<p>For <code>x11grab</code> you should be using <code>-framerate</code> and not <code>-r</code>.</p>
<p>Here is what you should use:</p>
<pre><code>ffmpeg -f x11grab -framerate 25 -s ${dimensions} -i ${DISPLAY} -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 -color_range 2 -vf mpdecimate=0:1:1:1 -preset superfast -c:a flac ${d}.mkv
</code></pre>
<p>I also changed the preset to superfast to enable CABAC coding which improves compression ratio significantly and in my experience will never be a bottleneck for screen recording.</p>
<p>I also added a video filter which will deduplicate frames that are 100% identical and create a VFR video (very very useful when screen recording and lets you increase the framerate a lot without increasing system load or video bitrate much). It's still lossless and has identical output to a CFR video with duplicated frames.</p>
<p>Finally I changed the audio codec to flac. It is lossless and it's much better to use flac than raw pcm.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-04T21:58:39.573Z
2024-05-04T21:58:39.573Z
veppy
<p>I wrote the following script to capture both the <a href="https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Capture/Desktop" rel="nofollow noreferrer">screen</a> and the <a href="https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Capture/ALSA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">audio</a> from the microphone, both lossless from my laptop:</p>
<pre><code>#!/bin/bash

d=$(date +&quot;%Y%m%d_%-H%M&quot;)
dimensions=$(xdpyinfo |grep dimensions| awk '{print $2}';)

ffmpeg -f x11grab -r 25 -s &quot;${dimensions}&quot; -i &quot;${DISPLAY}&quot; -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 -color_range 2 -preset ultrafast -c:a pcm_s16le -strict -2 &quot;${d}.mkv&quot;
</code></pre>
<p>The sound becomes very intermittent when setting to a very low number of frames per second (the sound practically disappears when r is set to 7) and it improves substantially to an acceptable quality with <code>-r</code> set to 50 or higher.
This behaviour is also present with lossy capturing of the screen and audio as with <code>ffmpeg -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -f x11grab -s &quot;${dimensions}&quot; -r 7 -i &quot;${DISPLAY}&quot; &quot;${d}.mkv&quot;</code><br />
<strong>Why does the <code>-r</code> parameter influence the quality of the sound?</strong> <strong>Is the syntax of my script incorrect?</strong>
When I record the audio without screencasting, either <code>ffmpeg -f alsa -ac 2 -i default &quot;${d}.mp4&quot; </code> or <code>ffmpeg -f alsa -ac 2 -i default &quot;${d}.wav&quot; </code>works fine giving me satisfying quality of the audio.
The output from recording with <code>ffmpeg -f x11grab -r 25 -s &quot;${dimensions}&quot; -i &quot;${DISPLAY}&quot; -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 -color_range 2 -preset ultrafast -c:a pcm_s16le -strict -2 &quot;${d}.mkv&quot;</code> is:</p>
<pre><code>ffmpeg version 5.1.4-0+deb12u1 Copyright (c) 2000-2023 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 12 (Debian 12.2.0-14)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=0+deb12u1 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libdav1d --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libglslang --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librabbitmq --enable-librist --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --disable-sndio --enable-libjxl --enable-pocketsphinx --enable-librsvg --enable-libmfx --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-libplacebo --enable-librav1e --enable-shared
  libavutil      57. 28.100 / 57. 28.100
  libavcodec     59. 37.100 / 59. 37.100
  libavformat    59. 27.100 / 59. 27.100
  libavdevice    59.  7.100 / 59.  7.100
  libavfilter     8. 44.100 /  8. 44.100
  libswscale      6.  7.100 /  6.  7.100
  libswresample   4.  7.100 /  4.  7.100
  libpostproc    56.  6.100 / 56.  6.100
[x11grab @ 0x55d20fe24040] Stream #0: not enough frames to estimate rate; consider increasing probesize
Input #0, x11grab, from ':0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1707046868.487852, bitrate: 1658880 kb/s
  Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo (BGR[0] / 0x524742), bgr0, 1920x1080, 1658880 kb/s, 25 fps, 1000k tbr, 1000k tbn
Guessed Channel Layout for Input Stream #1.0 : stereo
Input #1, alsa, from 'default':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1707046868.768038, bitrate: 1536 kb/s
  Stream #1:0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1536 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -&gt; #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -&gt; h264 (libx264rgb))
  Stream #1:0 -&gt; #0:1 (pcm_s16le (native) -&gt; pcm_s16le (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX FMA3 BMI2 AVX2
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] profile High 4:4:4 Predictive, level 4.0, 4:4:4, 8-bit
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] 264 - core 164 r3095 baee400 - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2022 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=0 ref=1 deblock=0:0:0 analyse=0:0 me=dia subme=0 psy=0 mixed_ref=0 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=0 8x8dct=0 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=0 chroma_qp_offset=0 threads=24 lookahead_threads=4 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=0 weightp=0 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=0 intra_refresh=0 rc=cqp mbtree=0 qp=0
Output #0, matroska, to '20240204_1241-loseless.mkv':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf59.27.100
  Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (H264 / 0x34363248), bgr0(pc, progressive), 1920x1080, q=2-31, 25 fps, 1k tbn
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.37.100 libx264rgb
    Side data:
      cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 0/0/0 buffer size: 0 vbv_delay: N/A
  Stream #0:1: Audio: pcm_s16le ([1][0][0][0] / 0x0001), 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1536 kb/s
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.37.100 pcm_s16le
frame=    1 fps=0.0 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.02 bitrate= 286.5kbits/sframe=   21 fps=0.0 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.02 bitrate= 286.5kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] Thread message queue blocking; consider raising the thread_queue_size option (current value: 8)
[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   33 fps= 32 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.81 bitrate=   7.3kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   46 fps= 30 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.82 bitrate=   7.3kbits/sframe=   58 fps= 28 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:01.58 bitrate=   3.8kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   71 fps= 28 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:02.34 bitrate=   2.6kbits/sframe=   84 fps= 28 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:02.34 bitrate=18780.5kbits/[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   96 fps= 27 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:03.14 bitrate=14003.2kbits/[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  109 fps= 27 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:03.93 bitrate=11186.2kbits/frame=  122 fps= 27 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:03.93 bitrate=11186.2kbits/[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  134 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:04.70 bitrate=9358.3kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  147 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:04.88 bitrate=9020.9kbits/sframe=  160 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:05.49 bitrate=8010.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  173 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:06.25 bitrate=7039.7kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  185 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:06.39 bitrate=6889.9kbits/sframe=  198 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:07.02 bitrate=6268.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 7108, current: 7104; changing to 7108. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 7173, current: 7170; changing to 7173. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
frame=  211 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:07.82 bitrate=7776.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  223 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:07.97 bitrate=7626.0kbits/sframe=  236 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:08.58 bitrate=7088.3kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  248 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:09.34 bitrate=6510.1kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  261 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:09.40 bitrate=6469.2kbits/sframe=  273 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:10.14 bitrate=5996.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  286 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:10.93 bitrate=6711.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  299 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:10.94 bitrate=6703.8kbits/sframe=  312 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:11.69 bitrate=6276.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  324 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:12.46 bitrate=5888.5kbits/sframe=  337 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:12.46 bitrate=5888.5kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  349 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:13.26 bitrate=5533.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  362 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:13.47 bitrate=5445.9kbits/s[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 13457, current: 13451; changing to 13457. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 13457, current: 13453; changing to 13457. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
frame=  374 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:14.05 bitrate=5220.9kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  387 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:14.82 bitrate=4952.8kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  400 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:15.04 bitrate=4878.7kbits/sframe=  413 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   11776kB time=00:00:15.57 bitrate=6193.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  425 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   11776kB time=00:00:16.33 bitrate=5905.7kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  438 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   11776kB time=00:00:16.48 bitrate=5853.3kbits/sframe=  451 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   17408kB time=00:00:17.09 bitrate=8340.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.


