When you stream TF2 or any other games of that matter, does Resolution Downscaling end up hurting your FPS?
A friend tested his video settings for OBS and by default, he runs his games at his native resolution (1920 x 1080). But, when he went and did a Resolution Downscale to a 720p resolution, he started stuttering quite a bit.
He has a i5 3570k and a GTX 660 with no overclocking.
I brought up this question because does it require more CPU power to convert the resolution to a different value and therefore causes a strain on it?
EDIT: Just a question. Why would you want to do a Resolution Downscale when you can simply set your "Custom Resolution" to the resolution you want the downscale to be? I might be missing the entire point of the Downscale and someone can help correct me on this.
When you stream TF2 or any other games of that matter, does Resolution Downscaling end up hurting your FPS?
A friend tested his video settings for OBS and by default, he runs his games at his native resolution (1920 x 1080). But, when he went and did a Resolution Downscale to a 720p resolution, he started stuttering quite a bit.
He has a i5 3570k and a GTX 660 with no overclocking.
I brought up this question because does it require more CPU power to convert the resolution to a different value and therefore causes a strain on it?
EDIT: Just a question. Why would you want to do a Resolution Downscale when you can simply set your "Custom Resolution" to the resolution you want the downscale to be? I might be missing the entire point of the Downscale and someone can help correct me on this.
it hinders performance based on how big you leave it
that's why when you start dropping frames a lot, people suggest to lower bitrate or lower the resolution, as it takes less data to upload when the resolution is smaller
it hinders performance based on how big you leave it
that's why when you start dropping frames a lot, people suggest to lower bitrate or lower the resolution, as it takes less data to upload when the resolution is smaller
Resolution Downscale is either faster than Custom Resolution or just as fast as it, because potential optimizations that can't apply to Custom Resolution.
The fact that it's a separate option probably means that it's faster.
Resolution Downscale is either faster than Custom Resolution or just as fast as it, because potential optimizations that can't apply to Custom Resolution.
The fact that it's a separate option probably means that it's faster.
wareyaResolution Downscale is either faster than Custom Resolution or just as fast as it, because potential optimizations that can't apply to Custom Resolution.
What optimizations are you speaking of?
[quote=wareya]Resolution Downscale is either faster than Custom Resolution or just as fast as it, because potential optimizations that can't apply to Custom Resolution.[/quote]
What optimizations are you speaking of?
Because, as the way I see it, you will gain more FPS in your game if your streaming application has to only capture a lesser bit of your game then the whole lot.
Because, as the way I see it, you will gain more FPS in your game if your streaming application has to only capture a lesser bit of your game then the whole lot.
Hardcoding lookups for resampling instead of calculating them on the fly, mostly.
EDIT: It has to capture the whole game anyway to make an anti-aliased downsampling.
Hardcoding lookups for resampling instead of calculating them on the fly, mostly.
EDIT: It has to capture the whole game anyway to make an anti-aliased downsampling.
wareyaHardcoding lookups for resampling instead of calculating them on the fly, mostly.
By Hardcoding lookups, do you mean it will be easier to transfer what it sees on the screen to be put onto the stream and that it's really your Internet capability that has to really work out.
Edit: Wait, no, nevermind. I was thinking it wrong. I mean, I still don't understand the difference between the Downscale Resolution and just setting your Custom Resolution to your game. Why is there a need to calculate on the fly when the value you have on the Custom Resolution is already set in stone?
[quote=wareya]Hardcoding lookups for resampling instead of calculating them on the fly, mostly.[/quote]
By Hardcoding lookups, do you mean it will be easier to transfer what it sees on the screen to be put onto the stream and that it's really your Internet capability that has to really work out.
Edit: Wait, no, nevermind. I was thinking it wrong. I mean, I still don't understand the difference between the Downscale Resolution and just setting your Custom Resolution to your game. Why is there a need to calculate on the fly when the value you have on the Custom Resolution is already set in stone?
Because with Downscale Resolution the application already knows the overlaps between pixels of the source video (if it's the same resolution as what the Downscale Resolution is downscaling from) and the (smaller) video to be encoded and sent out to streaming servers, instead of having to figure them out on the fly.
EDIT: Of course, if OBS doesn't resample sources when you resize them in the scene, I could be totally wrong (but then Downscale Resolution would still be "better" due to the image being "correct"). I just made so many posts because getting my point across was hard.
Because with Downscale Resolution the application already knows the overlaps between pixels of the source video (if it's the same resolution as what the Downscale Resolution is downscaling from) and the (smaller) video to be encoded and sent out to streaming servers, instead of having to figure them out on the fly.
EDIT: Of course, if OBS doesn't resample sources when you resize them in the scene, I could be totally wrong (but then Downscale Resolution would still be "better" due to the image being "correct"). I just made so many posts because getting my point across was hard.
Alright, you got that covered there.
Well, here's a question.
What would take more power?
No Resolution Downscaling and having Custom Resolution set to 1920 x 1080 and streaming a TF2 game at 1920 x 1080.
or
Having a Resolution Downscaling set to 1280 x 720 and having Custom Resolution set to 1920 x 1080 and streaming a TF2 game at 1920 x 1080.
