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The world of streaming has changed a lot since I first got into it. Back then, you'd have to use OBS in order to stream and even then, not everyone used it. Nowadays, there are several popular streaming applications out there that will make it easier than ever before to get your game on Twitch or Mixer. One of my favorite apps is Streamlabs OBS (SLOBS), which allows users to stream with one monitor instead of two!
Streaming with one monitor is a great way to improve your stream quality and make sure you have all the information you need on screen. It also makes it easier for your viewers to see what's happening in the game, as well as if there's any action happening in chat or who donated!
To start streaming with one monitor in Streamlabs OBS, go to Settings > General (or press Ctrl + Shift + P).
You'll see the option "Streaming Monitor #1" or whatever number corresponds with your display. Set this option to "Full Screen."
Click Apply or OK when finished and then restart Streamlabs OBS if prompted by clicking Yes or No depending on which option appears first.
Let's get started!
The first thing to do when streaming is to log in to Streamlabs and go to your dashboard. You'll see a few options here: a large "Split" button, which has all of the information about your stream; a smaller "Chat" button, which opens up the chatroom for you; and beneath that, an even smaller "Assets" option that allows you to upload images and other content for use in your stream.
To start streaming with one monitor currently on its own Camera Monitor, click on the Split button in the top left corner. This will open up another window with two tabs—one labeled "Production," which allows you to change how things look while you're broadcasting (like adding banners or logos), and one labeled "Sources," where all of your sources are listed so that they can be easily accessed during broadcasts (which is what we're going to focus on).
You can use a single monitor for streaming if you have a secondary monitor.
You can use a single monitor for streaming if you have a secondary monitor and a webcam.
Start by opening your game on your computer with your preferred settings.
Next, open Streamlabs OBS. Navigate to Sources in the bottom left corner of the screen and select Add (+).
From here you will be able to add a source for your game and make sure it's set up correctly. First, select Game Capture from the dropdown menu labeled Type then click OK (make sure it is highlighted blue). Then you can use other settings like resolution and frame rate if needed before clicking OK on this screen too!
To begin streaming with one monitor, open the Streamlabs OBS software. Then, open your game of choice and make sure it's up on the screen so that you can see both programs at once. Now that everything is in place, it's time to set up your stream! To do this:
In Streamlabs, go to Settings and select Broadcast Settings.
Here's where you'll want to upload a profile picture for yourself (we recommend one that shows off who you are and what games/streams you play). The next step is setting up your title card—this appears as a banner over all videos of yours posted on social media sites like YouTube or Facebook (or anywhere else really). You have two options: using an image file or using text only; both have their own benefits depending on what kind of branding effects they offer when viewed across different platforms such as Discord chats where there may be limited space available for images but plenty available for words (as long as those words aren't too long).
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Next, you'll want to navigate to Sources in the bottom left corner of the screen and select Add (+). This will open up a dropdown menu with different options. Select Add a Window Capture in this list.
Once you've done that, click on your game window or open up multiple windows if there are multiple instances of your game running at once (such as if you were playing multiplayer). You'll then be prompted with a pop-up asking which window should be used for streaming purposes; find the active one and click it!
Click Add a Window Capture in the dropdown menu that appears. Select your game window from the list of open applications, and then click Apply.
To find your game window, click the icon in your taskbar (the icon may vary depending on what operating system you are using). If there are multiple windows open with the same name, hover over them until you find the one that is currently open. The game should now be visible on your monitor! If it isn't, try maximizing it first by clicking on its title bar and dragging it to either side of the screen until it becomes full screen. You can also use keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + Alt + Enter or Command + F4 to maximize any window for more visibility. If none of these options work, try restarting Steam and trying again--sometimes games can take a little while to load properly when they're first started up."
To add a window capture, please follow these instructions:
In the Sources tab, look for Add a Window Capture.
Click on it and select the window that you want to capture (e.g., Game).
Rename your window "Game" in Sources and click OK.
Select Add a Video Capture Device from the menu options in Sources.
In the Select Device window that appears, select the video capture device connected to your computer (for example, Elgato). This will be the device that is connected to your webcam or other camera if you have one installed. You can also use a software webcam like OBS Studio (Windows) or Camtasia (Mac) if you don't have an actual physical webcam built into your computer's hardware setup.
Click the "Rename" button on your video capture device, which should be labeled "Camera." You can find this button by right-clicking anywhere on the preview window or by clicking on the gear icon in the top right corner of your screen and selecting "Change Device Name."
Enter a new name for this device and click OK toward the bottom right corner of the preview window. The name will appear in Sources, but you may need to restart OBS Studio for it to take effect!
Navigate to Preferences from there
There are a couple of different options for streaming with one monitor, and the best way to decide which one is right for you depends on your budget, camera/capture device, and where you're going to be doing most of your streaming work.
Streamlabs has an article on their website about streaming with one monitor which goes through some of these options in detail.
One of the best ways to get started with streaming using just your computer monitor is by using the OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) app. It's free and easy to use, but it does require some setup time before you can start streaming. You'll need a capture card that works with OBS such as Elgato HD60 Pro or Blackmagic Intensity Pro 4K Plus
Next, click on Advanced. This will open up a box on the right side of your screen. Here, you can change some settings for your stream to make sure it looks and sounds as good as possible.
Resolution: Select which resolution you want to use for your stream. The higher the resolution, the better quality it will be but it will also take longer to upload each frame because there are more pixels in each image file (which is why they're called "frames"). If your internet connection isn't super fast or if uploading takes too long and freezes up, try using a lower resolution setting like 720p or 540p instead of 1080p or even 4k!
Bitrate: This is how many bits per second (bps) will be used by OBS Studio when encoding video content into a format that can be streamed over the internet through Streamlabs OBS (SLOBS). A higher bitrate means better video quality but requires more resources from both your CPU and GPU(s). You'll want to experiment with different values here until you find one that works best for both performance AND picture quality!
Frame rate: The number of times per second that an image is displayed during live streaming broadcasts; this corresponds directly with image refresh rate; 24fps would equate with 60Hz refresh rate while 30fps would correspond with 50Hz refresh rates respectively; 25fps is sometimes used instead when broadcasting movies such as those based off comic books since they already have their own standardized frame rates - although this can lead viewers across different continents having different experiences while watching together online due to differences between continents' respective electrical grids."
That's all there is to it! Now you can start streaming with one monitor.
