Browser sources are the magic that lets StreamTranslate add live captions and translations to your stream without complicated software installations. Here's everything you need to know.
Add Captions in 60 SecondsA browser source is an OBS scene element that renders a web page using an embedded Chromium browser engine directly inside your stream. Think of it as adding a transparent web app layer on top of your gameplay, camera, or other content. Browser sources can render HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and web APIs — which means anything that runs in a browser can be added to your stream.
Browser sources are how most modern streaming overlays work: alert boxes for new followers and donations, chat widgets, now-playing music displays, goal trackers, and — crucially for StreamTranslate — real-time live captions and translations. Because the browser source renders locally and outputs to OBS as a video layer, there's minimal impact on stream quality and no additional encoding overhead.
To add a browser source in OBS, right-click your scene's source list, select Add → Browser Source, paste a URL, and set the width and height. The browser source will render that URL in real time as part of your stream. Transparent backgrounds are supported, so overlays appear cleanly on top of your existing content without white boxes or visible borders.
StreamTranslate provides a unique browser source URL for each user. When you add this URL as a browser source in OBS, it does several things: it captures your designated audio source (microphone), streams that audio to Deepgram Nova-2 for real-time ASR transcription, optionally passes the transcript through StreamTranslate's NMT translation layer for 125+ languages, and renders the resulting text as a styled caption overlay.
The entire setup takes under 60 seconds: create a StreamTranslate account, copy your browser source URL, add it to OBS as a browser source at 1920x1080, and drag it to the top of your source stack. Captions appear immediately, styled with your chosen font, color, and position settings from your StreamTranslate dashboard.
Because browser sources run in Chromium, StreamTranslate can use Web Audio APIs to capture audio with low latency, use WebSockets for real-time communication with transcription servers, and update the caption display using smooth JavaScript animations. The result is captions that feel native to your stream rather than bolted on.
Add your StreamTranslate browser source URL to OBS in under 60 seconds. No plugins, no software installs, no complicated routing required.
Browser sources work in OBS Studio, Streamlabs, XSplit, Twitch Studio, Meld Studio, and any other streaming software that supports browser sources.
StreamTranslate's caption overlay has a transparent background, so captions appear cleanly over your game, camera, and other stream elements.
A browser source in OBS renders a web page inside your stream using Chromium. It lets you add overlays, widgets, and captions without separate software.
StreamTranslate provides a URL you paste as an OBS browser source. It captures your microphone, sends audio to Deepgram Nova-2, and displays live captions as a transparent overlay.
Browser sources use some CPU but StreamTranslate's overlay is lightweight. Most modern gaming PCs handle it with no measurable FPS impact.
Yes. The browser source URL works in OBS Studio, Streamlabs, XSplit, Twitch Studio, Meld Studio, and more.
Set it to 1920x1080 matching your canvas resolution and position it as a top-layer source so captions appear above your game and camera feeds.