Another thing worth mentioning : The cheap "cards" work out of the box on any OS (Linux, Mac and Windows) since they don't require any driver and specific software. They are recognized as a webcam which is very convenient. The Elgato devices need drivers and software to run (my HD60 requires some, maybe the newer products don't) and only on Windows. In addition, most of the expensive capture devices refuse to capture HDCP "protected" video streams while the $7 doesn't care at all and captures everything out of the box without having to use a HDMI splitter and whatsoever.
Add on top of that, when Elgato decides to not support anymore older devices, they stop updating their drivers to newer Windows then your card is now useless.
The actual term for what you are trying to say here is "UVC". USB Video device Class. This is supported in Android and iPadOS17 as well. Btw, OBS has a buffering option for these devices. That is where your lag comes from. You entirely skipped over the input format these devices use, which is a huuuuuuge deal. Do a bit more research next time.
@@RodrigoBadin yeah thats not how it works. just because theres no drivers doesn't mean your product is bricked. How do you think people still use 10-15 year old gpus even for gaming?
So, back in 2010 I had an old capture card I got for consoles that cost $120 USD. It ended up dying in about 2 years. Then in about 2015 I got an Elgato as a replacement for around $180 USD. It died in less than a year. After that I decided that I won't buy anymore expensive equipment. Got back into streaming about 2 years ago and bought a random capture card off Amazon for $20ish USD total. The quality is only 720p 30fps but it's still looks decent enough and it still works right now. Cheap capture cards like the one I bought and these in this video just reaffirm my feeling that you really don't need to have the best of the best equipment to have quality game streaming. Don't get sucked into the money pits folks. If you can't afford higher end equipment, going with something else isn't the end of the world.
Thank you so much! U answered all of my questions about the subject in about 10 mins, that's impressive! Your demonstration was very quick and on point which I liked alot This video deserves more love
Yeah, I feel like there has to be more to the story here. I'd have liked to see some stress testing happen before he made such a powerful endorsement of the cheaper cards. I'd also have liked him to ensure no crappy spyware is being injected on your computer from the cheap cards, which tons of Wish items are known to carry. (Also, it could be b/c I'm sitting here bitter with my overpriced El Gato card, haha).
These heat a lot. But i just opened the black case and placed a coin over the processor of the capture card. Boom 8 months no issues so far. But my coin would heat up like an oven. I use it almost like 6hr
My main issue is not so much with the capture cards on their own, but when used with a splitter. It's really really hard to find a splitter which doesn't change the footage at all. Colors, details, something. Anyway, great video.
9:00 I bought this card. It's worth buying. Originally I used a Elgato HD. This device is an upgrade from that. It has zero lag period. I tested Marvel vs Capcom 3. I didn't miss any combos playing right off the OBS display. Paid $18.00 for it on eBay. A constant 1080p 60fps off my main gaming rig. Also tested this on my Intel Celeron laptop. I had to keep resolution on 432p 16.9 screen for constant 60fps. 480p works too but that resolution is old school 4.3 / 480p and 432p isn't HD but it's pretty close enough and good enough for UA-cam. If you watch UA-cam on a phone, the default resolution is 360p so what I'm saying is truth. Basically what I'm saying is, your PC plays a big part for the resolution size and fps. My laptop couldn't handle 720p 60fps but it excepted 432p for 60fps. Main gaming rig, 1080p 60fps was easy to handle. This is true elgato card killer.
hi and sorry for the question! I was wondering if this card also has an audio lag like the first black card in the video? I don't play games with high fps rates but i wouldn't want my audio to lag during streaming and have been looking for a cheap capture card since i've only just started and don't want to invest too much early on D: thanks in advance!
@@sarerusoldone There's no lag with audio. You won't hear anything while recording. After video is recording you will hear everything in sync with video.
@@sarerusoldone Here's a demo of me using one PC recorded with another PC. You will see there's no lag with the audio ua-cam.com/video/VlFif833qmw/v-deo.html
I've bought a few of the $7 capture cards and they're amazing for the price. Especially for non gaming recording (like zoom meetings and IRL/vlogs). I've upgraded to an Aver Media capture card and it's the best. It has passthrough HDMI but even the preview on OBS is close to instant.
The one issue that I found with cheap capture cards is the audio. It sometimes goes out of sync for no reason. You would need to adjust the sound to the video. Quite frustrating.
