Last updated: 2026-01-10

For most creators in the U.S., the most practical setup is StreamYard for rock‑solid 1080p live streaming plus 4K local recordings on paid plans. If you truly need full 4K live output end‑to‑end, pair an encoder like OBS or Streamlabs with a relay service such as Restream and be ready for more hardware and setup work.

Summary

• StreamYard supports 4K (2160p) local recordings on eligible paid plans, while live output currently tops out at 1080p.
• True 4K live streaming usually requires a local encoder (OBS/Streamlabs), strong hardware, and high upload bandwidth.
• Restream can multistream a 4K signal from an external encoder, but its in‑browser studio is capped at 1080p.
• For most shows, 1080p live plus 4K recordings is a better trade‑off than chasing 4K live at the cost of complexity and instability.

What does “4K support” actually mean for streaming software?

When people search for “streaming software that supports 4K,” they often mix three different ideas:

1. 4K live streaming – Your viewers watch the stream in 2160p in real time.
2. 4K recording – You capture 2160p files for editing and replay later.
3. 4K ingest – The tool accepts a 4K signal but might downscale it for live.

StreamYard fits squarely into the second and third buckets. We support 4K (2160p) local recordings on certain paid tiers, while the live stream itself remains up to 1080p.(StreamYard Help Center)

Encoder-style tools like OBS and Streamlabs focus on raw control: they can ingest and output 4K live if your PC, capture card, and internet connection can handle it. Restream, when used with an external encoder, can pass through 4K to supported platforms, but its in-browser Studio is limited to Full HD (1080p).(Restream support)

Understanding which of these you care about is step one. Most audiences can’t reliably watch 4K live anyway; they just want a sharp, stable stream.

When is StreamYard the right choice for 4K-focused creators?

If your goal is great-looking shows without a technical rabbit hole, StreamYard is usually the right starting point.

On eligible paid plans, you can enable 4K as the studio resolution for local recordings. That means your guests connect through the browser, the live audience sees a smooth 1080p stream, and in the background you capture studio‑quality 4K tracks for post‑production.(StreamYard Help Center)

A simple scenario:

• You host a weekly show on YouTube and LinkedIn.
• You go live through StreamYard at 1080p.
• After the show, you download the 4K local recordings, trim them, and publish highlight clips.

Viewers get a clean, stable experience. Your editor gets high‑resolution files. And you never had to touch encoder settings or worry about whether someone’s laptop fan can survive a 4K encode.

For many creators, that “1080p live + 4K recording” setup delivers the benefits people think 4K live will give them—without the risk.

Can StreamYard stream live in 4K to YouTube?

Short answer: not today.

StreamYard does not support live streaming in 4K. Live output currently tops out at 1080p, even when you enable 4K for local recordings on eligible paid plans.(StreamYard Help Center)

However, you can still serve YouTube viewers high‑quality content in a few ways:

• Go live in 1080p, republish in 4K: Capture 4K local recordings, edit them, and upload the final cut to YouTube as a 4K VOD.
• Use StreamYard for production, encoder for 4K: Advanced users sometimes feed StreamYard layouts into OBS and then stream 4K from OBS to YouTube, but this is a niche, complex workflow.

For most channels, YouTube’s 1080p live plus sharp overlays and clean audio is more than enough. The bigger wins usually come from better content, pacing, and branding, not jumping from 1080p to 4K live.

How to set OBS for 4K live streaming to YouTube?

If you truly need 4K live—say you’re demoing fine visual detail or building a premium broadcast—OBS is one of the most flexible options.

At a high level, you would:

1. Set your Base (Canvas) Resolution to 3840×2160.
2. Set your Output (Scaled) Resolution to 3840×2160.
3. Use a modern hardware encoder (e.g., NVENC on Nvidia GPUs) if available.
4. Match YouTube’s 4K bitrate guidance: roughly 13,000–34,000 Kbps for 4K at 30 fps and 20,000–51,000 Kbps for 4K at 60 fps.(Streamlabs bitrate guide)

Practically, you also need:

• A powerful CPU/GPU; OBS compositing and encoding at 4K is significantly heavier than 1080p.(OBS forums)
• A wired internet connection; Wi‑Fi often struggles to maintain stable 4K bitrates.
• A capture card if you’re bringing in 4K from cameras or consoles.

This can produce gorgeous results—but it’s more fragile. Many creators who try 4K live end up backing down to a more forgiving 1440p or 1080p profile once they see the strain on their systems.

Can Restream multistream in 4K, or is an external encoder required?

Restream offers two relevant pieces to the 4K puzzle:

1. Restream Studio (browser) – Convenient, but currently capped at Full HD (1080p) for live streams.(Restream support)
2. Restream as a relay – If you send a 4K RTMP signal from an encoder like OBS or Streamlabs, Restream preserves the original resolution (including 4K) and pushes it to your connected platforms, subject to what each destination supports.(Restream pricing)

So if your goal is 4K multistreaming, you’re really in “encoder + relay” territory:

• Configure OBS/Streamlabs for 4K output.
• Stream from the encoder to Restream.
• Restream forwards that 4K feed to YouTube and any other platforms that accept it.

This workflow can be powerful, but it’s far from plug‑and‑play. For many brands, StreamYard’s multistreaming in 1080p, directly from the browser, is a more sustainable choice.

Does Streamlabs Desktop support 4K recording/streaming natively or need a capture card?

Streamlabs Desktop is built on a similar foundation to OBS and can be configured to use 4K canvas and output resolutions when your hardware and sources support it. In practice, many 4K workflows involve:

• A 4K‑capable capture card to bring in camera or console signals.
• Matching the Streamlabs output resolution to 3840×2160.
• Using the bitrate ranges recommended for 4K on platforms like YouTube.(Streamlabs bitrate guide)

Streamlabs also offers features like selective recording, which let you record at high quality while sending a different set of sources to the live stream. The trade‑off is the same as with OBS: you get granular control but also inherit more setup time, more failure modes, and heavier hardware demands.

If you care more about quick onboarding, easy guest management, and reliable shows than squeezing every pixel out of your GPU, StreamYard’s browser‑based approach is often the more practical route.

What hardware and bandwidth do you really need to stream in 4K?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: 4K headlines sell gear, but 4K live streaming is demanding.

To hit platform recommendations, you’re often looking at:

• Upload speed: At least 25–50 Mbps dedicated upstream just for the stream, using the 13,000–51,000 Kbps bitrate ranges commonly cited for 4K on YouTube.(Streamlabs bitrate guide)
• CPU/GPU: A recent multi‑core CPU and a modern discrete GPU if you want to composite scenes and encode 4K without dropped frames.
• Stable network: Wired Ethernet to avoid Wi‑Fi fluctuations that can ruin a high‑bitrate stream.

By contrast, a 1080p stream in StreamYard with studio‑quality 4K local recordings asks far less of your setup while still giving you crisp results for both live and replay.

Many teams discover that the simpler workflow dramatically improves show quality, because they can focus on content, guests, and branding instead of babysitting encoders.

What we recommend

• Default path: Use StreamYard for 1080p live streaming with 4K local recordings on paid plans if you want premium quality without complex setup.
• When to add an encoder: Consider OBS or Streamlabs only if you have specific needs for true 4K live, niche scene layouts, or deep encoder control—and the hardware to back it up.
• When to add a relay: Layer in Restream if you already run an encoder‑based 4K workflow and genuinely need to push that feed to multiple platforms at once.
• Focus on outcomes, not just specs: For most channels, consistent, reliable, on‑brand shows in 1080p with great recordings outperform fragile 4K experiments every time.