---
title: "Lesson 3.7 - Tuning"
description: "Tuning is an NVENC-specific setting that fine-tunes how the encoder allocates its compression budget across the stream. The setting is not available on other encoders.For live streaming on NVENC, the..."
url: https://thestreameragency.com/courses/stream-quality-system/lessons/quality-3-7-tuning/
date: 2026-05-07
modified: 2026-05-07
author: "The Streamer Agency"
type: lp_lesson
lang: en
---

# Lesson 3.7 - Tuning

Tuning is an NVENC-specific setting that fine-tunes how the encoder allocates its compression budget across the stream. The setting is not available on other encoders.

For live streaming on NVENC, the recommended tuning is "High Quality." The setting tells the encoder to prioritize visual quality over absolute encoding speed, which is the right trade-off given that the GPU has plenty of headroom and the bitrate is the bottleneck rather than encoding throughput.

The alternative tunings include "Low Latency" (used for game-streaming where input lag matters more than visual quality) and "Lossless" (used for archival recording, not live streaming). Neither is appropriate for live broadcast to viewers.

The implementation: in NVENC encoder settings, find the tuning dropdown, select "High Quality." Save.

The setting interacts with the preset (P5 Slow recommended in the prior lesson). Together, the preset and tuning produce the highest-quality NVENC output at standard live bitrates. Both settings cost no extra latency in practice. Lock both. Move on.