Using specialized hardware on your NVIDIA graphics card, hardware encoding has the advantage of lowering the strain on your CPU. Both the Mac and Windows versions of OBS Studio enable hardware encoding, however, the program’s creators only advise utilizing it on Windows-based devices. In this article, we will show you how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio.
NVENC can deliver videos of the same quality at a lower bitrate or of a higher quality at a higher bitrate. But, because it has more sophisticated features and customizing possibilities, x264 is still the preferred option for streaming if you need the highest quality possible. Understanding how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio is a useful skill to have for a variety of reasons.
To enable NVENC on OBS Studio, first, go To OBS Studio settings and then click the output tab. At last, select Hardware NVENC as the encoder.
Now that we have outlined how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio, you must be curious about the details. Let’s go through the step-by-step guideline here-
What Is Hardware Encoding?
Considering you are looking forward to learning how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio, let’s start with what is Hardware Encoding.
The term “hardware encoding” is used frequently in the computer industry in general, not just in OBS Studio. Users typically ignore encoding settings since they appear complicated, but understanding what they do might enhance the user experience.
In its simplest form, hardware encoding describes how your system processes data. In this scenario, a certain hardware component of your computer, typically your processor or graphics card, needs to encode particular data. This is due to the fact that encoding such information is a time-consuming operation, and the software by itself lacks the necessary memory to complete the task.
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What Is Hardware Encoding In OBS Studio?
Before answering how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio, let us guide you through what is Hardware Encoding in OBS Studio!
OBS Studio is a broadcasting and recording tool, although it is limited in what it can do. To receive and process the data from your video sources, your system’s hardware is necessary. You can specify which component of your computer will do the bulk of the processing and take on the workload in the OBS Studio settings. By doing this, you can maintain your streams looking reliable and professional while freeing up RAM and CPU resources.
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What Are The Encoder Options In OBS Studio?
Now that you are interested in how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio, you should know the Encoder Options in OBS Studio. Depending on the OS and generation of your device, OBS Studio offers a few primary encoder options. Following is a listing of just a few encoders from which you might be able to select:
- x264 – The most often used option for basic content streamers, the x264 encoder is integrated into the CPU (Central Processor Unit) of your computer. Using the processor of your pc, it manages all local data encoding and communication, carrying the entire burden by itself. Real-time video encoding can now be handled with ease by modern Processors, but if you have other programs running at the same time, you may experience lag and lost frames.
- NVENC – The GPU/graphics card’s built-in encoder, known as NVENC, is compatible with both AMD and NVIDIA products. It offloads the processing required for encoding to this external device, freeing up CPU resources for other apps to function as intended.
- NVENC (New) – This NVENC encoder is basically the same as the conventional NVENC, except that it uses your GPU’s RAM as its only source of memory. Avoid using this encoder if your graphics card has a low memory capacity.
- Apple VT H264 – Apple VT H264 is the built-in video compression for the Apple GPU if you possess an Apple product. x264 is preferable in 99% of situations, despite the fact that it is on the list! Compared to its GPU equivalent, it is significantly more dependable and powerful.
- Hardware QSV – Several more recent Intel and NVIDIA systems include this encoder as standard equipment. Although it produces enormous file sizes, it is highly fast and dependable. Use this encoder only if you intend to record or transmit videos at very high bitrates or resolutions.
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How To Enable NVENC On OBS Studio?
Go To OBS Studio settings > Click the output tab > Select Hardware NVENC as encoder > Done!
It’s easy to enable NVENC on OBS Studio. Follow the steps below:
Step 1: Click settings in the control dock to access your OBS Studio settings. You may also access your preferences by selecting them from the dropdown menu that comes after clicking the file tab.
Step 2: Choose the output tab on the left-hand side of the options menu.
Step 3: Streaming will now appear as a submenu on the right side of the screen. The dropdown menu for the encoder settings can be found in two settings down. Choose Hardware NVENC as your encoder by clicking on it.
The OBS Studio application will now encode your video and audio data using the NVENC encoder, sending it through your GPU as opposed to your CPU.
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Wrapping Up
The key to maintaining great stream quality on your system is having a solid understanding of how encoders operate. A step in that process is learning how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio. Hope, this guideline helped you to learn how to enable NVENC on OBS Studio. Got a question? Let us know in the comment section. Follow Deasilex for more updates on Tech.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Does OBS Have NVENC?
OBS studio with NVIDIA NVENC AV1 support. The robust RTX 40 AV1 encoding gear will now help a well-known streaming and recording program. The most recent version of OBS now supports AV1 recording on RTX 40 GPUs using the NVIDIA NVENC encoder.
Q2. How Do You Check If I Have NVENC?
Your graphic card likely supports NVENC if its codename starts with GK (Kepler microarchitecture), GM (Maxwell microarchitecture), GP (Pascal microarchitecture), or TU (Turing microarchitecture). If not, it probably does not.
Q3. Does OBS Studio Use CPU Or GPU?
OBS actually differs from other apps since it utilizes the GPU to boost performance. Even if you have a powerful CPU and an old GPU, the CPU won’t be able to do the encoding. Low memory bandwidth or a low number of processing cores are the two most frequent problems with GPUs.
Q4. What GPU Uses NVENC?
NVENC, Nvidia’s hardware video encoder, is included in the company’s dedicated GPUs. Instead of using your dedicated Nvidia graphics card, this encoder will take over the task of compressing your video stream from your CPU. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 600 range graphics cards and Nvidia’s NVENC were released in March 2012.
Q5. Do You Need Nvenc For Streaming?
Hardware encoders like NVENC were popular for a while, but they weren’t the best for streaming because they needed more bandwidth than X. 264 to produce high-quality video. But, even at the slowest presets, you may now receive video quality that is on par with X. 264 thanks to the most recent NVENC.
