Open Broadcaster Software is a program designed for live broadcasting, this type of program became very popular among the “Streamer” community when it was launched on the market. Especially in directing YouTube and Twitch, it was a free and easy-to-use program where they could make modifications to what was broadcasting live, such as putting background music on a YouTube live with OBS. The best thing is that you can download and install it easily.
Today the industry has developed an even more updated prototype called OBS Studio, which has many improvements compared to the classic version.
One of those that stands out is the ability to change things that were on the screen before viewers saw it. So if you wanted to move something from one place to another, the spectators did not see what was happening and only noticed the transition of the object. OBS Studio is a complete program that allows the editing of thousands of programs, whether live or not.
How to fix black screen problem when taking screenshot using OBS
Although it is true that OBS is a fairly complete editing program with many benefits such as recording my PC’s screen with OBS Studio, there are some difficulties that may arise in editing due to not taking into account the necessary aspects for OBS to work perfectly. If you get the classic black screen when capturing the screen, you can follow these tips.
Check that you have updated drivers for your graphics card
If you have a graphics card in NVIDIA, in the lower-left part of the screen you will find an application called NVIDIA in which you must enter and in the upper right you will find the option «Drivers», you must click there and you will see that there are updates available that you must download. Once the download is done, you must restart your computer and log in again.
In case the application you are working with is not NVIDIA, you will have a similar application to update your Drivers. Or go to “Device Manager”> “Display adapters”> Right-click on your graphics card driver> “Update driver”.
If you are using Windows 10, there are times when there are compatibility problems with some applications, open the location where OBS is located on your computer, access the BIM directory and you can find the 32-bit or 64-bit version, open the directory of 32 bits or 64 bits depending on your case.
There you will find the OBS executable which will be called OBS 64.exe or OBS 32.exe. Right-click on it and select the Properties, Compatibility tab and choose the option “Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 7”. Press to apply, restart your computer and enter OBS again.
If it still doesn’t work, try running OBS in administrator mode. To access the directory where you have OBS, right-click on the options bar or the executable and select the option Run as administrator.
Another way to try to solve it if you have an NVIDIA graphics card: Right-click on the desktop, choose the option «NVIDIA Control Panel»> select the option «Control 3D settings»> Program settings > select OBS Studio (if you don’t appear you can add manually).
If you have an integrated graphics card, the option “Use integrated graphics” should appear. Click on Apply and OK. Restart your computer and log back into OBS.
Another solution to a black screen when taking a screenshot in OBS
Check if you are trying to capture a window and if it is the correct window, if so. Try the “Screenshot” option. If you achieve the capture when you perform this option, it means that OBS is working correctly and the error is found when capturing the application in windowed mode. Go back into windowed mode and verify that you have selected the correct option.
You should bear in mind that there are some applications that cannot be captured in windowed mode so you will have to do it in full screen mode. But do not worry. Go to the OBS options > Transform> Edit transformation and crop the image, then select “Transform” and “Fit to screen”.