Capture cards

The capture card records and transmits the image from a console, a second computer, or a camera to your computer, so you can stream it live or record it in high quality. Here you will find external capture devices with USB, internal PCIe cards for desktop computers, and digital decoders for television.

How to choose

• External or internal. External capture cards connect via USB and work with laptops and desktop computers. Some can record directly to a memory card without a computer. Internal PCIe cards are mounted in the desktop computer and usually provide the lowest latency.
• Resolution and frames. 1080p at 60 frames is sufficient for most streams. For recording in 4K or 1440p at high frame rates, choose a model that explicitly supports it.
• Pass-through. The HDMI output passes the image to the TV or monitor without delay while the card records. Check what resolution and frequency this pass-through supports.
• HDR. If you play with HDR on a console, the card must support HDR in pass-through; otherwise, the image will be washed out.
• Connection. USB 3.0 and newer ports, including USB-C, are needed for high resolution without compression.

What to watch out for

• The computer must be powerful enough to encode the stream in real-time – especially in 4K.
• Some consoles protect certain applications against recording – this is not an issue with the card.
• The audio from the console and your microphone are mixed in the streaming software – check the settings.
• Internal cards require a free PCIe slot that is not blocked by the video card.
• Use quality HDMI cables with the necessary bandwidth, especially for 4K and high frame rates.
• Digital decoders for terrestrial television are for TVs and monitors without a built-in receiver – they are not capture cards for streaming.

Connection

The console connects to the HDMI input of the capture card, and the HDMI output connects to the TV or monitor. The card plugs into the computer and is recognized by streaming and recording software as a video source. For a complete streaming station, add a web camera and microphone, and store the recordings on an external drive, as 4K video takes up a lot of space.