The problem with livestreaming using hardware encoders is that the quality is <i>utter garbage</i> compared to software encoders, which means that given the bitrate available to you it may in fact be so ugly to be unwatchable.<p>A typical home DSL connection does not have enough bitrate to produce a quality mid-to-high resolution stream using NVENC, and even if you have a good connection, Twitch caps out at 3500kbps. The gap between something like NVENC&#x2F;QuickSync and x264 is <i>enormous</i>.<p>At the very least, HEVC&#x27;s huge bitrate&#x2F;quality advantage over H264 will help it here, but when it comes to GPU encoders they will just be attempting to catch up with what you can get <i>right now</i> using x264.<p>Live streaming <i>quality</i> aside, though, you are right that the hardware will make it possible for people to do live streaming in scenarios where they previously would&#x27;ve been unable to, because you can combine a hardware HEVC encoder with a low bitrate connection and at least get something watchable.