You don't need to do that if you change a couple settings in your OBS and Windows' sound settings. I would have written down the whole process but, it may sound quite complicated(it isn't, though, VERY simple), but, do let me know if you want to know the solution.✌🏼
Damn! You were so close to actually showing me what I was looking for. You hooked up the cheap one and did the hand clap test to show the latency, then for some reason, you didnt do the same for the elgato
7:35 --> this is a pretty easy fix since the capture card is detected as a display by your pc. have a cable go from your monitor pc and one going to the capture card then in display settings set it to duplicate this display. That way you can play full refresh rate on your monitor and the capture card will get the same signal just at whatever framerate you have selected.
Ive been using the cheapest capture card in this video for over a year to capture console footage for discord. It works flawlessly with a little bit of delay and since discord already has low bitrate streaming for non-nitro users it is perfect
What’s interesting is that I’m watching this video on my phone and the quality was very similar (except for that one laggy one). If you didn’t have labeled which one is which, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference between the cheaper capture cards. Perhaps watching this on a pc monitor might have been more obvious.
You will notice it, even on mobile phones specially because of the framerate. I think the hd60s or hd60s+ is worth the price. However ezcap 321p recently reviewed by eposvox seems promising.
don't be fooled by that, because $7 dollars wouldn't let you be able to capture any footage whether it has hdcp or not. And even with most brands, you can go into the console settings and turn it off. you just can't do it on the PS3, because Sony made that part permanent. But on the PS4 you have the option to turn it off.
I've got one of these cheap capture cards. Yes it's bad but I use it for debugging old pcs, raspberry pis etc where quality doesn't matter a lot. I don't always have a spare screen lying around so this is perfect
Thank you so much for the video, it will definitely help me to make a decision now. I was looking for a guide like this. I think I’ll be also buying as per your recommendation. The Elgato 60 seems over priced. A $13 capture card with HDMI splitter will do me.
I got the 12 dollar one (from China) that it just a cable with Hdmi/USB adapter on it and until now I never complained. Make the same work as an Elgato. Of course the input lag must be slightly more pronounced but so far by streaming switch games, I never had an issue. So definitely a big yes for me for this kind of solution.
I have very similar capture card to your 7$ one. It looks exactly the same and package the same BUT mine has blue usb 3.0 and supports 1080p60 and it’s actually 60fps but now I understand why I was a little worse at game while testing it, because of a delay. Great video btw
7:57 - One thing to note about that kind of HDMI splitter: that's a Passive splitter, and doesn't always work once a combination of factors (different capture card vs monitor resolution, HDCP) come into play. I tried one with my PS3, and I couldn't get it to work. I suggest getting an Active / Powered (requires external power, usually via USB) splitter instead - that one, I did get to work with my PS3. Of course, if you can get a capture card with loop-out in the 1st place (like the one in 8:59), then that's better. P.S. Thanks for the LUT, definitely made my footage less yellow! ^^ (I'm using one of those $7 cards, although oddly mine supports 1080p60. I do have a 2nd $7 card, and that one is limited to 1080p30. Weird)
@@muwahua039 I'm using 2 pieces of the $7 capture card. I bought unit #1 back in 2020, and it supports 1080p60. I bought unit #2 in 2021, but that one only has 1080p30. The video quality and lag are the same as the one reviewed for this video.
@@muwahua039 there's no brand name / product name, it's just a generic capture card and it looks exactly like that on the video (the $7 one, at 0:10). I'm from South East Asia, so I got mine from Shopee. I just picked the one with the best review. From what I've read online (just rumors though), the newer ones only support 1080p30 because they started using cheaper heatsinks. This is probably (again, just rumors!) the reason why my 2020 unit has 1080p60, but my 2021 unit has 1080p30. Unless you get lucky and get a really old stock, don't expect 1080p60 anymore.
I use an Elgato to transfer VHS tapes. First an AV to HDMI converter. Next the Elgato into a laptop. Play the signal with VLC, record with Bandicam. Crunch the file with Handbrake.
The cheap one (like $13) has literally never gave me issues and ive used it for over a year consistently where as my Cam link Stopped working after using it less than 20 times. Id recommend people just buy a few of them
about the HDMI splitter: if your HDMI output device doesn't provide adequate power out of its hdmi port, then one monitor is definetly gonna have big issues displaying the image.