[q] command received. Exiting.

frame=  455 fps= 25 q=-1.0 Lsize=   21617kB time=00:00:18.16 bitrate=9750.7kbits/s speed=1.01x    
video:20715kB audio:896kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.025721%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] frame I:2     Avg QP: 0.00  size:950424
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] frame P:453   Avg QP: 0.00  size: 42629
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] mb I  I16..4: 100.0%  0.0%  0.0%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] mb P  I16..4: 56.4%  0.0%  0.0%  P16..4:  0.1%  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%    skip:43.5%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] coded y,u,v intra: 1.8% 1.8% 2.0% inter: 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] i16 v,h,dc,p: 98%  2%  0%  0%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] kb/s:9323.81

</code></pre>
<p>The laptop (Debian based system, utilizing X11 for the window manager, 16GB of RAM, Intel i7-10870H CPU 2.20GHz - 16 cores, NVIDIA Corporation GA106M [GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile / Max-Q]) does not lack compute, the loading averages when not recording are:
<code>0.16, 0.14, 0.38</code>.</p>

<ffmpeg><audio-recording><screen-casting><audio-quality><lossless>
How do I get better sound quality when screencasting with ffmpeg without having to increase -r?
John Smith
# How do I get better sound quality when screencasting with ffmpeg without having to increase -r?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-02-04)

