How to stream on PS4 ⇒ The ultimate guide!

1 Summary

If you want to stream from your PlayStation, you can do it directly using Sony’s built-in software or you can run it on your computer. But this requires a capture card that transfers your gameplay to it, where you can enhance it using the broadcasting software before streaming it on Twitch.

And by enhance we mean overlays that make your stream look more professional and stylish in general. You can get an impression of such graphics here – we’ll get to the topic itself later.

With this constellation, you can also integrate a webcam so that your viewers can see who is sitting behind the controller. If you choose the easy way, you can press the “Share” button while the game is open and then click “Stream game”. Enter your title and off you go.

1.1 How to stream on your PS4 with capture card

1. Start up your PlayStation and PC.
2. Connect both through the Capture Card.
3. Set up the remaining equipment (microphone, camera, lighting, etc.)
4. Open your streaming software.
5. Create the source “media source” in it to feed the PS image into the broadcasting software.
6. Open the studio mode in your broadcasting software.
7. Create and check your scenes (overlays).
8. Check all audio channels (party, game sound, music etc.)
9. Start your game on the PS.
10. Check the image of your upcoming stream.
11. Start your stream!

1.2 How to stream on your PS4 without capture card

1. Start up your PlayStation and PC.
2. Set your PlayStation as your primary PS4 in the account settings.
3. Then open “Set features available in sleep mode” on the PS4 under Power Save Settings
4. Here, the options “Stay connected to the Internet” and “Turn on the PS4 from the network” must be enabled.
5. Then open the menu item “Remote Play Connection Settings” and check the box “Enable Remote Play”
6. Then download and open the PS4 Remote Play software on your PC.
7. After opening the software you can directly apply settings such as resolution (the best resolution is only supported by new PS4, e.g. PS4 Pro)
8. To stream in good quality, a fast internet connection with a minimum upload speed of 12mb/s is recommended.
9. After the settings in the PS4 Remote Play software have been made, click “Start”.
10. If everything works, you will receive a notification on your PS4 that a connection has been established via remote play
11. To stream the image from the PS4, simply add another source in your streaming software (window capture)
12. You can already check picture and sound in the software – if they are the way you like them, you are ready for your stream, if not, you only have to adjust the resolution and frame rate settings in the PS4 Remote Play software

2 Downloading the Twitch-App

The Twitch app can be found in the PlayStation Store via the search function. Simply enter “Twitch”, select the app and download it. With the app you have the following features available in the game:

• Using the PlayStation camera for picture-in-picture broadcasting (Facecam)
• View your chat on display while streaming a game
• Using the Playstation 4 microphone to communicate with your viewers

3 Starting a Broadcast

After downloading the app from the store to your PS4, only a few steps are required to start a new broadcast. It all starts with a simple press of the “Share” button on your Playstation4 controller. After pressing the “Share” button, a menu will appear where you can select some options for sharing game content. Select “Broadcast gameplay” and then select your prefered streaming platform (in this example it is Twitch, but it’s the same for Youtube or other platforms) as the destination of your streams. Follow the link to the Twitch website, where you will be asked to log in or create a new account. This step is only necessary when logging in for the first time. For all subsequent broadcasts you will automatically get to the stream overview after selecting Twitch.

The Stream-Overview

On the stream overview that appears after the login you can set whether you want to use your camera and microphone and if you want to see the comments of your viewers on the screen. Now you only have to select the title for the streaming session and the desired transmission quality and start your first broadcast on Twitch with “Start transmission”. When you are finished, the transmission will be terminated by pressing the share button again during the stream.

4 Add overlays to your PS4 stream

To make sure your stream not only runs smoothly but also looks professional, it is essential to insert a matching twitch overlay. There are two ways to realize this.

4.1 Lightstream Studio

Lightstream is a cloud-based broadcast software that allows you to integrate overlays and other design elements into your PS4 stream without the need for a capture card. Once set up, you don’t even need Lightstream open in your web browser – your overlays will be added to your stream automatically every time you go live. Learn how it works here.

4.2 Capture Card and PC

The other option is to use a capture card. A capture card is a small hardware device that connects your PS4 to a PC via USB cable. It will record your PS4 gameplay and stream it through PC-based broadcasting software to Twitch. You’ll need a PC with decent specs to run your stream, but if you have the hardware, this will give you a lot of flexibility. You can find detailed instructions here.

5 Troubleshooting

Finally, a few short hints on common problems when streaming with Playstation4 and its solution. There are not many known issues with streaming audio and video content from a PS4. We did some research and listed all we could find below. If your problem is not addressed here, you can always contact Twitch’s support by clicking on “Send us an e-mail” at https://help.twitch.tv/.

The camera microphone is only used if no headset is connected. If the camera microphone does not respond to the Playstation4 while streaming, check whether a headset is connected. If you have made the wrong settings before streaming, you can change the settings for camera, microphone, comment display and other options by pressing the SHARE button. If you don’t see any comments, note that comments are only displayed at a screen resolution of 1080i or 1080p