Screen choppy during recording? Maybe you need a screen recorder with no lag. Whether to use it for gameplay recording or generally, you can get a choice below.
12 No Lag Screen Recorder
5 PC Game Recorder with No Lag
Gameplay screen recording is one of the most common situation that laggy issues occur. Is there one that can handle PC games recording without lag? The following five software options are recommended.
1Kingshiper Screen Recorder
Kingshiper is a free and easy-to-use recorder. It’s suitable for Windows and Mac devices. Even with older operating systems, like Wins 7 and MacOS 10.15, it runs smoothly.
Kingshiper is about 200 MB which doesn’t consume much system resources. And it offer multiple recording mode to meet different needs - full screen mode, window mode, custom mode, webcam mode, and scheduled recording mode.
● Support frame rate from 5 to 120 fps. ● Support various video quality, such as smooth, HD, ultra, and original. ● Available for multi-GPU mode. ● Support GPC hardware encoding.
2Nvidia ShadowPlay (a part of GeForce Experience )
Nvidia ShadowPlay is famous for low performance impact while screen recording PC games. Its NVENC capture method allows people to record gameplay with minimal FPS loss. In other word, you can get a lagless screen recording with this tool.
ShadowPlay supports all DirectX games. So, if you’re playing Minecraft or OpenGL Unity games, it’s an ideal choice for recording. Also, PUBG has integrated ShadowPlay Highlights to automatically capture key gameplay moments like kills and wins.
Before using it, please noted that you need a NVIDIA GPU card (GTX 600 or newer) to use Nvidia ShadowPlay freely. You'll need to install an additional one if your gaming PC doesn't have it built-in.
Highlights:
● Supports up to 4K resolution at 60fps. ● Built-in support for streaming to Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube.
3Xbox Game Bar
Xbox Game Bar is a built-in tool in Windows which allows people to screen record handily and with no lag. By pressing Win + G on your keyboard, you can bring up the widget and start recording.
This tool works with most PC games running on Windows 10/11. Among them, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) remain the popular.
Highlights:
● User-friendly interface. ● Seamless integration with Windows to bring smooth recording experience. ● Support achievements, friends list, music controls, and performance monitoring.
4OBS Studio
OBS, as a free and open-source streaming software, is a long-standing gamer and live streamers favorite. Its strength lies in the ability to capture multiple video and audio sources. Whether you want to record the game and webcam (record yourself) simultaneously or not, this tool give options. Windows, macOS, Linux, and BSD are available to use OBS.
Highlights:
● Multi-source recording. ● Highly customizable recording settings. ● No time limit and watermark. ● Extensive plugin support.
5AMD Radeon ReLive
Radeon ReLive is another PC game recorder with no lag that developed by AMD. This dedicated software offers optimized, low-impact game recording for PCs equipped with AMD graphics hardware.
Highlights:
● Lightweight and low performance impact. ● Minimal frame rate drops and give smooth gameplay while recording. ● High-quality video output.
3 Mobile Game Recorder with No Lag
People who have used the phone’s native screen recorder may find the overheating and lag issues very distracting when playing games. It’s time to try some mobile game recorder with no lag. Those apps are designed to minimize resource usage.
6ADV Screen Recorder
Expecting a no lag screen recorder for mobile games? ADV should be on your list. It uses dual-engine technology for recording. This means that it will intelligently allocate system resources to further reduce lag.
At present, ADV Screen Recorder can only be installed on Android phones.
Highlights:
● Floating controls for easy start/stop. ● On-screen drawing. ● Supports front and back camera recording.
7Glip Screen Recorder
Still an Android-only recorder. Glip Screen Recorder is optimized for gaming recording. You can record at 60 fps with minimal lag. And both in-game audio sounds and the microphone will be captured.
Highlights:
● Livestream videos to multiple apps, such as Twitch, Youtube, Facebook, etc. ● Always-on recording with instant replay capability.