I wrote the following script to capture both the screen and the audio from the microphone, both lossless from my laptop:
#!/bin/bash

d=$(date +"%Y%m%d_%-H%M")
dimensions=$(xdpyinfo |grep dimensions| awk '{print $2}';)

ffmpeg -f x11grab -r 25 -s "${dimensions}" -i "${DISPLAY}" -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 -color_range 2 -preset ultrafast -c:a pcm_s16le -strict -2 "${d}.mkv"

The sound becomes very intermittent when setting to a very low number of frames per second (the sound practically disappears when r is set to 7) and it improves substantially to an acceptable quality with -r set to 50 or higher.
This behaviour is also present with lossy capturing of the screen and audio as with ffmpeg -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -f x11grab -s "${dimensions}" -r 7 -i "${DISPLAY}" "${d}.mkv"
Why does the -r parameter influence the quality of the sound? Is the syntax of my script incorrect?
When I record the audio without screencasting, either ffmpeg -f alsa -ac 2 -i default "${d}.mp4"  or ffmpeg -f alsa -ac 2 -i default "${d}.wav" works fine giving me satisfying quality of the audio.
The output from recording with ffmpeg -f x11grab -r 25 -s "${dimensions}" -i "${DISPLAY}" -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 -color_range 2 -preset ultrafast -c:a pcm_s16le -strict -2 "${d}.mkv" is:
ffmpeg version 5.1.4-0+deb12u1 Copyright (c) 2000-2023 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 12 (Debian 12.2.0-14)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=0+deb12u1 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libdav1d --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libglslang --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librabbitmq --enable-librist --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libsrt --enable-libssh --enable-libsvtav1 --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opencl --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --disable-sndio --enable-libjxl --enable-pocketsphinx --enable-librsvg --enable-libmfx --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-libplacebo --enable-librav1e --enable-shared
  libavutil      57. 28.100 / 57. 28.100
  libavcodec     59. 37.100 / 59. 37.100
  libavformat    59. 27.100 / 59. 27.100
  libavdevice    59.  7.100 / 59.  7.100
  libavfilter     8. 44.100 /  8. 44.100
  libswscale      6.  7.100 /  6.  7.100
  libswresample   4.  7.100 /  4.  7.100
  libpostproc    56.  6.100 / 56.  6.100
[x11grab @ 0x55d20fe24040] Stream #0: not enough frames to estimate rate; consider increasing probesize
Input #0, x11grab, from ':0':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1707046868.487852, bitrate: 1658880 kb/s
  Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo (BGR[0] / 0x524742), bgr0, 1920x1080, 1658880 kb/s, 25 fps, 1000k tbr, 1000k tbn
Guessed Channel Layout for Input Stream #1.0 : stereo
Input #1, alsa, from 'default':
  Duration: N/A, start: 1707046868.768038, bitrate: 1536 kb/s
  Stream #1:0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1536 kb/s
Stream mapping:
  Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (rawvideo (native) -> h264 (libx264rgb))
  Stream #1:0 -> #0:1 (pcm_s16le (native) -> pcm_s16le (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] using cpu capabilities: MMX2 SSE2Fast SSSE3 SSE4.2 AVX FMA3 BMI2 AVX2
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] profile High 4:4:4 Predictive, level 4.0, 4:4:4, 8-bit
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] 264 - core 164 r3095 baee400 - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec - Copyleft 2003-2022 - http://www.videolan.org/x264.html - options: cabac=0 ref=1 deblock=0:0:0 analyse=0:0 me=dia subme=0 psy=0 mixed_ref=0 me_range=16 chroma_me=1 trellis=0 8x8dct=0 cqm=0 deadzone=21,11 fast_pskip=0 chroma_qp_offset=0 threads=24 lookahead_threads=4 sliced_threads=0 nr=0 decimate=1 interlaced=0 bluray_compat=0 constrained_intra=0 bframes=0 weightp=0 keyint=250 keyint_min=25 scenecut=0 intra_refresh=0 rc=cqp mbtree=0 qp=0
Output #0, matroska, to '20240204_1241-loseless.mkv':
  Metadata:
    encoder         : Lavf59.27.100
  Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (H264 / 0x34363248), bgr0(pc, progressive), 1920x1080, q=2-31, 25 fps, 1k tbn
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.37.100 libx264rgb
    Side data:
      cpb: bitrate max/min/avg: 0/0/0 buffer size: 0 vbv_delay: N/A
  Stream #0:1: Audio: pcm_s16le ([1][0][0][0] / 0x0001), 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1536 kb/s
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc59.37.100 pcm_s16le
frame=    1 fps=0.0 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.02 bitrate= 286.5kbits/sframe=   21 fps=0.0 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.02 bitrate= 286.5kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] Thread message queue blocking; consider raising the thread_queue_size option (current value: 8)
[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   33 fps= 32 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.81 bitrate=   7.3kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   46 fps= 30 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:00.82 bitrate=   7.3kbits/sframe=   58 fps= 28 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:01.58 bitrate=   3.8kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   71 fps= 28 q=0.0 size=       1kB time=00:00:02.34 bitrate=   2.6kbits/sframe=   84 fps= 28 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:02.34 bitrate=18780.5kbits/[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=   96 fps= 27 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:03.14 bitrate=14003.2kbits/[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  109 fps= 27 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:03.93 bitrate=11186.2kbits/frame=  122 fps= 27 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:03.93 bitrate=11186.2kbits/[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  134 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:04.70 bitrate=9358.3kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  147 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:04.88 bitrate=9020.9kbits/sframe=  160 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:05.49 bitrate=8010.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  173 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:06.25 bitrate=7039.7kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  185 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:06.39 bitrate=6889.9kbits/sframe=  198 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    5376kB time=00:00:07.02 bitrate=6268.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 7108, current: 7104; changing to 7108. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 7173, current: 7170; changing to 7173. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
frame=  211 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:07.82 bitrate=7776.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  223 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:07.97 bitrate=7626.0kbits/sframe=  236 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:08.58 bitrate=7088.3kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  248 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:09.34 bitrate=6510.1kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  261 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:09.40 bitrate=6469.2kbits/sframe=  273 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    7424kB time=00:00:10.14 bitrate=5996.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  286 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:10.93 bitrate=6711.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  299 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:10.94 bitrate=6703.8kbits/sframe=  312 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:11.69 bitrate=6276.2kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  324 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:12.46 bitrate=5888.5kbits/sframe=  337 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:12.46 bitrate=5888.5kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  349 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:13.26 bitrate=5533.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  362 fps= 26 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:13.47 bitrate=5445.9kbits/s[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 13457, current: 13451; changing to 13457. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
[matroska @ 0x55d20fe7d800] Non-monotonous DTS in output stream 0:1; previous: 13457, current: 13453; changing to 13457. This may result in incorrect timestamps in the output file.
frame=  374 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:14.05 bitrate=5220.9kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  387 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:14.82 bitrate=4952.8kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  400 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=    8960kB time=00:00:15.04 bitrate=4878.7kbits/sframe=  413 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   11776kB time=00:00:15.57 bitrate=6193.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  425 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   11776kB time=00:00:16.33 bitrate=5905.7kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.
frame=  438 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   11776kB time=00:00:16.48 bitrate=5853.3kbits/sframe=  451 fps= 25 q=0.0 size=   17408kB time=00:00:17.09 bitrate=8340.0kbits/s[alsa @ 0x55d20fe30440] ALSA buffer xrun.


