OBS can show a video title as text over your stream, but displaying text and keeping it up to date are separate jobs. Add a Text source that reads a file; then arrange for a media tool, plugin or integration to put the current title in that file.
For a playlist played through OBS’s VLC Video Source, Tuna is one possible route to current media information, subject to compatibility and testing. A Browser Source can also render a custom title card, but it still needs a way to receive the title. The important question is not only where the words appear, but what changes them when the playlist moves on.
What OBS can display from a text file
An OBS Text source is the display layer. In its properties, you can choose to read text from a file, and OBS renders that file’s contents in the scene. This is useful for a simple label such as “Now playing: Morning bhajans” because you can style and position the words without building a graphic in another application. The OBS sources guide describes the available source types and how to add them.
The Text source does not, by itself, identify which video is playing. If the file contains Morning bhajans, that is what it can display; when the playlist advances, something else must replace that text with the next title. Leaving a fixed file in place will leave a fixed title on screen, even if the video underneath changes.
That distinction matters in a 24/7 channel. A label that is accurate when you start the broadcast can become misleading after the first playlist transition. If the title is not updated, viewers may see the name of the previous video for hours. If a new item has no usable metadata, an updater may instead leave old text, show an unhelpful filename or produce a blank result. Test how the chosen method behaves in each case.
A text file is still a practical interface between the title updater and OBS. It keeps the on-screen presentation simple: one tool writes a short line, and the scene displays it. You can update the wording or formatting without changing the video source, but you need to know which application or integration owns the file and whether it continues to write after a restart.
If you are choosing how to play a playlist as well as how to label it, the guide to streaming mixed MP4 and MKV files with an FFmpeg playlist covers a different playback route. Do not assume that title handling for a VLC playlist carries over to an FFmpeg workflow; the source and metadata path may be different.
Add a Text source above the video
Open the OBS scene that contains the video you send to YouTube. In the Sources panel, add a Text source and give it a recognisable name, such as Current title. If the scene already has a title source, check whether it reads from a file before creating another one; duplicate labels can overlap and make troubleshooting harder.
The source order matters. Put the Text source above the video source in the Sources list so the title is rendered in front of the picture. If it sits underneath an opaque video, it may exist in the scene but remain invisible. Position it where important parts of the picture, captions or faces will not obscure it, and use a background or outline if the footage varies in brightness.
Make the title readable at the resolution viewers receive, not only on your desktop preview. Long filenames can run off the edge or compete with the subject of the video. Choose whether the on-screen label should show the full title, a shortened title, or a consistent prefix such as “Now playing”. If the text is meant to identify a devotional track, for example, a clean title is usually more useful than a path containing folders and a file extension.
OBS’s media sources documentation explains the VLC Video Source and other media-source behaviours. Keep the video source and the title source conceptually separate: one supplies the picture or playlist, while the other supplies the label. That makes it easier to test a title change without accidentally altering the broadcast video.
Enable text-from-file and choose the file
Select the Text source and open its properties. Enable the option to read text from a file, then browse to the file that is intended to contain the current title. The exact labels and available controls can vary with the text source and operating system, so check the properties shown in your installed OBS version rather than relying on a screenshot from another release.
Use a plain text file with a clear location and name, for example current-title.txt in a folder reserved for the stream. Avoid choosing a temporary file that gets deleted when an application closes or a path on removable storage that may not be available after a restart. The file must be readable by the account running OBS, and any updater must have permission to write to it.
Before adding automation, type a short test title into the file and confirm that OBS displays it. Then replace it with a longer title and check line breaks, clipping and font size. If you see stale content, confirm that OBS points to the same file your updater is changing. Having two similarly named files in different folders is a common source of confusion.
Keep the file’s contents limited to what you want viewers to see. Some title sources may render every character or line in the file; a log message or debug output can therefore appear on screen if the updater writes more than the title. Decide what should happen when the title is missing: a neutral label such as “Now playing” may be less confusing than leaving the previous title visible.
For a channel that publishes scheduled segments, titles may be only one part of the scene. The ad-break scheduling guide discusses planning changes in a continuous broadcast; keep those timings and the media-title updater independent unless you have verified that they work together.
Ways to update the title file
There are three broad approaches. You can edit the file by hand, use a media-aware plugin or application, or write a script or integration that obtains the current item and updates the file. The right route depends on whether your programme changes and how much maintenance you can reasonably support.
| Route | Useful when | What you need to check |
|---|---|---|
| Edit the file manually | The title stays the same for a long segment or changes at planned times | Remember to change it before the programme changes; stale text is otherwise likely |
| Media plugin or application | A supported playback source exposes current media information | Confirm compatibility and which metadata field it reads, then test transitions |
| Script or integration | You need to transform, shorten or otherwise control the title | Confirm it can identify the active item, write the right file and recover after a restart |
Manual editing is simple, but it is only current while someone remembers to maintain it. It may suit a single long ambience video or a broadcast where an operator is present. It is less suitable for a playlist that advances while nobody is watching the machine overnight.
A plugin or integration can reduce repetitive editing, but “automatic” does not mean it can infer a useful title from every video. It may read a metadata tag, a filename, or information from a particular media source. Those are not interchangeable. A file called track-07-final.mp4 may have no embedded title, while another file may carry a title that is outdated or formatted in a way you would not want on screen.
A script offers control over formatting, such as removing a file extension or adding a prefix, but it introduces another component to monitor. You need to know when it runs, what it treats as the active video, and how it handles missing data. For a continuously running setup, also check whether it starts after OBS and whether a restart leaves the correct title in the file.
