Window capture, game capture or display capture in OBS, and what Signal Broker captures itself.

What the three sources do

OBS offers three ways to put a game on the canvas, and its Knowledge Base describes each in a sentence: Game Capture captures the DirectX or OpenGL game directly and is the one to try first; Window Capture captures one specific window and its contents; Display Capture captures the entire monitor. The differences that matter for a session with the Broker are what each one includes, what it leaves out, and what happens when the game does not cooperate.

Which one for a session with the Broker

1. 01Game Capture, specific window, first.

   OBS’s own rule. Pick the game’s window, keep the optional checkboxes at their defaults as the setup guide advises, and have one Game Capture source per scene when you name games individually.

2. 02Window Capture when Game Capture shows nothing.

   OBS’s documented fallback: run the game windowed or in borderless fullscreen and capture its window. This is also the mode the app recommends for the in-game overlay when exclusive fullscreen hides it, so the two choices agree.

3. 03Display Capture only when you mean “show my whole screen”.

   It is the simplest and the least private; the next section says what it exposes. It is also the only one of the three that will show the app’s own in-game overlay for certain, because that overlay is on your screen.

4. 04Add the Browser source above whichever you chose.

   The Broker your viewers see is the Browser source from the OBS guide, above the game source with its eye icon on. The capture choice does not change that.

5. 05Close other overlays and capture tools first.

   OBS’s conflicts page says programs that draw on top of games, FPS counters and other capture or recording software can break its hooks and asks you to close them or disable their on-screen display while using OBS.

What each one exposes

Privacy on stream is decided here, not in the app. OBS documents that a Window Capture shows only the selected window even when other windows are in front of it, and that a Display Capture shows the entire monitor with anything that overlaps the area. In practice:

• Display Capture shows everything on that monitor: notifications, a chat window you dragged over the game, the Signal Broker app window if it is there, the Broker Bar, the in-game overlay, a browser tab with the overlay preview and its address bar. The overlay address carries a key that must never be shown; a Display Capture of the monitor where you pressed Preview preset shows it.
• Window Capture shows one window. A notification over the game is not captured; neither is anything else on the desktop. The Signal Broker app window is never captured unless you capture it on purpose.
• Game Capture shows the game’s frames. Whether it includes an overlay drawn over the game depends on how that overlay is drawn; OBS has a separate option for capturing third-party overlays such as Steam’s, off by default, and neither OBS nor the app documents what that option does with Signal Broker’s in-game overlay. Viewers should get the Browser source; a short recording settles what your scene actually shows.

The app’s own capture is not an OBS feature

Signal Broker does not use OBS to see the game, and OBS does not use Signal Broker to see it. The app watches the game window you chose: you start the game first, pick the game window in the app (not the launcher or store), confirm the game, tick Allow game capture after reviewing the capture notice on the Play screen, and press START BROKER. From then on the app captures frames of that window itself. The app does not stream anything; your streaming software captures what is on your PC.

• What leaves your PC is the app’s capture, not OBS’s: while a session runs, captured frames of the game you chose, with the session context the Broker needs, go to the Signal Broker service and on to its AI provider to produce his observations and lines. Frames are processed in memory and are not stored by the service. Never: your microphone (the app has none), your password, other applications you did not choose. The privacy notice has the full picture.
• Your OBS choice does not change what he sees. Display Capture in OBS does not make the app watch your whole screen; the app watches the window you chose and nothing else.
• His capture needs the window alive. If the game window was closed or minimised he loses the picture; bring the game back and, if needed, start a new session. Bring the selected game to the front after starting.
• Capture consent is per session: Allow game capture is an explicit checkbox before START BROKER, and nothing is captured outside a session.

Seeing him twice

What you see over your own game is the in-game overlay and the Broker Bar (toggle it with Ctrl + Shift + Alt + B); what your viewers see is the Browser source. With Game Capture or Window Capture those two stay apart. With Display Capture of the monitor the game is on, the in-game overlay is on that monitor, so it is in the capture, and if you also add the Browser source, viewers can get him twice: once as drawn on your screen, once as the overlay page. Decide which one they should see. The Browser source is the one built for them, with its presets and dialogue size: switch the game to Game Capture or Window Capture and let the Browser source carry him. If you must keep Display Capture, leave the Browser source out and let viewers see the in-game overlay as you see it. Do not ship both without looking at a recording first.

Games that refuse capture

Two different refusals exist, and this page gives no way around either. On the OBS side, the Knowledge Base says a very small number of games do not work with Game Capture, names a few that do not allow the hook, and recommends running those windowed or borderless with a Window Capture instead; some others, it says, need OBS run as administrator to capture, which is an OBS instruction for OBS, not advice from this page. On the app side, some anti-cheat protected games refuse capture, and some exclusive-fullscreen games limit the overlay; the app says so when it happens. No general compatibility promise is made for Founder Alpha, and the terms do not allow using the app to break a game’s anti-cheat protection. If a game refuses, it refuses.

Three ways to point a camera at the same room. Pick the one that shows the room and not the desk.

Set it up

Capture the game the way you already do, add the one Browser source from the OBS guide above it, put him where the HUD is not (placement guide), and record a short test before going live. Tell your audience the commentary is AI-generated; some platforms and countries require it.

Limits

• No bypass instructions: when a game refuses capture, in OBS or in the app, this page says so and stops. Some anti-cheat protected games refuse capture; the app says so when it happens, and no general compatibility promise is made for Founder Alpha.
• Whether OBS’s Game Capture includes the app’s in-game overlay is not documented by OBS or by the app; viewers should get the Browser source, and a short recording settles what your scene shows.
• OBS’s capture notes describe OBS Studio on Windows as its Knowledge Base documents it; other capture software is out of scope.
• Founder Alpha is early-access software; the commentary can be wrong, repeated or badly timed, and it is sold to customers in the United States only.