How to Live Stream a Table Tennis Match with OBS

What you need

• A camera that OBS can use: a camcorder or mirrorless camera with a capture device, or a good webcam.
• A computer that runs OBS Studio. For the scoreboard in this guide, a Mac with macOS 15 or later.
• OBS Studio, which is free.
• An internet connection with enough upload speed. As a rule of thumb, your upload speed should be roughly double the bitrate you stream at.
• A tripod or a stable mount for the camera.
• Optionally, a microphone for commentary.

1. Place the camera

Put the camera high, at one end or at the side of the table, so the viewer sees the whole table and both players. Keep it fixed during the match: a camera that moves is hard to watch at the speed of table tennis.

• Avoid pointing the camera at a bright window or a spotlight: the players will turn into silhouettes.
• Leave room in the picture for the scoreboard, which normally sits in a corner.
• Check that the lines of the table are in frame, and that people walking by don't cross it.

2. Set up OBS

1. Open OBS Studio and go to Settings → Video. Set the base and output resolution to 1920 × 1080.
2. Choose a frame rate. 30 fps works well. 60 fps looks smoother for a fast sport, if your Mac and your connection can keep up.
3. Create a scene called, for example, “Match”.
4. Under Sources, click + and choose Video Capture Device. Select your camera.

In Settings → Output, on a Mac you can use the Apple hardware H.264 encoder, which keeps the load on your computer low. A bitrate of around 4,500 to 6,000 kbps is a common starting point for 1080p at 30 fps. Check the current recommendations of YouTube or Twitch for your case.

3. Add the scoreboard

With ScoreStudio Pro open, add the scoreboard to the same scene as a second source above the camera:

1. Under Sources, click + and choose Browser. Name it “Scoreboard”.
2. In URL enter http://127.0.0.1:8765/obs, with width 1920 and height 1080.
3. In ScoreStudio Pro, click Turn on OBS output in the match panel.

The overlay has a transparent background, so the camera stays visible behind it. From now on the scoreboard follows every point you add in the app. For the full details, see the OBS setup guide.

4. Check the audio

Viewers forgive a plain picture, but not bad sound. Open the OBS Audio Mixer and watch the levels while people talk and the ball is hit: the bars should move well into the green and the yellow without touching the red. If you have a commentator, add a microphone source and balance it against the hall sound.

5. Go live

1. In Settings → Stream, choose YouTube or Twitch and enter your stream key. Keep the key private.
2. Do a private or unlisted test first. Watch it on another device and check the picture, the sound and the scoreboard.
3. When everything is fine, click Start Streaming.

6. Keep score while you stream

If you run the stream alone, you don't want to keep one hand on the mouse for the whole match. Ask the umpire to keep score from their phone: they scan a QR code and it opens in the browser, with nothing to install. Or use the keyboard shortcuts, which work even when OBS is in front, or a Stream Deck. See remote control and the Stream Deck article.

In team matches, the app also shows the line-up, the warm-up and the one-minute break between games on its own screens, as you confirm each moment.

7. When the match is over

The end-of-match screen stays on until the next match. When you are done, stop the stream in OBS, turn off the OBS output in the app, and, if it was a team match, save the match sheet as a PDF.

Keep reading

• Table tennis live streaming setup: the complete guide, with camera, audio and venue screen.
• The OBS scoreboard overlay and its five designs.
• The live stream scoreboard for clubs and tournaments.