7:49 OK. One hdmi goes from the pc to the monitor for gameplay. But the other one you show, is going straight back into the pc, via usb. How is obs being displayed, is there a third connection, a display port?..
i bought a $15 capture card AND an elgato hd60s. The elgato consistently stuttered and was finnicky, even though i had the right cables, drivers, and a very good pc.. the 15 dollar one worked amazingly!!!! i still use it currently
I got one of the $7 wish cards off eBay and next I need a video splitter, so I can see my game without any lag on the TV while having it in OBS. I found one for about $3 so basically you get a $10 Console gaming stream setup, (excluding the price of the actual console)
I bought Elgato S60+ because it's reliable for long time uses as can record 1080p/60 with sound in sync. It also have own settings for Wii U, Switch, PS4, Xbox One etc.
Can i use a captureCard to make the screen from my gaming pc apear on my second pc, and then live stream from my second pc to avoid any performance drops on my gaming pc while streaming ?
Those cheap USB 3.0 cards are quite impressive for the price... specially because of being an UVC compliant card they don't require specialized drivers... I have a ASUS CU4K30, about 150~160€, HDMI passthru, runs on Linux with no issues, captures at 4K up to 30 fps, 2K up to 60 fps, and Full HD up to 120 fps, the passthru is 4K up to 60 Hz, 2K up to 144 Hz, and Full HD up to 240 Hz, not exactly cheap, but with HDMI 2.0, VRR and HDR support and USB-C 3.2 Gen 1x1 it is hard to complain (although HDCP protected signals might be a problem for some)...
I had a elgato camlink but it kept overheating and cutting out. I just got a magewell pci capture card and haven't had a problem. The PCI card probably gets as hot but it is inside my ventilated case and also has it's own fan. Also, if you want to capture multiple HDMI sources, say a game and a camera, then it is cheaper to buy a PCI card with multiple HDMI captures ports, well, cheaper than elgato camlink. On top of that you won't be saturating your USB bus. In the end if you don't want heat to be an issue and want to spend the 'normal' amount for video capture I would spend a few pennies more and buy a PCI card. If you want to capture more than one HDMI source I would save money and get one card and not multiple elgato camlinks.
I'll be honest, the USB HDMI video capture that only cost $7 (I got mine for 5€) was not only the one that was the cheapest but also the one which worked best for me and had the least problems. If you don't mind the picture is 1080p, 30 fps and that the sound can sometimes have a delay and is in mono, this video capture is not bad. Its better than the ones which need extra programs and I got some of them which didn't even work with todays Windows PCs (What a waste of money that was). But who knew that the cheapest video capture works pretty good.
Why do you assert it's a copy of Elgato's product? It seems like a logical form factor for such a device, and beyond that both offer HDMI capture over USB. That's not something unique to Elgato either.
In my country, Panama, that capturer is the simplest of 4k, the first one that is shown with a price of 7.00 usd, in Panama they sell it at a price of 25.00 usd
Excellent comparison mate, I'm glad I watched your video. I want to start streaming just for fun and I'm not interested in spending so much money on one Elgato device so I think I will go with you recommendation (your favourite option ($13 USB capture + hdmi splitter). Thank you very much!!
Hi I was trying to download the LUTS for the 7$ card and it said that the file does not exist, the capture card is great however the whites do in fact appear yellowish from time to time and this would make the footage much better.
Love all your stuff !! As I struggle with OBS, I wonder if you have reviewed version 28. yet? Still no game audio on test streams.. Good vid BTW - informative, Thankx.....
I've got a few different capture cards now; I got the internal 4k elgato for cheap on ebay; it's great, my *only* issue is that sometimes you have to tweak settings for an image to even appear and I wish there were a way that it would passthrough video to the HDMI out with the PC off / on standby. My Elgato HD60 doesn't work very well - you have to use a USB3 hub as it doesn't like the chipsets on my motherboard (works fine with my Mac) I have 2x £15 capture cards that do 1080p60 with surprisingly low latency for connecting gopro cameras. Pretty good, would recommend even for game capture from consoles. Surprisingly so many of the little budget cards are garbage so it's nice to find one that is actually decent.
what is the 15 pound capture card that actually does 1080p60? you got a link/name for those? I'm tryna find a capture card so I can livestream my Nintendo Switch
I use the one the pops up first when you search up capture cards on Amazon. I’m new to streaming, so it does the job. I haven’t had a problem with it yet, and I’m hoping I don’t because I don’t want too spend a lot of money on capture cards.
