This page describes what a computer needs to run the program. The fixed requirements are few, and the rest depends on what the computer must do at the same time.
The fixed requirements
| Operating system | Windows 10 version 1803 or newer, or Windows 11, 64-bit |
| Rights | Administrator rights for the installation |
| Disk | About 1.1 GB for the program, and space for your media |
| Internet | For the installation and for updates. The installation downloads the engine, about 180 MB, unless you supply it yourself. See /OBSZIP |
On a version older than Windows 10 1803, the setup stops and explains why.
For each type of output
| You want | You need |
|---|---|
| SDI | A Blackmagic DeckLink card with the Desktop Video drivers |
| NDI | The DistroAV plugin and the NDI runtime |
| A screen or projector | A second display that is extended, not mirrored |
| Streaming | Upload capacity that you can rely on continuously |
| Hardware encoding | An NVIDIA, Intel or AMD graphics card that supports it. The encoder then appears automatically |
What loads the computer
People usually ask about the processor and the memory, but the following four factors are more important.
Encoding. Streaming is the heaviest task of a playout. A hardware encoder takes this task away from the processor, which makes it the most useful addition to a computer that streams.
The number of playouts. Each playout renders and encodes its own picture, so two playouts need about twice the processing of one.
The contents of the rundown. A fade renders two cues at the same time, a web page can need more processing than a video, and filters need processing for every frame.
The disk. You can record to a local disk and play from the same disk without problems, but recording or playing over a slow network share often causes stuttering.
How to check that a computer is sufficient
A specification does not tell you this, but the status bar does. It shows the missed frames for each playout, and the render lag for the whole program.
To test a computer, run your heaviest realistic rundown for twenty minutes, while you stream and record at the bitrate you plan to use, and watch the figures. If no frames are missed, the computer has spare capacity. If the numbers increase during transitions, it does not.
This test takes half an hour, and it tells you more than a list of minimum specifications.