Capture sources and regions
Capture mode determines which sources and region controls Beam can expose before a recording starts.
Capture settings
| Setting | Values | Default | Behavior and constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Screen or Window | Screen | Screen records a display; Window records one application window. |
| Screen source | Available displays | Default display, then first available | Selected in the HUD outside Linux portal capture. |
| Window source | Available application windows | Default or portal source, then first available | Window previews refresh every 5 seconds while Beam is not recording. |
| Recording region | Normalized x, y, width, and height | No region | Screen mode only. Stored in extras.screenRegion. |
| Region preset | 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1366×768, 1440×990, 1920×1080 | None | Stored in extras.screenRegionPreset; a custom rectangle can be drawn instead. |
| Capture rate | 60 FPS | 60 FPS | Fixed in the Recorder configuration; it is not an exposed user setting. |
Select a custom region
- Choose Screen mode and select a display.
- Select Select an area of the screen. Beam temporarily hides the HUD and opens the always-on-top region overlay.
- Draw a rectangle or choose a preset size.
- Select Use this area to save the region, or Cancel to leave the existing choice unchanged.
- Use Edit the screen area to adjust a saved region.
Region edge cases
- Reset selects the full screen; it does not delete a file or recording.
- A region that is effectively the complete screen is normalized back to no crop.
- Region controls are disabled in Window mode, while recording, while Beam is busy, or when display bounds are unavailable.
- Linux portal capture does not expose Beam's region overlay.
Linux source selection
On Linux, the desktop portal displays its own picker when capture starts. The HUD does not provide the Electron source selector, and only one portal source is selected for the session.
Full-screen visibility
Beam cannot hide its own windows from a Linux full-screen capture. Region capture is also unavailable, so arrange or minimize Beam before confirming the portal source.