- NVENC
- NVIDIA's hardware video encoder, a dedicated block on GeForce graphics chips that compresses video without using the CPU or the 3D cores. See hardware encoding explained.
- AMF
- The Advanced Media Framework of AMD, which drives the hardware video encoder of Radeon graphics.
- QuickSync
- Intel Quick Sync Video, the hardware video encoder in Intel integrated and Arc graphics.
- Hardware encoder
- A video encoder that runs on dedicated circuitry in the graphics chip instead of on CPU cores, so it spares the CPU and the game.
- x264
- A widely used software H.264 encoder that runs on the CPU; flexible and good quality at slow settings, but costly on a weak or busy CPU.
- H.264 (AVC)
- The most widely supported video codec; the default of BriseStream and the one live platforms accept over RTMP.
- HEVC (H.265)
- A codec that gives a better picture than H.264 at the same bitrate on supported GPUs; many live platforms do not accept it over RTMP.
- AV1
- A modern codec with strong compression; only recent GPUs encode it in hardware.
- Bitrate
- The amount of video data sent per second, in megabits per second; it must fit inside your upload speed with margin.
- CBR (constant bitrate)
- A rate-control mode that keeps the bitrate steady, which suits live streaming and predictable upload.
- RTMP and RTMPS
- The protocol most live platforms such as Twitch, YouTube and Kick accept to receive a stream; RTMPS is the same over an encrypted connection.
- SRT
- Secure Reliable Transport, a protocol that tolerates a lossy network; in BriseStream an output module.
- WHIP
- WebRTC-HTTP Ingestion Protocol, a standard way to send a stream to a WebRTC service over HTTP; in BriseStream an output module.
- Multistream
- Sending one live stream to several platforms at once. See the multistream guide.
- Game capture
- A capture method that hooks into the game process to read its frames; BriseStream does not inject into games.
- Window capture
- A capture method that records a single window through the operating system.
- Display capture
- A capture method that records a whole monitor through the operating system.
- Windows.Graphics.Capture
- The capture interface Windows provides to programs, used by BriseStream, which needs no injection into the captured program.
- Independent flip
- A Windows presentation mode in which a full-screen game is shown directly, without being composed by the desktop; leaving it can cost frames. BriseStream measured the game leaving it while capturing a window and, in a real session, during menus.
- Dropped frames
- Frames that never reach the viewer, because the encoder, the network or the machine could not keep up. BriseStream reports them per stage in its health panel.
- Replay buffer
- A short rolling recording kept in memory so you can save the last seconds or minutes after something happens.
- MKV (Matroska)
- A container that stays readable after a crash or a power cut; BriseStream records to it and converts to MP4 when you stop.
- Remux
- Rewriting a recording into another container, for example MKV to MP4, without re-encoding the video.
- obs-websocket
- The remote-control protocol of OBS Studio, used by Stream Deck and scripts; BriseStream's local API speaks version 5 and is off by default.
- Browser source
- A source that draws a web page, often an overlay or an alert, inside a scene; in BriseStream an optional module downloaded on first use.
- Studio mode
- A mode where you prepare the next scene beside the one on air and send it with a transition.
- Dual canvas
- A horizontal picture and a vertical picture composed from the same scenes, for platforms that want both.
- VST3
- A plug-in format for audio effects; in BriseStream VST3 plug-ins run in a separate process, as an optional module.
- NDI
- Network Device Interface, a way to send video between computers on a local network; in BriseStream an optional module that needs the NDI runtime you install yourself.
- Virtual camera
- A webcam that other programs see, showing your scene; in BriseStream an optional module for Windows 11.
Streaming and recording glossary
Short definitions of the terms you meet when streaming or recording a PC game, with a note on how BriseStream handles each one.