OBS Studio 29.0 release adds AV1 encoding

OBS Studio has just received its latest official update. Version 29.0 brings plenty of new features to OBS Studio, with one in particular that could make a massive difference for some users. The update has been in beta testing for a little while, but this stable version is now available to all users. The biggest inclusion with OBS Studio 29.0 is support for AV1 encoding with AMD and Intel GPUs. Nvidia GPUs already received this upgrade with OBS Studio 28.1, but now all three GPU brands are supported.

For those who don’t know, AV1 encoding is much more efficient than other encoding methods. It allows for high-quality videos that are almost indistinguishable from other encoders while keeping file sizes small. The most exciting application for AV1 would be for live streaming as it allows for higher-quality video. The problem is that services like Twitch and YouTube don’t support AV1 just yet. So, for now, we’re stuck with the H.264 encoder.

There’s another aspect of AV1 encoding that might be disappointing for some. As of now, only the latest GPUs support the AV1 encoder. So that means the Nvidia 40 Series, AMD Radeon 7000, or Arc GPUs can use it. AV1 is something that’s going to be a game-changer in the future, but it’s something we aren’t completely ready for just yet. Still, it’s excellent that OBS Studio 29.0 has provided more support for it.

OBS Studio 29 is now out!

This release brings additional encoders, including AV1 on the AMD RX7000 series and AV1/HEVC for supported Intel GPUs on Windows, and HEVC and ProRes support on macOS, as well as fixes for bugs and crashes.

Full changelog: https://t.co/tomxlPgOvn

— OBS (@OBSProject) January 9, 2023

OBS Studio 29.0 features other than AV1

Besides AV1, there are some other useful features to look out for in OBS Studio 29.0. There are two new audio filters, an upward compressor, and a 3-band equalizer filter. There’s also support for Intel’s HEVC encoder. And, beyond that, there are numerous improvements and bug fixes. One of the cooler ones is an improvement for dynamic bitrate, which speeds up recovery after the bitrate drops. There have also been improvements to various Nvidia video and audio filters with OBS Studio 29.0.

All in all this is a pretty big update for OBS Studio. There are plenty of tweaks and improvements here to check out, alongside some important features. So be sure to update to the latest version as soon as you get a chance. And you should make sure to read through the update notes for OBS Studio 29.0 thoroughly.