OBS STUDIO: Full vs Partial Color Ranges EXPLAINED (Limited vs Legal) Streaming RGB Range StreamLabs

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Today we're tackling a technical subject I get asked about all too often: RGB Color Range in OBS Studio, StreamLabs OBS, etc. This has to do with the available luminance values within an 8-bit video signal. I break down the differences between Full and Partial/Limited Range, which you should really be using, and when there are exceptions to this rule.

TIMECODES:
00:00 Intro
01:30 What is RGB Range? Full? Partial?
03:08 Which color range should you use?
04:44 How to set this in your game console
05:15 Setting your capture card settings
06:07 PC monitor settings
06:53 Exceptions to this rule
07:09 4:4:4 Capture Cards
09:16 MJPEG Capture Devices (Webcams/Capture Cards)
10:13 Panasonic G7 Note
11:30 Conclusion

Referenced articles:

Thanks for watching!
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[DrunkTalk]

Tracking down a rgb mismatch is like tracking down an audio frequency mismatch after a windows update.

[honestview]

5:34 Is there a video out there which explains Video Formats: XRGB, NV12, YUV, YUY2, MJPEG etc.?

[skryabin]

This is very explicative for the limited/full dilemma. There's something else that bothers me in OBS, orangish reds in 4:2:0 (and color shift in general) versus 4:4:4 color accuracy. What I understand is that for local recordings you can go 4:4:4, nvenc has also a High 4:4:4 Predictive profile, but then good luck finding a video editor supporting that. For streaming (twitch), 4:2:0/NV12 seems mandatory for many reasons, but the color shift is so ugly: is there anything you can do to mitigate that? a LUT? a color grading trick? Maybe a video covering this topic could be an idea. Thx, @EposVox.

[MrPokeboy]

I remember messing with YUV range, and conveniently my final solution for Switch recording lines up with what you've said here, I think. Switch is on full range to a Magewell feeding OBS still full range XRGB, then seeing how Youtube and Twitch mangles/mishandles full range, I set OBS's output to partial range.

[NOOBandBRO]

Finally!!! Capture cards make this impossible to sort out...

[Kougeru]

Streaming you can set console and capture card both to Full RGB with no issue. OBS will convert them 100% correctly to partial for Twitch/YT. Automatic doesn't work properly on Switch, it ALWAYS sets to partial even on PC monitors

[ripthebrit]

Allow me to extend my sincere appreciation for this video. I've been searched a long time to resolve the washed out issues I was having on Xbox Series X. Finally, now I better understand the situation, I have rectified the problem. Many many thanks, Epox.

[DepressedOptimist]

no wonder my colors have always looked wonky ;-; I literally thought "full range = all colors"

[brezdisdat]

what about the settings in nvidia control panel... on option "video - adjust video color settings - with the nvidia settings - advanced - dynamic range : full or limited?? should I be on limited?

[Grid]

Eposvox: "This video is going to be Super technical"
Me: *Big smile on my face* "Yes, I LIKE Super technical! Bring it on!"

[picchioknossus]

Hi I'm trying to record with obs on the same pc. Setting the color range to full or partial does not affect windows but there is indeed a difference in games. Problem is that the recorded game is darker anyway. Its's better with partial range but still darker than what It should be. How can i fix it? I've also tried to put the nvidia output to RGB, YCbCr444, YCbCr 422 with no difference in the recording.

[R_dacted]

I was wondering why all of my streams and recordings looked dark and crispy and blurry. I never really knew how to describe the visuals, so I didn't know what to look up for help. I just happened to google what the difference between color formats were and I stumbled on this... and now everything is super clear! I can't thank you enough!

[gabeminetti]

Man this is SUUUUPER useful, thank you. I had this issue a while back, and on obs official forums they told me to switch to partial, but I never understood why! Now I do <3

[RDelacroix]

Is that a Lewitt LCT 440 Pure? Do you have a separate review or are you in the process of a review? Saw Booth Junkie's review and was thinking of picking one up along with a GoXLR to replace my Blue Snowball iCE.

[RaccoonClan]

Before I had color range set to default in the device properties, my PlayStation color range set to Automatic and had the advanced set to limited. So just to clarify when recording in 444 I should have everything set to full?

[elperrobarbaro]

¿what about the new chinese cheap copycat of the elgato capture card that you reviewed recently? does it support 444 xrgb?

[Ciommi]

Amazing video my friend <3 but help out the x264 custom command dual pc streamers who need news about it too, stop the easy nvenc guides :D love ya

[nathanjohnson]

You can manually set clips to Full or Partial in Resolve. It doesn't always detect the right range, especially if the footage was recorded on an external device.

[Novskyy]

So you covered pretty much everything except color settings in OBS. I know that NV12, rec 709 and limited are the default settings. I want to record in OBS with my Nvidia 40 series card (no capture card), i use AV1 encoding and rgb full in the nvidia settings. Is there a difference now between rec 709 vs sRGB color space and limited vs full and changing the color format to 4:4:4? I want the best possible raw recordings to upload 4k60 videos later on. I just made two short test recordings with full vs limited color range and i see nearly no difference watching it in youtube

[ZeludeRose]

clicked expecting one of the millions of badly made tutorials that take way too long to get to the point, but this was actually a very helpful video, thank you!