In OBS, select the video source and choose Transform → Fit to Screen (Ctrl+F). This preserves the source’s proportions; if its shape differs from your canvas, you may see bars or unused space. Avoid Stretch to Screen (Ctrl+S) when the aspect ratios do not match, because it can make people and objects look unnaturally wide or narrow.
Why OBS videos look stretched
A video can look distorted when its source is forced into a canvas with a different aspect ratio. For example, fitting a tall or square clip into a wide landscape frame by stretching changes the relationship between its width and height. The picture fills the frame, but its proportions are no longer true.
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Different clips in a 24/7 lineup may have different shapes. A transform that looks right for one clip may not frame another correctly, so inspect representative clips rather than assuming a single adjustment fixes every item. The exact result depends on how the videos enter OBS and how the playlist or source is configured.
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In OBS, open Settings → Video. The Base (Canvas) Resolution is the workspace where you arrange sources. The Output (Scaled) Resolution is the resolution sent to the stream or recording. Changing the canvas can require sources to be repositioned or resized; changing the output resolution does not have that effect, according to the OBS overview guide.
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Use canvas and output settings with a consistent aspect ratio suited to your stream. OBS gives 1920×1080 and 1280×720 as examples of 16:9 resolutions commonly used for broad platform compatibility. They are examples, not requirements for every channel. Choose the target that fits your intended composition and output.
Fit a video source without distorting it
- Select the video source. Click it in the Sources list and check its red bounding box in the preview.
- Fit it proportionally. Right-click the source and choose Transform → Fit to Screen, or press Ctrl+F. This scales the source to fit without deliberately forcing its width and height to unrelated dimensions.
- Inspect the result. Confirm that the full picture is visible and that people, circles, and other familiar shapes do not look unusually wide or narrow.
- Choose how to handle any unused area. Use bars, a designed background, or other scene elements if you want to fill space while keeping the whole clip visible.
OBS also lists Ctrl+R to reset a source’s size and position and Ctrl+D to center it. These can help recover from an accidental transform; check the preview afterward to make sure the source is framed as intended.
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Choose between bars, cropping, and stretching
When a source and canvas have different aspect ratios, there is no way to preserve the whole image, fill the entire frame, and avoid distortion all at once. Choose the trade-off deliberately:
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| Fit proportionally, with bars or scene padding | Yes | Yes | Not necessarily; other scene elements can fill unused space |
| Enlarge and crop (pan and scan) | Yes | No; edges are lost | Yes |
| Stretch to screen | No, when aspect ratios differ | Usually | Yes |
OBS’s Aspect Ratio Guide, published November 27, 2021, explains that mismatched content can produce black bars and that stretching can warp or distort a source. If you enlarge a clip beyond the canvas instead, the proportions can remain correct but some content will be cropped.
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Check the Scaling/Aspect Ratio filter carefully
For a source where filter-based sizing is appropriate, open the source’s Filters and consider Scaling/Aspect Ratio. OBS documents scale filtering and a Resolution property for setting a source’s new resolution or aspect ratio in its Scaling/Resolution Filter guide. The documentation does not establish that this filter automatically normalizes every incoming item in every playlist or source setup. Verify its behavior with your particular source type and OBS version.
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- Preview clips with the widest, tallest, and most unusual shapes in your lineup.
- Check framing at transitions, not only on the first clip. Confirm that each visible source retains the intended proportions.
- If a clip is wrong, select the relevant source and review its transform rather than assuming a setting on a container or playlist applies to every item.
- Test the complete scene and stream settings before going live. OBS’s overview guidance recommends testing scenes and settings before starting a live stream.
These checks apply OBS’s general testing guidance to a continuous playlist; they are not a claim that any particular playlist implementation behaves a specific way.
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Troubleshoot the symptom you see
- Every video looks stretched: inspect the source transform for a stretch operation, then compare the canvas and output aspect ratios with the intended stream shape. Try resetting the source with Ctrl+R, then use Fit to Screen and recheck the preview.
- Only some clips look stretched: the clips may have different aspect ratios, or the source or playlist may handle items differently. Inspect each affected source and its framing; do not assume one transform on a container applies identically to every clip.
- Bars appear after fitting: bars can simply mean OBS is preserving the full image of a source with a different aspect ratio. Add a background or other scene elements if you want to use the remaining canvas.
- The frame is filled, but faces or objects look too wide or narrow: a stretch transform is a likely cause when the source and canvas shapes differ. Use proportional fitting instead.
- Some edges disappear: the source may be enlarged or cropped beyond the canvas. Reduce its size if you need to restore the full image, or keep the crop if losing those edges is acceptable.
OBS’s overview guide lists Fit to Screen as Ctrl+F and Stretch to Screen as Ctrl+S. OBS documentation pages cited here were published in 2021–2022; menu labels or behavior may vary with your installed version, so confirm them in your own OBS interface.
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