Thank you for this video. This one is the best out of other 10 videos i've watched recently. You've saved me lots of headhache and upset. Like & Subs. fellas.
Im still trying to find a 1080p\60fps capture card that wont cost me a kidney like Elgato ones. I bought 4 different cards from 10 to 35 dollars, ALL OF THEM said "1080\60 output" and ALL of them were lie.
i use that exact 7 bucks capture card with a cheap hdmi splitter aswel and honestly it's not that bad, I've had no problem with the capture card but i needed to replace my hdmi splitter once. So i would recommend looking better into hdmi splitters but the capture card is nice and doesn't have problems
One thing that's driving me crazy is the mic audio. How does the streaming pc pick up your mic? Do you have to connect it directly to the stream pc or does it just pick it up solely through the HDMI cable? Hopefully someone can answer as this has been the only reason ive been putting off buying a capture card 😅
It should automatically capture your mic. OBS will let you know if its on or not. Bonus information unrelated to what you ask for. You can buy any of these cards and still have a 4k 60fps video. The trick is, you have to figure out what your PC can handle when recording. Can it handle 720p 60? Can it handle 720p 30? Can it handle 1080p 30? When you figure out which resolution works best for you. Take the footage and use a program called Handbreak to upscale your footage to the real resolution you really want. Denoise option in handbreak is very important when you sharpen your footage for the upscale. Denoise will remove all blur on low resolutions like 640x360p.
I bought the second one on Amazon a year or so ago and it works fine. Use it all the time but Im not using for streaming etc. The only complaint I have is the metal sheath comes loose and moves around. The only thing weird here is he was able to split the hdmi without using a booster, I was never able to do that, had to use a power boosted splitter. Im confused.
I have the 4K cap card with HDMI output that does 4K passthrough and 1080 60 and it was only 32 $ @ Amazon I use 2 because they run hot after hrs of recording I use them to record practically everything I watch that's worth rewatching 🤷🏻♂️
The biggest issue on the cheaper ones is that the Audio Desyncs after using them a good bit and becomes unfixable without constant monitoring. Some can last an hour before it starts a problem and some start within 10 minutes. Settings changes only last so long before you have to redo them. I've used 4 different ones from 4 different companies, and they all ended the same way after about 80-100 hours of use. If you buy 10 cheapies totaling $150ish, that will last you for 800 or so hours, that's not too bad if you're only a moderate streamer. No idea how long the Elgatos last. Haven't got one yet. The cheaper ones def worth getting if you only stream a few hours a week or month. $10 - $15 might last you for 5 or 6 months, maybe longer.
Interesting. I own one of the $7 ones, have had it for almost 2 years now and have filmed probably that much footage in that time and I've never had audio sync problems. I guess YMMV.
The splitter won't always work if you buy one of the cheap ones. Since they're not powered they don't have any gain and you end up slicing the signal in half instead of doubling it. When I tried it I got no signal on at least one of my displays. Powered splitters are better but they're so expensive that you'll spend the same money just buying a used elgato hd60 d
I bought a similar one to the 7 dollar one. I didn’t realize that it doesn’t do stereo. You just get mono in both channels. Which one of these have good stereo audio. I stream from ps4 and wanted to be able to to hear twitch notifications through my headset instead of coming out of my computer. But can’t because of the mono audio Makes it hard to hear enemies around me correctly. I can just use the aux on my monitor to hear stereo, but the problem is my viewers can only hear everything in mono. So I guess I got lucky cause they probably don’t care that much about it, but I do 😂 also my card can’t handle 1080p30. And can’t handle 60fps at all. I use 720p30
These cheap capture cards have a settings menu for the picture quality where you can adjust color etc that you didn't even find... They used to have almost no delay and a heatsink but early on they already upgraded them to 60fps 1080p, removed the heatsink which made some versions overheat so they added the delay. Some other UA-camr did a lot of videos on them, they all got introduced on the market when the home office pandemic started
i have an elgato hd60. when recording some emulator gameplay from another PC there´s a two seconds delay on elgato software. i bought the $7 and its almost free of lag on OBS
I still have a Aver Media Box capture card from back in the day. Hate that thing to its core, never worked and footage always seemed choppy. Looking back at it, it was probably just the Ps3 I was running it through lmao. Nonetheless it was a lackluster product. Interesting to see how cheap the tech has gotten!
