next to Network lag, then this is down to your internet connection to the Twitch or Youtube servers. This will mean you need to review your internet settings and check whether that’s suitable enough to stream at the settings you’re currently using.
If you’re seeing frames dropping due to the Encoding lag, then this will be down to how your computer is handling the video encoding and will require you to either check your bit rate, encoder type or preset under the Output tab of your OBS settings.
If you’re seeing frames dropping due to Rendering lag, then this will be down to your GPU. If you’re playing games on the same PC as you’re streaming from then this may be due to the hardware itself. An alternative here would be to try and encode your stream by using your CPU.
We’ll go into more detail below for each of these to hopefully get this all sorted out for you.
How to Stop Dropping Frames While Streaming on Twitch?
Check Your Internet Connection is good enough
One of the most common reasons for dropped frames is a poor internet connection.
If your internet speed is slow or unstable, it can cause your stream to drop frames.
To ensure that your internet connection is stable, you can try the following:
- Use an Ethernet cable instead of Wi-Fi for a more stable connection.
- Close any other applications that might be using your internet bandwidth.
- Check with your internet service provider (ISP) to ensure that your internet Upload speeds meets the requirements for streaming on Twitch as it’s the upload speeds that matter the most.
If you think that your internet is good enough, you’re not using Wi-fi to try and stream and you’re still getting dropped frames then keep reading.
Alternatively a good way to get OBS to try and sort the best settings for you is to re-run the auto configuration wizard. This will run tests to hopefully set your stream settings to the best options for your PC build and internet connection.
Reduce Your Stream Settings
If your computer is struggling to handle the streaming requirements, it can cause dropped frames.
You can try reducing the settings of your stream to help reduce the load on your computer.
Here are some things you can try:
- Lower the resolution of your stream to something like 720p.
- Lower the bitrate of your stream.
- Reduce the number of frames per second (FPS) that you are streaming at.
Switch your encoder
Whether you’re using your GPU or CPU to encode, it’s potentially worth testing the alternative of what you’re currently using.
For me personally, I found that when streaming using my CPU to encode, that the settings I wanted to use were too high for my processor and were causing things to not run as smoothly as I’d hoped, especially when gaming on the same PC.
Switching over to encoding my stream using my GPU worked wonders and fixed the issue for me.
Even though I’m using an AMD GPU and the encoder isn’t meant to be the best.
It worked excellently for me and hopefully could work for you too.
Close Unnecessary Programs
If you have other programs running in the background while streaming, it can cause your computer to struggle and result in dropped frames. It really depends on the specs of your computer.
You can try closing unnecessary programs to free up resources and improve the performance of your computer.
Run OBS as administrator
By running OBS as an administrator, it gives the application high priority status over other things that may be running on your computer.
To do this, you need to right click on the OBS icon on your desktop or in your start bar and choose the “Run as Administrator” option.
This will then put OBS into highest priority mode and should hopefully help.
Use a Different Server
If you are still experiencing dropped frames after trying the solutions above, it might be worth trying a different Twitch server.
Sometimes, certain servers can have connectivity issues that can cause dropped frames.
You can try switching to a different server that is closest to you to see if it helps.
Try turning off the stream preview
Another thing that worked well for me when I was having similar issues was to disable the stream preview within OBS. Having your PC display everything that you’re going to be outputting is intensive on your CPU or GPU and can definitely cause issues.
I personally didn’t really mind having this switched off, but it can sometimes be a bit of a pain if you’re used to switching scenes very often within OBS.
An alternative solution to seeing your stream as you’re streaming is to open it on another device like a mobile phone or tablet.
Upgrade Your Hardware
If your computer is old or outdated, it might not be powerful enough to handle the streaming requirements.
You can consider upgrading your hardware to help reduce dropped frames. Here are some things you can try:
- Upgrade your CPU or GPU.
- Upgrade your RAM to help your computer run more smoothly.
This would obviously be a last resort as this would cost you money and if you end up upgrading something and it still doesn’t fix things, then there’s nothing more annoying.
So only choose to upgrade your setup if it’s quite an old system.
If after running through all these steps you’re still having issues, then it may be worth getting in touch with us to see if we can help diagnose what could be causing the issue.
Alternatively, you could hop on over to Reddit and ask the question in the /r/obs/ subreddit to hopefully get the help that you need.
