OBS now blocks rogue Windows DLL files, gets improved AV1 support on AMD and Nvidia

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), the highly popular open-source streaming and recording software, has received its latest beta update earlier today. The new beta releases of version 29.1 brings improved AV1 codec support on AMD as well as on Nvidia. Aside from that, version 29.1 has a new capability that blocks problematic Windows DLL files too. Such files are known to cause freezes and crashes.

You can find the full changelog below:

• Fixed a crash when attempting to start an NVENC encoding session when using the FFmpeg encoder [RytoEX]
• Fixed an issue where Properties would scroll incorrectly when toggling options [derrod]
• Fixed an issue where Game Capture would display compatibility notices unnecessarily [derrod]
• Fixed various issues with remuxing & auto remuxing the new fragmented video formats [derrod]
• Fixed CBR padding when using NVENC AV1/HEVC [derrod]
• Fixed AV1 padding data being removed from RTMP streams [notr1ch/derrod]
• Fixed an issue where replay buffer and automatic file splitting would not work when using fragmented video formats [derrod]
• Added AMD AV1 encoder to simple output mode [notr1ch]
• Improved default buffering behavior for most Elgato video capture devices on Windows [FBirth]
• Various improvements and fixes to Decklink performance [jpark37]
• Fixed transparent windows capturing incorrectly on Wayland using PipeWire [asahilina]
• Fixed an issue where the Settings window could be closed without selecting a video encoder [gxalpha]
• Fixed macOS build not packaging correctly [PatTheMav]
• Added more applications to the DLL blocklist on Windows [notr1ch]
• Fixed an issue with the source rotation handle when source is flipped [cg2121]
• Fixed an issue with FFmpeg NVENC producing invalid DTS when using b-frames [RytoEX/flaeri/derrod/tt2468]
• Fixed an issue with Qt where incompatible encoders could still be selected on macOS [gxalpha]
• Added codec logging for the QSV encoder [RytoEX]
• Fixed an issue where loading an SRT stream in Media Source could cause rendering/UI freeze [tt2468]
• Fixed HEVC encoded RTMP streams not playing back correctly when b-frames are enabled [YouTube]

New Features

• Added a DLL blocking feature for Windows. This allows OBS to block problematic DLLs from attaching to OBS and causing freezing or crashes, for example 3rd party overlay hooks and outdated video capture devices. [notr1ch]
  • This blocks old versions of popular VTubing software virtual cameras that are known to cause freezes when accessing video capture device properties. If you are affected, please update to the latest version of your VTubing software.
• Added Update Channels on macOS and updated Sparkle for smaller and faster updates going forward [derrod]
• Added settings to select the audio encoder for streaming and recording [tytan652]
• Added an option to preload media sources used in Stingers to memory, to avoid frame skips during transitions [Jim]
• Added compatibility notices in the Window and Game Capture sources for Windows [derrod]
• Added the ability to zoom browser docks with Ctrl - and + and the right click menu [WizardCM]
• Added a setting to record in fragmented MP4 and MOV formats [derrod]
  • These offer greater compatibility than MKV while providing similar resilience against
    data loss due to crashes, running out of space, etc.
  • Fragmented MP4 and MOV files can be remuxed to regular MP4/MOV in cases where the
    former may not be read correctly (e.g. in older editing software)
  • The default recording format has been tentatively changed to fragmented MP4/MOV,
    please submit your feedback on Discord or the Forums if you run into any issues!
• Added support for surround sound for AJA capture cards [paulh-aja]
• Added ProRes 4444 (XQ) support for VideoToolbox encoder on macOS [jpark37]
• Added lossless audio recording options (FLAC/ALAC/PCM including 32-bit float) [derrod]
• Added indicator if an audio source is unmuted, but not assigned to any audio tracks [derrod]
• Added support for streaming AV1/HEVC over RTMP [YouTube/yuriy-chunak]
  • Currently only supported by/enabled for YouTube
  • HDR is not yet supported, this restriction may be lifted during the OBS 29.1 beta
    testing period
• Added support for multiple audio tracks in Simple output recording [pkv]

