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OBS Studio

OBS Studio on Linux treats the Pengo 4K HDMI Grabber as a normal V4L2 video capture device. Setting it up takes about a minute.

!!! info "Confirmed parameter set from Pengo's own OBS guide The official Pengo OBS Setting Quick Guide (Windows v23.0.1 / macOS, 2019) recommends these source settings. They translate cleanly to the Linux V4L2 backend because OBS abstracts the underlying capture API."

Install OBS

sudo pacman -S obs-studio
sudo apt install obs-studio

Or install the official upstream build from https://obsproject.com/download (Flatpak is also fine).

sudo dnf install obs-studio

Add the Pengo as a source

  1. Launch OBS.
  2. In the Sources dock (bottom of the screen), click + and choose Video Capture Device.
  3. Name it (e.g. Pengo) → OK.
  4. In the source properties:
    • Device: select Pengo HDMI Grabber from the dropdown.
    • Resolution/FPS Type: Custom.
    • Resolution: 1920×1080.
    • FPS: 60 (or 30 if 60 is unstable).
    • Video Format: MJPG (recommended) or YUYV / YUY2.
    • YUYV Color Space: Default (Pengo's recommendation).
    • YUYV Color Range: Partial (Pengo's recommendation).
    • Buffering: Auto-Detect.
    • Flip Vertically: off (unless your source is mirrored).
    • Audio Output Mode: Capture audio only (Pengo's recommendation).
  5. Click OK. The preview should show your HDMI source.

Audio

The Pengo audio device appears in OBS as Audio Input Capture → ALSA → Pengo HDMI Grabber. Add it as a separate source:

  1. Sources → + → Audio Input Capture.
  2. Device: Pengo HDMI Grabber (under ALSA or PipeWire, depending on your setup).
  3. OK.

This source carries both the HDMI-embedded audio and the 3.5 mm mic input (mixed by the device). For local monitoring through your headphones too, open Audio Mixer → ⚙ → Advanced Audio Properties and set the Pengo's monitoring to "Monitor and Output" (the macOS guide calls this "MONITOR AND OUTPUT"; the Windows guide leaves it at default).

See Audio capture → for the underlying ALSA / PipeWire routing details.

Streaming / recording

OBS settings work the same as on any other platform:

  • Settings → Stream for RTMP destinations (YouTube, Twitch, Kick, custom nginx-rtmp).
  • Settings → Video for output resolution (you can downscale the 1080p source to 720p for the stream if your upload bandwidth is limited).
  • Settings → Output for recording format (mkv / mp4 with hardware encoding if available, or x264 software).

Latency tuning

For low-latency local monitoring of the source while you stream:

  1. Settings → Advanced → Video → set Video Queue Size to a small value (e.g. 1) and enable Frame drop when encoder is behind.
  2. Use the Stats window (View → Stats) to monitor render/encoding lag.

For typical streaming use the default latency is fine.

Hardware encoding

If your CPU has Intel QuickSync (qsv), NVIDIA NVENC (nvenc), or AMD AMF encoders, OBS will pick them up automatically. Hardware encoders free up CPU and let you record / stream at higher bitrates.

For 1080p60 from a Pengo, software x264 at preset veryfast is fine on any i5-class CPU from the last decade.

Next: Audio capture →