[q] command received. Exiting.

frame=  455 fps= 25 q=-1.0 Lsize=   21617kB time=00:00:18.16 bitrate=9750.7kbits/s speed=1.01x    
video:20715kB audio:896kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.025721%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] frame I:2     Avg QP: 0.00  size:950424
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] frame P:453   Avg QP: 0.00  size: 42629
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] mb I  I16..4: 100.0%  0.0%  0.0%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] mb P  I16..4: 56.4%  0.0%  0.0%  P16..4:  0.1%  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%  0.0%    skip:43.5%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] coded y,u,v intra: 1.8% 1.8% 2.0% inter: 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] i16 v,h,dc,p: 98%  2%  0%  0%
[libx264rgb @ 0x55d20fe7e9c0] kb/s:9323.81


The laptop (Debian based system, utilizing X11 for the window manager, 16GB of RAM, Intel i7-10870H CPU 2.20GHz - 16 cores, NVIDIA Corporation GA106M [GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile / Max-Q]) does not lack compute, the loading averages when not recording are:
0.16, 0.14, 0.38.

**Tags:** ffmpeg, audio-recording, screen-casting, audio-quality, lossless


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-05-04. Score: 1

For x11grab you should be using -framerate and not -r.
Here is what you should use:
ffmpeg -f x11grab -framerate 25 -s ${dimensions} -i ${DISPLAY} -f alsa -ac 2 -i default -c:v libx264rgb -crf 0 -color_range 2 -vf mpdecimate=0:1:1:1 -preset superfast -c:a flac ${d}.mkv

I also changed the preset to superfast to enable CABAC coding which improves compression ratio significantly and in my experience will never be a bottleneck for screen recording.
I also added a video filter which will deduplicate frames that are 100% identical and create a VFR video (very very useful when screen recording and lets you increase the framerate a lot without increasing system load or video bitrate much). It's still lossless and has identical output to a CFR video with duplicated frames.
Finally I changed the audio codec to flac. It is lossless and it's much better to use flac than raw pcm.


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