Changes

• Output rescaling is ignored if the scaled resolution matches the current video output resolution [notr1ch]
• NVENC error messages now include more details [notr1ch]
• Changed the default FFmpeg AAC encoder to twoloop which has higher quality [norihiro]
• Allow symbolic links for VST paths [tuduweb]
• Implemented QVBR for AMF encoders [flaeri]
• Expanded support for subtitle tracks in VLC source (up to 1000) [jjm2473]
• The Hotkeys tab in settings is no longer loaded until switched to, resulting in the Settings window opening much faster for large scene collections [derrod]
• Switched various internal data structures to use hash tables for lookups, resulting in significant performance and loading/saving time improvements with large scene collections [derrod]
• Exported scene collection JSON is now pretty-printed and sorted, allowing for easier tracking via git or other versioning mechanisms [derrod]
• Added a "What's New" entry in the help menu to manually open the post-update changelog dialog [derrod]
• Clicking the "Defaults" button in properties will now ask for confirmation before resetting [derrod]
• Improved Windows OBS updater speed and reduced download size by using Zstandard compression [derrod]
• Added platform-specific "What's New" notifications to better communicate changes or issues not affecting all operating systems [derrod]
• Added option to force SDR Window Capture capture in Windows 10+ mode [jpark37]
• Improved YouTube thumbnail preview by using bilinear scaling [derrod]
• Incompatible audio/video encoders will now be disabled based on the selected format [derrod]
• Added HEVC and HDR support to VA-API encoder [yuriy-chunak]
• Added HDR capture support for DeckLink sources [jpark37]
• Video-related items in the right click menu of audio sources in the Sources list will no longer appear [cg2121]
• Native macOS dialogs now respect OBS being set to dark themes [gxalpha]
• Significantly improve screen capture performance on Intel dedicated GPUs on Linux [kkartaltepe]
• JACK inputs on Linux will now display "OBS Studio" in their name to clarify their origin. This may cause existing configured devices to stop working until updated by the user [univrsal]
• The system colour selection dialog is now used on macOS [gxalpha]
• Various improvements to the t-bar for a more predictable user experience [gxalpha]
• Plugins installed system-wide are no longer loaded when OBS is run in Portable Mode [gxalpha]
• Hardware Decoding of Media Sources can now use CUDA [rjgtav]
• Improved DeckLink performance [jpark37]
• Python 3.11 is now supported in Scripting [RytoEX]
• Added FDK AAC support on Flatpak [tytan652]
• Browser docks now provide a "Copy page address" option [WizardCM]
• Increased the maximum resolution of browser sources to 8192x8192 [fungiboletus]
• OBS Websocket has been updated to 5.2 [RytoEX]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed output silently not starting when using multi-track audio at higher frame rates [kkartaltepe]
• Various fixes for monitoring when using PulseAudio [kkartaltepe]
• Fixed a crash on shutdown with virtual camera on Linux [kkartaltepe/norihiro]
• Fixed an issue in the V4L2 source on Linux where a capture device's frame rate could be invalid, resulting in incredibly large log files [9p4]
• Fixed the listing of PulseAudio monitoring devices incorrectly listing inputs [jp-bennett]
• Fixed Screen Capture crashing in the Flatpak with old versions of PipeWire server [tytan652]
• Fixed encoder settings not being updated if the encoder is changed in settings [tytan652]
• Fixed Windows-only RTMP options (e.g., Network Optimizations) causing issues if the profile was imported on non-Windows with those enabled [tytan652]
• Fixed security software status logs showing as blank when running on non-English locales [notr1ch]
• Fixed a crash that could occur when using a video source that frequently changed its resolution (e.g. a VLC playlist) [notr1ch]
• Fixed an issue with RTMP timeouts that could cause a server to think OBS has cleanly ended the connection instead of it disconnecting due to an error, and not activating features like "disconnect protection" [notr1ch]
• Fixed dynamic bitrate changes not working when using NVENC presets p6 or p7 [pkv]
• Fixed AAC encoding of 2.1 audio [pkv]
• Fixed an issue with negative gain in upward compressor [pkv]
• Fixed several bugs in FFmpeg custom output related to colour conversion [flaeri]
• Fixed UI unresponsiveness when searching for hotkeys and duplicate key assignments in large collections [derrod]
• Fixed properties being cut off until window is resized [derrod]
• Fixed portable Windows versions not restarting in portable mode after an update [derrod]
• Fixed updating of an install being blocked by unrelated OBS instances running [derrod]
• Fixed excessive config reads when sources are selected in the preview [derrod]
• Fixed audio track assignments of sources provided by third-party plugins being reset when the plugin could not be loaded [derrod]
• Fixed invalid rescaled resolutions being allowed when they shouldn't be [tuduweb]
• Fixed presets in the Expander filter not applying changes immediately [tuduweb]
• Fixed the virtual camera on Windows reporting the incorrect resolution to external apps, resulting in stretched images [exeldro]
• Fixed the ability to drag and drop scenes after clicking Rename and not changing the name of the Scene [cg2121]
• Fixed a crash on macOS that would occur when an external display with an active Projector was disconnected [PatTheMav]
• Fixed an issue where remuxing a .ts file would fail [tuduweb]
• Fixed an issue with the VLC source where large videos (e.g. 4K) would get squashed horizontally [CoalZombik]
• Fixed spacing helpers appearing incorrectly when a source is rotated and flipped [cg2121]
• Fixed an issue where the preview would display incorrectly when zoomed too far in either direction [cg2121]
• Fixed the macOS virtual camera potentially crashing external apps and recordings to be the wrong length [mac-cain13]
• Fixed the preview having the ability to scroll infinitely out of view when scaled manually [cg2121]
• Fixed the Async Filters list showing incompatible async filters for synchronous sources [gxalpha]
• Fixed an issue where the cursor would not properly disappear in certain games on Wayland [rmngr]
• Fixed an issue where certain filters would not properly update when clicking the Defaults button [gxalpha]
• Fixed an issue where pressing Space would unexpectedly pause the active media source when the main window was focused [cg2121]
• Fixed an issue where duplicating scenes would lose colour coding on sources [cg2121]
• Browser dock Inspect will now remember settings and customizations [WizardCM]

You can download OBS Studio 29.1 Beta 2 from GitHub, or you could also wait the final version.

OBS now blocks rogue Windows DLL files, gets improved AV1 support on AMD and Nvidia