Effectively, would streaming a game at 1080p with a native resolution of 1080p require more CPU work or streaming a game at 720p with a native resolution of 1080p?
Alright, you got that covered there.
Well, here's a question.
What would take more power?
No Resolution Downscaling and having Custom Resolution set to 1920 x 1080 and streaming a TF2 game at 1920 x 1080.
or
Having a Resolution Downscaling set to 1280 x 720 and having Custom Resolution set to 1920 x 1080 and streaming a TF2 game at 1920 x 1080.
Effectively, would streaming a game at 1080p with a native resolution of 1080p require more CPU work or streaming a game at 720p with a native resolution of 1080p?
resolution downscaling is virtually free when it comes to performance, so long as you use one of the default downscale resolutions for your native. (ie what's in the dropdown menu)
this is for OBS.
resolution downscaling is virtually free when it comes to performance, so long as you use one of the default downscale resolutions for your native. (ie what's in the dropdown menu)
this is for OBS.
So why is there a need for a Custom Resolution at all, then?
What happens if I put 1600 by 900 as my Custom Resolution and then Downscale it to 1280 by 720 to stream TF2 versus having 1920 by 1080 as my Custom Resolution?
So why is there a need for a Custom Resolution at all, then?
What happens if I put 1600 by 900 as my Custom Resolution and then Downscale it to 1280 by 720 to stream TF2 versus having 1920 by 1080 as my Custom Resolution?
It's useful if you're casting something with a weird resolution, or one different than your desktop. If you're playing an 800x600 game in windowed mode, you want your Custom Resolution to be set to 800x600. Or, if you want to upload at a very specific resolution that you can't get with the downscale.
It's useful if you're casting something with a weird resolution, or one different than your desktop. If you're playing an 800x600 game in windowed mode, you want your Custom Resolution to be set to 800x600. Or, if you want to upload at a very specific resolution that you can't get with the downscale.
If that's what Custom Resolution does, what does Downscale Resolution do? I really don't see the need for them to be together.
If that's what Custom Resolution does, what does Downscale Resolution do? I really don't see the need for them to be together.
Because Downscale Resolution is faster than Custom Resolution could possibly be, if they work the same way when doing the same thing.
Because Downscale Resolution is faster than Custom Resolution could possibly be, if they work the same way when doing the same thing.
If Downscale Resolution does what Custom Resolution does but faster, then why is there a need for a Custom Resolution? Sorry for all this confusion.
If Downscale Resolution does what Custom Resolution does but faster, then why is there a need for a Custom Resolution? Sorry for all this confusion.
Because Custom Resolution is capable of doing more things than Downscale Resolution. It's just that when you want to do what Downscale Resolution does, it's better.
Because Custom Resolution is capable of doing more things than Downscale Resolution. It's just that when you want to do what Downscale Resolution does, it's better.
A friend explained that what the Downscale Resolution does is that it lowers the resolution at the cost of the need for more CPU power. I don't see the point in that. It simply lowers the quality of the stream and requires more work from the computer.
A friend explained that what the Downscale Resolution does is that it lowers the resolution at the cost of the need for more CPU power. I don't see the point in that. It simply lowers the quality of the stream and requires more work from the computer.
That's a very bad explanation of Downscale Resolution. It lowers the resolution of the stream in a high quality way, which does take a little bit of CPU power, but it's orders of magnitude less than it saves the encoder. It requires *less* work from the computer because you're encoding a *lower resolution video*.
That's a very bad explanation of Downscale Resolution. It lowers the resolution of the stream in a high quality way, which does take a little bit of CPU power, but it's [i]orders of magnitude less[/i] than it saves the encoder. It requires *less* work from the computer because you're encoding a *lower resolution video*.
a developer of OBS has said that downscaling resolution costs nearly nothing for the CPU. can't find the exact quote, but this is close enough.
https://obsproject.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=276
edit: i dun did it
https://obsproject.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9477#p9477
Downscaling will always be better performance. The reason is because the downscaling process in OBS costs almost nothing. The output image is much smaller, requires less throughput, and requires less encoding time as well because it's smaller.
To expand a bit on what Jim is saying: downscaling in the Video settings uses a special downscaling algorithm that results in high-quality downscales rather than just resizing it in the frame, and it's faster. The downside is that it can only downscale by certain increments.
a developer of OBS has said that downscaling resolution costs nearly nothing for the CPU. can't find the exact quote, but this is close enough.
https://obsproject.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=276
edit: i dun did it
https://obsproject.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9477#p9477
[quote]Downscaling will always be better performance. The reason is because the downscaling process in OBS costs almost nothing. The output image is much smaller, requires less throughput, and requires less encoding time as well because it's smaller.[/quote]
[quote]To expand a bit on what Jim is saying: downscaling in the Video settings uses a special downscaling algorithm that results in high-quality downscales rather than just resizing it in the frame, and it's faster. The downside is that it can only downscale by certain increments.[/quote]