Where's the color grade in the description he was talking about? I just bought a similar capture card and it definitely has a lot of yellow/saturation to it.
I have a Elgato HD60 S and I am very happy. Pretty good deal you also have 2 HDMI and in the programm "Game Capture" you have clearly no delay. For me it is not so importent because i only use the programm Game Capture for the sound and recording and a little bit delay is not the problem but I recommend the HD60, HD60 S or HD60 S+.
I've duplicated your setup with the HDMI splitter and the small USB capture device. I was getting audio the first few days, then I had to unplug and plug back in both HDMI cables to get audio capture, now I can't get audio capture at all. This may be related to a windows update, but do you have any ideas? I have the privacy permissions turned on for apps to use camera and microphone.
Finally unplugged and replugged the USB device and Audio came back...I was enabling and disabling it in device manager, restarted pc, and changed drivers and it wasn't working....
Another thing worth mentioning : The cheap "cards" work out of the box on any OS (Linux, Mac and Windows) since they don't require any driver and specific software. They are recognized as a webcam which is very convenient. The Elgato devices need drivers and software to run (my HD60 requires some, maybe the newer products don't) and only on Windows.
In addition, most of the expensive capture devices refuse to capture HDCP "protected" video streams while the $7 doesn't care at all and captures everything out of the box without having to use a HDMI splitter and whatsoever.
Add on top of that, when Elgato decides to not support anymore older devices, they stop updating their drivers to newer Windows then your card is now useless.
The actual term for what you are trying to say here is "UVC". USB Video device Class. This is supported in Android and iPadOS17 as well.
Btw, OBS has a buffering option for these devices. That is where your lag comes from.
You entirely skipped over the input format these devices use, which is a huuuuuuge deal.
Do a bit more research next time.
no they don't, they suck. they can't do anything.
@@RodrigoBadin yeah thats not how it works. just because theres no drivers doesn't mean your product is bricked. How do you think people still use 10-15 year old gpus even for gaming?
So really pick which capture card on what you are trying to stream or record.
So, back in 2010 I had an old capture card I got for consoles that cost $120 USD. It ended up dying in about 2 years. Then in about 2015 I got an Elgato as a replacement for around $180 USD. It died in less than a year. After that I decided that I won't buy anymore expensive equipment. Got back into streaming about 2 years ago and bought a random capture card off Amazon for $20ish USD total. The quality is only 720p 30fps but it's still looks decent enough and it still works right now. Cheap capture cards like the one I bought and these in this video just reaffirm my feeling that you really don't need to have the best of the best equipment to have quality game streaming. Don't get sucked into the money pits folks. If you can't afford higher end equipment, going with something else isn't the end of the world.
Thank you so much! U answered all of my questions about the subject in about 10 mins, that's impressive!
Your demonstration was very quick and on point which I liked alot
This video deserves more love
Glad it helped!
Overheating seems to be a common complaint about cheap capture cards. Did you notice if that was an issue?
Yeah, I feel like there has to be more to the story here. I'd have liked to see some stress testing happen before he made such a powerful endorsement of the cheaper cards. I'd also have liked him to ensure no crappy spyware is being injected on your computer from the cheap cards, which tons of Wish items are known to carry. (Also, it could be b/c I'm sitting here bitter with my overpriced El Gato card, haha).
These heat a lot. But i just opened the black case and placed a coin over the processor of the capture card. Boom 8 months no issues so far. But my coin would heat up like an oven. I use it almost like 6hr
@@BaneCodes lmao that's smart
I use one with an SSD heatsink; mine's the cheapest one in this vid; it has been working since 2019 and hasn't given me any issues.
10$ 7 inch desk fan will cool an external capture card nicely, thermal pad aswell would help
My main issue is not so much with the capture cards on their own, but when used with a splitter. It's really really hard to find a splitter which doesn't change the footage at all. Colors, details, something.
Anyway, great video.
That's what the "configure video" setting is for on OBS. I used to add filters but now I only change settings under that "configure video".
BTW I am a big fan of Band of Brothers miniseries so I really like lowered color saturation and increased contrast in some war games 👍
@@tryhardairsoft416 I have never watched Band of Brothers so I don't know how it looks. I do play wargames though, so thanks for the idea.
