How to Lower Resolution in OBS?

To lower the resolution in OBS Studio, you need to adjust the Video settings found within the application's preferences.

Accessing OBS Video Settings

The primary place to control your resolution is through the settings menu.

Here's how to get there:

1. Open OBS Studio.
2. Click on the File menu in the top-left corner.
3. Select Settings.
4. In the left-hand navigation panel of the Settings window, click on Video.

As mentioned in the reference, within the Video settings, you will see two key resolution options at the top: Base (Canvas) Resolution and Output (Scaled) Resolution.

Understanding Base and Output Resolution

It's important to understand the difference between these two settings:

• Base (Canvas) Resolution: This is the resolution of your "canvas" or scene editor in OBS. It's the resolution at which you arrange your sources (webcams, game capture, images, etc.). A common resolution is 1920×1080 or 1080p. Changing this affects how large your sources appear on the canvas.
• Output (Scaled) Resolution: This is the actual resolution of the video that OBS outputs, whether you are recording or streaming. If this is lower than your Base Resolution, OBS will scale your canvas down to this size before sending it out.

Steps to Lower Resolution

To effectively lower the resolution of your final video output, you should adjust the Output (Scaled) Resolution. You can also lower the Base (Canvas) Resolution, which can sometimes help with performance by reducing the initial processing load, but the most direct way to lower the output quality/size is via the Output Resolution.

1. Navigate to File > Settings > Video as described above.
2. Locate the Output (Scaled) Resolution dropdown menu.
3. Click the dropdown and select a lower resolution than your current setting. Common lower resolutions include:
   • 1280×720 (720p)
   • 852×480 (480p)
   • 640×360 (360p)
4. (Optional) You can also lower the Base (Canvas) Resolution, but ensure your sources still fit correctly within the new canvas size.
5. Click Apply and then OK to save your changes.

Choosing the Right Resolution

The best resolution to choose depends on your goals, internet upload speed (for streaming), and computer performance. Lower resolutions require less processing power and bandwidth.

Here's a simple comparison of common resolutions:

Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Common Name	Typical Use Cases
1920×1080	16:9	1080p	High-quality streaming/recording
1280×720	16:9	720p	Balance of quality and performance
852×480	16:9	480p	Low bandwidth/performance needs
640×360	16:9	360p	Very low bandwidth/performance needs

By lowering the Output (Scaled) Resolution, you reduce the number of pixels OBS has to process and transmit, which can help improve performance or reduce the required upload speed for streaming.