OBS recording with Canon EOS R and cam link 4k image quality

[Würfelbar]

Hello dear forum,

I would like to record videos with OBS. But unfortunately, the image quality of the output videos never matches the image quality of the camera. No matter how much I look around in the settings of OBS or the capture device, the quality just doesn't get better or reach the quality of an FHD video from the camera. The preview image in OBS, i.e. the captured live image from the camera, is razor sharp. Only when I look at the video captured by OBS the image quality is not the desired 1080p but rather muddy/pixelated 720p. When I change the bitrate in the settings, the picture doesn't get any better. I also tried all this on a much more powerful Windows PC. Also the picture is not better/sharper.
Do you guys and girls have any ideas what the problem could be? I am slowly at the end with my Latin.

As equipment I used:
Canon EOS R
Elgato Cam Link 4K
MacBook Pro with M1 and 16GB Ram
appropriate HDMI cable and adapter for the MacBook
OBS settings can be found in the picture

Thanks for your help
Kai

 

[dgatwood]

Apparently, you have to pre-configure it using software from El Gato.

Configuring an Elgato CamLink on a Mac for OBS

Apparently a lot of folks have issues setting up their Elgato gear.

ubershmekel.medium.com

 

[Würfelbar]

Hello dgatwood,
thanks for the link, but I have already done this and also just checked again. All settings are set to 1080p. All the cameras I use are 100% supported for up to 4K according to the Elgato website.
I think that the problem is in the OBS or simply in the CPU encoder, otherwise I can no longer explain the pixelated picture quality. Even on the Windows PC with its Nvidia 2080 GTI and its encoder, the picture is no better.
As I said, all parts of the chain are set and the live image delivers the desired quality, but not the recorded file, regardless of its data size.

 

[dgatwood]

What's the resolution of your canvas (Preferences > Video > Base (Canvas) Resolution, et al)?

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

see note on screen image about why NOT to record to MP4
And search these forums for why CBR used for streaming, but for local recording only, you'll want a variable bitrate
And that screen capture is only part of needed info to assist, please follow direction in pinned post in this forum about posting your OBS log from a recording or streaming session

And if going for high quality local recording, why a low bitrate like 5000?
Record on camera and then check that recording file properties bitrate. For an apples to apple comparison on recording quality, target a similar bitrate in OBS, paying attention that a given bitrate in some encoding standards will be better than in others (like a MP4 file at a given bitrate is better in general to the older MP3 codec) The camera probably is recording in H.265 not .264