9:00 I bought this card. It's worth buying. Originally I used a Elgato HD. This device is an upgrade from that. It has zero lag period. I tested Marvel vs Capcom 3. I didn't miss any combos playing right off the OBS display. Paid $18.00 for it on eBay. A constant 1080p 60fps off my main gaming rig. Also tested this on my Intel Celeron laptop. I had to keep resolution on 432p 16.9 screen for constant 60fps. 480p works too but that resolution is old school 4.3 / 480p and 432p isn't HD but it's pretty close enough and good enough for UA-cam. If you watch UA-cam on a phone, the default resolution is 360p so what I'm saying is truth. Basically what I'm saying is, your PC plays a big part for the resolution size and fps. My laptop couldn't handle 720p 60fps but it excepted 432p for 60fps. Main gaming rig, 1080p 60fps was easy to handle. This is true elgato card killer.
hi and sorry for the question! I was wondering if this card also has an audio lag like the first black card in the video? I don't play games with high fps rates but i wouldn't want my audio to lag during streaming and have been looking for a cheap capture card since i've only just started and don't want to invest too much early on D: thanks in advance!
@@sarerusoldone There's no lag with audio. You won't hear anything while recording. After video is recording you will hear everything in sync with video.
@@sarerusoldone Here's a demo of me using one PC recorded with another PC. You will see there's no lag with the audio ua-cam.com/video/VlFif833qmw/v-deo.html
@@100Bucks that's awesome! thanks for the quick reply!
@@sarerusoldone Yes, you can play games right off OBS studio without a TV.
I've bought a few of the $7 capture cards and they're amazing for the price. Especially for non gaming recording (like zoom meetings and IRL/vlogs). I've upgraded to an Aver Media capture card and it's the best. It has passthrough HDMI but even the preview on OBS is close to instant.
Yeah I uses that one, but I only record switch games so its good enough.
Please send link of your capture card
I'm looking to get a cheap one to connect my firestick on a tablet to stream movies, maybe that won't heat up a much?
The one issue that I found with cheap capture cards is the audio. It sometimes goes out of sync for no reason. You would need to adjust the sound to the video. Quite frustrating.
You don't need to do that if you change a couple settings in your OBS and Windows' sound settings.
I would have written down the whole process but, it may sound quite complicated(it isn't, though, VERY simple), but, do let me know if you want to know the solution.✌🏼
@@Pomegrenade yes we so
@@Pomegrenade do
My issue is my 200$ elgato goes out of sync too 😭
You need to record in CBR (constant bit rate), that'll solve the issue
Damn! You were so close to actually showing me what I was looking for. You hooked up the cheap one and did the hand clap test to show the latency, then for some reason, you didnt do the same for the elgato
7:35 --> this is a pretty easy fix since the capture card is detected as a display by your pc. have a cable go from your monitor pc and one going to the capture card then in display settings set it to duplicate this display. That way you can play full refresh rate on your monitor and the capture card will get the same signal just at whatever framerate you have selected.
i am gonna use this for gameing using a ps4 so could you pls tell me how to fix the latency
Ive been using the cheapest capture card in this video for over a year to capture console footage for discord.
It works flawlessly with a little bit of delay and since discord already has low bitrate streaming for non-nitro users it is perfect
how much is the delay
@@CarterRax i think 0.5 seconds. I use a hdmi splitter so i can see the original source on a separate monitor
Any brand you can provide? I’m currently looking for a cheap one that works like what you described.
What’s interesting is that I’m watching this video on my phone and the quality was very similar (except for that one laggy one). If you didn’t have labeled which one is which, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference between the cheaper capture cards. Perhaps watching this on a pc monitor might have been more obvious.
You will notice it, even on mobile phones specially because of the framerate. I think the hd60s or hd60s+ is worth the price. However ezcap 321p recently reviewed by eposvox seems promising.
It's text that was blurry on cheapest, silver one with color grading, really looking good on a phone
One thing that can be important to people: The cheap capture cards has a built in HDCP stripper. Great for capturing PS3.
Nice, though, I got an HD60 S+ so I gotta use an extra thing
Does the grey card strip out HDCP? I'm actually in the same boat as you it's dumb that Sony did that with the PS3.
don't be fooled by that, because $7 dollars wouldn't let you be able to capture any footage whether it has hdcp or not.
And even with most brands, you can go into the console settings and turn it off.
you just can't do it on the PS3, because Sony made that part permanent.
But on the PS4 you have the option to turn it off.
