For those who have no idea what a capture card is, it tell you that it is a device with a built-in software that enables you to ‘capture’ what is happening on one of your screens (PC or console), and stream it on another. This functionality is mostly used to stream live gaming, so this device is widely popular in the gaming fraternity. While there is software that captures and stream videos from your PC or console for free, but the difference is apparent in terms of video and audio quality.
Capture cards can be both external as well as internal, with their connection port to the PC or console being defined accordingly. Apart from this, there are many other factors that play an important role in defining a capture card’s worth to you. These include the video and audio quality that it displays and integrity of the software which will define its longevity. Based on these factors, here are four of the best capture cards we found.
1 – AVerMedia Live Gamer Extreme External Game Recorder
The strongest competitor to the Elgato, the AVerMedia offers the same specifications of 1080p resolution with 60fps framerate as well as the low latency. It bears the same external and internal ports as the Elgato, but loses out in terms of software. However, there is a free subscription to the XSplit Premium on offer, which softens the blow a bit as it is the best software currently on the market.
2 – StarTech High-definition PCIe Capture Card
One for the experts, the StarTech capture card is a complicated device that is best left for the experts to use. It surpasses even the Elgato in terms of less delay and shows absolutely no discernible lag. It has to be inserted into the computer on the inside, and requires a pretty powerful PC to work in a proper fashion.
3 – Roxio Game Capture
It is mostly known for the video game recording, and the Roxio also records and streams in 1080p resolution from a number of gaming platforms like the Xbox and PlayStation. Unlike the other capture cards, this one only comes with a USB cable and not the other wires required for the process. I hope these capture card reviews will help you greatly.
A video capture device has number of jobs to do. It is a specialized device that is used to transmit the audio and video signals that are being received from any video supporting device. These devices that support the capture card include VCR, camcorder, PC or even the gaming consoles. Thesecapture cards can easily store the videos for future alterations. Keeping in view the multiple uses and functions of the capture card it is important to get the best available option in the market. In order to do so the following things must be considered that can help in finding the best capture card for your usage:
Requirements
Before finding the card it is important to understand for hat the card is being required. The usage determines the kind of the card required. If the user is clear about the function of the card, then it becomes easy to make the final choice. The usage determines the basic features and then with the help of these features the user can sort out the best available choice. The buyer has to make sure that the devices he is investing in has the feature of both saving and then playing back.
Knowledge
Software knowledge is essential to make the choice. If you are looking for a device that can facilitate your editing tasks then being a buyer make sure that the capture card is installed with a software that can easily edit the video and in the next step burn them to the DVDs. The task of looking for the simple video saving, editing and the burning videos is much simpler and does not need any specific or high quality software.
Kind of Input
Once you are out buy the capture card be sure about the kind of input that is required. Generally, the recent digital camcorders have HDMI out. If the source of the video is the digital camera, then you must get a card that that is fitted with HDMI in. an RCA A/V device is recommended if you are working with either a VCR or the traditional camcorder. These are the basic output and input sources that are available in the market. As the technology keeps changing and so does the devices, therefore it is important to make sure that the input out sources of the card and the device match with each other.