How to show audience questions on screen in OBS (transparent overlay, no chroma key)
Richard Frantzen, founder of AskTide · Updated
If you want to show questions on screen in OBS, the cleanest way is a browser source that renders the question graphic on a transparent background. No green screen, no cropping, no screenshots of a chat window. This guide walks through the setup, the styling choices and the problems you will hit on show day.
Short answer: To show audience questions on screen in OBS, add a Browser source (Sources, +, Browser) pointing at a transparent 1920×1080 question output, set Width 1920 and Height 1080, keep the default Custom CSS, and place it above your cameras. A moderator picks which question goes on air, and the graphic updates live.
Why Present mode and chroma key workarounds are fragile
Most audience Q&A tools were built for a projector in a meeting room, not for a broadcast graphics layer. So OBS users improvise. A common workaround with Slido is to add its Present page as a browser source, crop it, and chroma key out the green background. A user describing that setup in the Slido community noted the green "doesn't match" their brand, and a Slido community manager replied that support "often receives questions about it" (checked November 2026).
The problems with that approach are practical. A chroma key eats anti-aliased text edges and anything close to the key colour. The crop breaks when the presenter page changes layout or the window size shifts. And you are showing a presentation screen, so you get its typography and its layout, not yours. Other DIY routes are even more manual: an OBS forum thread asks for exactly this, a way for a moderator to pick one comment and put it on screen, and the answers revolve around screenshots and chat overlays.
What you actually want is a page designed as a graphic: transparent everywhere except the question itself, sized to your canvas, and controlled from somewhere else. OBS's Browser source handles that natively, because its default Custom CSS already sets a transparent body background (OBS Browser Source docs).
What you need before you start
You need OBS Studio, a question tool with a transparent output URL, and a second person (or a second screen) to moderate. The examples below use AskTide, which is free during the beta and gives every session three browser-source outputs, all 1920×1080 with a transparent background.
| AskTide output | URL pattern | What it shows | Typical use in OBS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Display | /display/SESSION-ID | The question on air, polls, name tags, QR code | Overlay on every scene, top of the source list |
| Flow grid | /flow/SESSION-ID | A scrolling wall of questions from one column | Full-screen question scene or holding slide |
| Live text | /live-text/SESSION-ID | One full-screen text message typed live | Announcements, breaks, technical problems |
Your audience opens the audience page by link or QR code, needs no app and no account, and types a question (a name is optional). Questions land in New, and an operator moves them through Selected, On Air and Done. Only one question is on air at a time. AskTide has no audience upvoting by design: an editor decides what goes on screen. If you are comparing tools, see the best Q&A tools for live streaming.
Add the OBS browser source for Q&A, step by step
An empty Display output is fully transparent, so a correctly working source looks blank until something is on air. Always test with a real question before you decide something is broken.
- Copy the Display output URL. Create a session at asktide.com, open the manage view, click Share and copy the Display view link. It looks like https://www.asktide.com/display/SESSION-ID. Do not use the manage link or the audience link here: those are full pages with backgrounds.
- Add a Browser source. In OBS, select the scene, click + at the bottom of the Sources dock and choose Browser. Pick Create new, give it a clear name such as Q&A Display, and click OK.
- Set URL, Width and Height. Paste the URL into the URL field. Set Width to 1920 and Height to 1080. OBS defaults to 800×600, which would render the graphic small and in the wrong place.
- Leave Custom CSS alone. The default Custom CSS is body { background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); margin: 0px auto; overflow: hidden; }. That is what makes the page transparent. Do not add a background colour, and do not paste CSS that styles the question here; style it in AskTide instead so every output and every operator sees the same thing.
- Keep the source loaded. Leave Shutdown source when not visible unchecked for the Display output. A source that stays loaded keeps its live connection open and is ready the instant you cut to the scene. Click OK.
- Fit it to the canvas. If your base canvas is 1920×1080, the source fills it exactly. If your canvas is different, right-click the source and use Transform, Fit to screen, so positions in the AskTide editor match what you see in OBS.
- Test with a real question. Open the audience link on your phone, send a test question, move it to On Air in the manage view and watch it appear in OBS within a fraction of a second. Move it to Done and it disappears.
Layer order: where the question overlay goes
In OBS the top of the Sources list is drawn on top. Put the Display browser source above cameras, screen shares and lower-third packs, and below nothing except perhaps a bug or a logo you want to always be visible.
The tidy way to do this across many scenes is to make one scene called Graphics that contains only the Display source, then add that scene as a source (click + in the Sources dock and choose Scene) at the top of every show scene. One browser instance, one live connection, and you change it in one place. Browser sources with the same URL in several scenes work too, but each one is a separate browser to load and refresh.
Style the question graphic to fit your show
Styling happens in the AskTide editor, with a live preview, and every change reaches OBS without touching the browser source. The useful decisions are layout, position and size.