If your playlist is assembled from files and the media player does not expose the title the way you expect, troubleshoot that playback path before trusting the overlay. A guide to looping prerecorded videos from Linux may help you think through a separate continuous-playback setup, but it does not remove the need to choose and test a title updater for your own source.
Use Tuna with a VLC playlist
If you play the playlist through OBS’s VLC Video Source, Tuna is a possible plugin route for displaying current media information. The OBS Project’s VLC Video Source documentation describes the source, and the Tuna resource listing describes its media-information purpose. These references make Tuna worth evaluating; they do not establish that a particular installed version will work with every OBS release, operating system or playlist.
OBS’s documentation notes that VLC must be installed for its VLC Video Source to appear. Check the current OBS guidance and the Tuna listing before setting up the scene. Verify that your installed versions and operating system are supported, and follow the plugin’s own setup instructions. Do not treat the presence of a plugin download as proof that it is configured or compatible on your machine.
Once configured, test whether Tuna receives information from the exact VLC Video Source that plays your playlist. Check which field appears: it may be a title tag or another piece of media information, not necessarily the polished title you expected. If the output includes a filename or unwanted characters, determine whether the plugin settings can present the field you need, or whether a separate formatting step is required.
Test several representative files, including one with complete metadata and one with little or none. Watch what happens when playback changes and when OBS is restarted. If a transition does not produce a new title, find out whether the media source changed, whether the plugin saw the change, and whether the displayed field was available. Until those checks pass, do not rely on the overlay as a dependable programme guide.
If you use a player outside OBS, or a source other than VLC Video Source, do not assume Tuna will receive its metadata. The title updater needs access to the source that knows what is playing. For another playlist method, including one built around FFmpeg, identify an integration that actually observes that playback rather than configuring a plugin for a different source.
Consider a Browser Source alternative
A Browser Source can render a web page or local page in an OBS scene. That makes it useful when you want a designed title card with more than plain text, such as a background panel, a logo or a layout that can fit longer titles. The OBS Project’s Browser Source guide explains how to add a page and set its dimensions.
The Browser Source is a renderer, not a universal detector of whatever video is playing in OBS. The page needs a way to obtain the current title and refresh it. That might be a companion integration, a page that reads a file through an appropriate local arrangement, or another data source that your setup supports. Decide how the page receives updates before spending time on visual design.
A local page can reduce reliance on an external web address, but it still has to receive the right data and load correctly in the OBS environment. A hosted page has its own dependency on the page being reachable and returning the expected content. In either case, verify that title changes appear in the broadcast and that a failed or missing update does not leave a misleading old title on screen.
Use Browser Source when custom presentation justifies the extra moving parts. For a single line of text, the Text source is usually simpler to inspect. Whichever you choose, keep the source that displays the title separate from the mechanism that updates it; that makes faults easier to trace.
Test title changes with the actual playlist
A title overlay is only useful if it follows the material viewers are seeing. Test the full chain with the same playlist, source type and OBS scene you intend to use on air. A preview with one hand-selected file proves that the text can render; it does not prove that the title changes on a playlist transition.
Start with a file whose title is easy to recognise, then move to another item with a clearly different title. Confirm that the display changes at the appropriate point and does not briefly show the wrong item in a way that matters to viewers. Repeat with a file whose metadata is incomplete. Decide whether the right behaviour is to show a cleaned filename, clear the title or display a neutral message, then configure the updater accordingly if it supports that choice.
Next, restart OBS and check the first title after the scene returns. The updater may start later than OBS, the file may retain yesterday’s title, or a plugin may need time or a source change before it has data. Check what a viewer would see in the actual stream output, not only what appears in the editor preview. For a continuous channel, verify the result after the real broadcast begins and avoid assuming a local preview covers every connection in the chain.
Keep a short fault checklist near the scene: confirm the selected text file, confirm that its contents changed, confirm the text source is above the video, and confirm that the updater sees the active media source. These checks separate a display problem from an update problem. If the source cannot provide a title, adjusting font size will not fix it.
A separate always-on playback setup also has its own failure modes. If your concern is keeping the broadcast running when a local computer or connection is not available, read the overview of cloud services for always-on YouTube livestreams and assess which workflow fits your operation. Moving playback does not automatically solve title detection; confirm that the selected title source and updater remain available in that environment.
For teams that want to avoid leaving a local computer responsible for a file-based broadcast, StreamNeo can remove that specific always-on computer burden by turning an uploaded video into a 24/7 YouTube stream. It does not change the requirement to decide what viewers should see as the current title, so settle the title workflow separately before choosing a playback arrangement.
Before committing, compare the operating options on the pricing page. When the file and channel are ready, start free — 24-hour trial, no card.
FAQ
Does OBS automatically show the title of the current video?
No. An OBS Text source can display text from a file, but another tool or integration has to put the changing title there. If nothing updates the file, the words stay as they were.
Will every video provide a usable title?
No. Some files have useful metadata, while others may have no title field or may expose only a filename. Test representative items in your own playlist and decide how to handle missing or unsuitable information.
Can I use Tuna with any OBS playlist?
Tuna is a possible route when the playlist is played through OBS’s VLC Video Source, but you need to check compatibility and configure it for your installed software. Test the field it reads and confirm that titles change at transitions; do not assume it works with unrelated media sources.
Is a Browser Source easier than a Text source?
It can be a better fit for a designed title card, but it adds the need for a page or integration to receive and refresh the title. For a simple label, a Text source reading a file is usually the more direct display layer, provided something maintains that file.