8AZ Recorder
This mobile recorder supports Android and iOS devices. For advantages, no time limit and watermark are on the list.
AZ Recorder supports resolutions from HD, FullHD, 2K to 4K, so you can create high-quality game video.
Highlights:
● Optimized for smooth 60 FPS recording on mobile. ● Hardware acceleration minimizes lag.
4 Smooth Screen Recorder for General Use
9Loom
It’s widely compatible with mainstream OS, including web browser, Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. So, yes, you can think that it works on any device. This makes the tool a good solution for general recording scenario.
Recording with Loom can enjoy a cloud-based saving feature. With its generate link, you don’t have to worry about the storage space of your device.
10Clipchamp
Clipchamp is a free video editor but with online screen recording feature. You can just open it on the browser and start recording the tab, desktop screen, and a specific application. As an online video recorder, you need to ensure your network is functioning properly to achieve no-lag recording.
11ScreenPal
This app gives unlimited recordings up to 15 minutes. If you want to handle casual projects with no need for high-quality recording, ScreenPal helps. Its free plan supports 720p (HD).
12Snagit
You can record your screen with Snagit smoothly. The UI is simple. Two steps are enough to start a recording. The tool provides flexible options - record the entire screen, a specific window, or a custom area, which is helpful for tutorials, demos, or presentations.
How to Choose the Right Screen Recorder with No Lag?
There are several things determine your recording performance: frame rate, encoding method, and resource used.
1. Frame Rate
Commonly, to get a no lag recording you can use 30-60 FPS (frames per second). Higher FPS means more images being captured every second, which makes the recording look smoother.
Therefore, you should choose a screen recorder that provides multiple frame rate options.
2. Encoding Method
A recorder that uses hardware-accelerated encoding can minimize system load and is less lag-inducing. This factor is quite important when choosing tools for PCs.
3. Resource Used
Insufficient storage can cause recording lag. This is a frequent occurrence during long screen recordings. To avoid it, you’d better use a screen recorder with cloud storage service.
What Causes Screen Recording Lag? 3 Main Reasons
1. Low System Components with Incompatible Screen Recorder
Screen recording consumes CPU, GPU, and RAM. If you’re using a powerful software in a low performance device, hardware limitations result in intermittent images. It's like placing heavy boxes on a fragile wooden board.
Let me explain more.
The CPU handles tasks like screen capture, video data processing, and encoding it into a video file. Screen recording can be quite CPU-intensive. A weak or overloaded CPU will fail to keep up the screen and lead to lag.
GPU (Graphics Card) shares the CPU tasks, bring less impact on device performance.
RAM is used to store temporary video data. When opening the screen recorder and other applications, sufficient RAM ensures these applications run smoothly.
2. Improper Recording Settings
Correctly set up recording resolution and frame rate is essential to get a no lag video. However, few users set realistic values based on their device and purpose, often pushing beyond limits.
Recording at higher resolutions (like 4K) requires much more processing power and storage write speed than lower resolutions. This is a challenge for your device.
A higher frame rate (e.g., 60 FPS) produces smoother video. But, the other side is that, it demands more system resources. If the device system can't consistently maintain the target FPS, the recording will appear choppy.
For detailed guidance on setting it up properly, please see the next section.
3. App Conflicts
Some apps actively prevent screen capture. This is common in mobile applications, whether games, messaging app, or others.
One thing worth noting is that video and streaming platforms often block screen recording due to copyright protection. Once you start capturing, you will see that the screen is delayed or frozen. In some cases, you may see a black screen with audio only.
How to Screen Record Without Lag?
1) Use screen recorder that enables hardware-accelerated encoding.
2) Record at 30-60 fps. The best frame rate for gameplay screen recording is 60 fps.
3) Close unnecessary background apps. This will free up CPU and RAM for better recording.
4) Clean storage space to ensure the recorder run smoothly.
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