The three methods
| Method | How it works | Strength | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game capture | A hook injected into the game process reads each frame as the game presents it | Can follow a game across menus and resolution changes; in OBS it is the usual choice for games | Injects code into the game; anti-cheat systems may block or flag it; needs the hook to match the game's graphics API |
| Window capture | Windows hands the content of one window to the recorder (Windows.Graphics.Capture) | No injection; works with protected games; follows a window you choose | In BriseStream's measurements the game left direct presentation (independent flip) and was composed by the desktop while its window was captured |
| Display capture | Windows hands over a whole monitor, through Windows.Graphics.Capture or Desktop Duplication | Simple; captures everything on the screen, including overlays you add | Captures notifications and other windows too; one of the two APIs measured much worse than the other in a synthetic test |
What BriseStream measured
On one machine (GTX 1050, 1080p), with a synthetic game at about 500 FPS and 95 % GPU load, capturing the game's window with Windows.Graphics.Capture alone lost 10.1 % of FPS, and Desktop Duplication alone lost 18.5 to 19.2 %. BriseStream recording the window lost 10.3 % and recording the monitor 9.6 %. At about 167 FPS the same run gave 15.1 % recording the window and 6.8 % recording the monitor with unstable baselines. The numbers move a lot with the game and the load, so treat them as a reason to test, not as a ranking.
Not a verdict on OBS: OBS's game capture was measured in a different test (see the OBS comparison). These capture-only numbers are from one machine and one synthetic game.
How to choose
- Start with the method your software recommends for games, then test the other if you see FPS drops or a black screen.
- If a game with anti-cheat gives a black screen or a warning with a hooking method, switch to window or display capture.
- Match the capture size to the game's size so the GPU does not rescale every frame; BriseStream keeps a capture smaller than the canvas at its own size.
- Test with the exact game and settings you stream: results differ by title.
BriseStream does not inject into games on purpose: its "game capture" source follows the foreground game through the operating system's capture, so it avoids the anti-cheat question, at the cost of what the Windows capture itself costs.