Hello,

I've read and researched a lot about this and I just am pretty exhausted and I thought I could just write a semi-simple question. I might escalate this into more question and delve into more details, but I'll not to get side tracked. I'd say my English is pretty good, but it's not my first language so please bear with me if you see any annoying little mistakes (big ones shouldn't get past the "post" button)

Let's get to the point. My set-up is such:

Laptop:
LENOVO Z710

Intel Core i7 (4th Gen) 4700MQ / 2.4 GHz - 4 cores / 8 threads
8GB RAM, unfortunately can't tell the DRM or speed.
NVidia GeForce GT 745M
1TB unnamed HDD

Camera:
Panasonic HC V-770
Unnamed tripod

An issues might be me not knowing what model/type of capture card, but I am 90% sure it is used for our local/national sports channel as they kind of recommended it, so there shouldn't be a problem (Although I repeat, shouldn't doesn't mean there isn't).

The issue:
So, the issue is actual streaming problems, performance wise. Our goal is:
- 720p/50fps Input with our camera as source.
- 2 different XHTML inputs for scoreboard, custom made for us (one is for team names/tournament name and other is for time)
- 1-5 image inputs for overlays (like upcoming match, who's vs who)
- Video delay input used as a cheap replay system
- Audio input for commentators
- Recording everything using the in-built vMix recording feature

And this is where the problem starts. The computer can't do all of it, we start having heavy and I mean super heavy frame drops. Even without recording there are frame drops. Rendering speed is also above 20ms.

Why am I writing here instead of telling the management to invest into more powerful PC/Laptop? Because the "Reference system" section of the website makes me think that everything should be fine, so my question would be, why isn't it? I am at work at the moment, but I will try to answer any and all questions you might have about our setup. And I am super sorry if this seems awfully chaotic but I just don't know in what order should I organize everything to make it more understandable for anyone who might read this.

I might've missed something crucial so please do tell me if it is so. Thank you so much for your help!

With best regards,
waterprof


EDIT: As I've thought about it I've come to conclusion that Hardware Compatibility might not be the best place for the post to be, an admin is welcomed to move it if he/she deems it necessary.

Ok, thanks for the answer, that's what I thought, that there shouldn't be any problems.

Set-up is 1280x720 resolution, 50p PAL, 7500/10000bitrate (upload speed allows that), it is a bit hard to remember everything as I do not have the streaming laptop in front of me. For recording I tried to use the recommended one for editing (with .ts extension) MPEG-2 I think.

Just a quick question, increasing bitrate = increased stream quality? I'd think so, but so far there hasn't been a drastic difference between 7500 or 10000, and previously we used 5000 bitrate. And it seems to me that quality hasn't increased at all, maybe I should check them out side by side.

Thank you!

Yes, it is running with nVidia GeForce card 100%.

EDIT: I'll be able to provide this post with images of settings that I use, but I can't at the moment, because I am working at the moment.

First put 25p on output and you will see that your CPU usage will drastically go down. If you wanna go on 50p ok but I don't do that.
Second, you don't need 10 000 or 7500 bitrate for 720p streaming. Your 720p will go great on 5-6 mbit bitrate, even lower. But i think this will not affect CPU usage so much. For 50p you need higher bitrate but I don't use that so I don't have idea how it goes. I am not expert for this but from experience I am talking 25 or 50

You are going to kill your CPU with those streaming bitrates. THis is what YT suggests for 720p

720p
Resolution: 1280x720
Video Bitrate Range: 1,500 - 4,000 Kbps

I get very good results at 1500 with the same resolution and framerates as you want to. Remember also that very few viewers can download a 10000mbs stream, and it would certainly kill a viewer's cell plan.

I might have missed it but ...what are you using for a video capture device....another part of the chain ...

Uhh, this is where the things get fuzzy. About video capture device:



This is what I wrote in my introduction post, don't really know if the answer helps.

Thanks for the tools, don't really want to use a GPU Stress test, too scary. The GPU stat monitoring app shows that GPU Usage is around 60% (max 99%, but that was during a short GPU Stress test). Memory usage is 289MB from 2000MB, and doesn't seem to increase at all. Should I be concerned about that? Or it's just that vMix doesn't use a lot of memory of graphic cards.

As a long-time user of FMLE, I was amazed at the difference FFMPEG made as the encoder. CPU use dropped dramatically, the quality of my stream improved, I could stream at higher resolutions using the same bit rate. It was a great improvement over FMLE. I highly encourage you to switch to FFMPEG.

Also, the comment about your GPU being a bit under powered may have some merit. Check the vMix Supported Hardware page for recommended specifications. Don't underestimate the GPU needs for a 720p/50 stream.

Hope this helps.

- Tom