- Layout: card, lower third, ticker, minimal (text with a shadow and no box) or full screen. Lower third suits interviews, card suits a panel wide shot, full screen suits a dedicated Q&A segment.
- Position: nine screen positions in a 3×3 grid, plus width. Keep the graphic away from where your speakers' faces sit in the frame.
- Text: font size, corner radius, shadow on or off, background opacity, a label such as Question, and whether the submitter's name is shown.
- Motion: entrance animation fade, slide, scale or none. Fade is the safe default for formal shows.
- Brand: apply a theme (brand colours and font saved on your account or team) to restyle every graphic in the session at once, then adjust individual graphics. Custom CSS is available for advanced users.
The same Display output also carries name tags, polls and the QR code to the audience page. See free lower thirds and name tags in OBS and how to use a QR code for audience questions.
Give the moderator their own link
The person running OBS should not also be reading every incoming question. Hand that job to a moderator. In the Share menu, choose Copy link and password and send both to them. The moderator link (/moderate/SESSION-ID) is password protected and shows only the questions: no settings, no outputs, no other tabs. The moderator can edit a question for clarity, shortlist it to Selected, move it between columns and put it on air.
A simple division of labour works well: the moderator curates into Selected and fixes typos, the host or producer calls which one goes next, and whoever has the moderator view clicks On Air on cue. For a fuller workflow, read how to moderate a live Q&A.
Two scene setups that work
Full-screen question scene. Build a scene with your background (a looping video or brand still), add the Flow grid output as a browser source at 1920×1080 to show a calm, scrolling wall of the questions in one column, for example Selected, and put the Display output on top. While the host reads, the wall shows what is coming; when a question goes on air in full-screen or card layout, it sits above the wall. The flow grid can use a transparent or solid background and is built to be light on the machine, because it renders each question once.
Lower third during an interview. Keep your normal two-shot or single-camera scenes and nest the Graphics scene on top. Set the question layout to lower third at bottom centre, and put speaker name tags in a corner that does not collide with it. The host reads the question, the guest answers on camera, and the operator moves it to Done when the answer starts so it does not linger.
Troubleshooting a question overlay in OBS
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Source is blank | Nothing is on air, or the wrong URL | Put a test question On Air. Check the URL is the Display output, not the manage or audience page, and that the session ID is right. |
| Old styling or stale content | Cached page | Open the source properties and click Refresh cache of current page. |
| Black or coloured box behind the graphic | Custom CSS was changed | Restore the default Custom CSS with a transparent body background. |
| Graphic is small or off-centre | Width and Height left at 800×600, or canvas mismatch | Set 1920×1080, then Transform, Fit to screen. |
| Text too small on stream | Font size set for a big monitor | Raise the font size in the AskTide editor rather than scaling the source above 100%, which softens text. |
| Audio meter for the source | Every browser source can carry audio | The question outputs are graphics, so there is nothing to mix. Mute the source in the Audio Mixer to keep it out of the way. |
If a browser source behaves oddly after a long rehearsal, the quickest recovery is Refresh cache of current page during a moment when the graphic is off air. It reloads in about a second and reconnects on its own.
Can you do this with Slido in OBS without a green screen?
Not natively, as far as Slido's own channels describe. Slido's documentation doesn't describe a transparent broadcast output, and in September 2025 Slido Customer Care said there is "no direct vMix integration" (Slido community, checked November 2026). Slido is strong for meetings and audience upvoting. If your show needs a clean transparent overlay, use a tool that outputs one. We compare options in Slido alternatives for live streaming, and the vMix version of this guide is vMix Q&A with the Web Browser input.
Frequently asked questions
How do I show viewer questions on screen in OBS?
Add a Browser source with a transparent question output URL at 1920×1080 and place it at the top of your sources. A moderator then puts one question on air at a time from a separate web view, and OBS shows it live.
Do I need a chroma key to show Q&A in OBS?
No. If the question page has a transparent background, OBS's Browser source shows it with real transparency, because its default Custom CSS sets the body background to rgba(0, 0, 0, 0). Chroma key is only needed when a tool outputs a solid colour background.
What size should the OBS browser source be?
Use Width 1920 and Height 1080 to match a 1080p canvas and the AskTide outputs. If your canvas is a different size, use Transform, Fit to screen.
Why is my OBS browser source blank?
Usually because nothing is on air: a transparent output with no question looks empty. Put a test question on air, check that you used the Display URL rather than the manage page, and click Refresh cache of current page if it still shows nothing.
Can a remote moderator choose the questions?
Yes. In AskTide you share a password-protected moderator link that shows only the questions, so the moderator can edit, shortlist and put questions on air from anywhere while OBS runs elsewhere.
Can the audience upvote questions in AskTide?
No. AskTide deliberately has no audience upvoting; an editor or producer picks what goes on air. If you need upvoting, tools such as Slido and Mentimeter offer it.
Is it free to show questions on screen in OBS with AskTide?
Yes. AskTide is free during the beta with unlimited sessions and all features, no credit card. OBS Studio is free and open source.