The biggest problem is having the HDMI splitter not have power so the screen just turns off because it thinks there's no input
TRUE. Don't buy HDMI splitter without power. But getting a good HDMI splitter can be a hit & miss. :(
Good content, I'm subscribing.
Agreed
Nice
That is awesome idea
I've got one of these cheap capture cards. Yes it's bad but I use it for debugging old pcs, raspberry pis etc where quality doesn't matter a lot. I don't always have a spare screen lying around so this is perfect
Thank you so much for the video, it will definitely help me to make a decision now. I was looking for a guide like this. I think I’ll be also buying as per your recommendation. The Elgato 60 seems over priced. A $13 capture card with HDMI splitter will do me.
I had an Elgato HD60S (not the +) for not even a full year before it stopped working... $200 or so I don't remember anymore.
I'm... actually impressed. My Razer Ripsaw kicks ass, but for a quarter of the price you're still getting comparable quality. Good review!
Ur vids are as always very fun to watch, and so informative 🙂🙂
aye his content is awesome.
Very informative video as always. Loved it
Very grateful for this comparison. Relaxing like a Hollywood movie.
I got the 12 dollar one (from China) that it just a cable with Hdmi/USB adapter on it and until now I never complained. Make the same work as an Elgato. Of course the input lag must be slightly more pronounced but so far by streaming switch games, I never had an issue. So definitely a big yes for me for this kind of solution.
can you please send me the link of that?
What brand please send link
I have very similar capture card to your 7$ one. It looks exactly the same and package the same BUT mine has blue usb 3.0 and supports 1080p60 and it’s actually 60fps but now I understand why I was a little worse at game while testing it, because of a delay. Great video btw
can you spill the brand please, sir~
@@elrozy32 its not usb 3.0 they make it look like it is but its not :)
Explained to the point, Thanks for the video
Best video I came across. Coming here from now on for any advice you have.
7:57 - One thing to note about that kind of HDMI splitter: that's a Passive splitter, and doesn't always work once a combination of factors (different capture card vs monitor resolution, HDCP) come into play. I tried one with my PS3, and I couldn't get it to work. I suggest getting an Active / Powered (requires external power, usually via USB) splitter instead - that one, I did get to work with my PS3. Of course, if you can get a capture card with loop-out in the 1st place (like the one in 8:59), then that's better.
P.S. Thanks for the LUT, definitely made my footage less yellow! ^^ (I'm using one of those $7 cards, although oddly mine supports 1080p60. I do have a 2nd $7 card, and that one is limited to 1080p30. Weird)
Can you please tell me which 60 fps 1080 p are u using?
And how is the video quality and lag in real time?
@@muwahua039 I'm using 2 pieces of the $7 capture card. I bought unit #1 back in 2020, and it supports 1080p60. I bought unit #2 in 2021, but that one only has 1080p30. The video quality and lag are the same as the one reviewed for this video.
@@RdTrpBrgr thanks for replying. Can you also please tell me the brand name and product name?
@@muwahua039 there's no brand name / product name, it's just a generic capture card and it looks exactly like that on the video (the $7 one, at 0:10). I'm from South East Asia, so I got mine from Shopee. I just picked the one with the best review. From what I've read online (just rumors though), the newer ones only support 1080p30 because they started using cheaper heatsinks. This is probably (again, just rumors!) the reason why my 2020 unit has 1080p60, but my 2021 unit has 1080p30. Unless you get lucky and get a really old stock, don't expect 1080p60 anymore.
I would have liked to see a stress test on the cards to see how long they can last but otherwise great video!
Hm good point. Do you also mean after a long play session?
@@Rick-ng3lr yea
im using the cheapest on for a year now along side with two of my medium and expensive capture card.
@@misosoup8863 what is the best cheap card
@@anumi1 the $7 have decent quality though theres no 60 fps on that and have mono audio but for cheapest? ill go with that.
very helpful. Now I can film my Wii U without worry. I also don't care about the slight color distortion.
That's the most futuristic PC case I have ever seen. That's so damn 🔥🔥🔥
I use an Elgato to transfer VHS tapes. First an AV to HDMI converter. Next the Elgato into a laptop. Play the signal with VLC, record with Bandicam. Crunch the file with Handbrake.
The cheap one (like $13) has literally never gave me issues and ive used it for over a year consistently where as my Cam link Stopped working after using it less than 20 times. Id recommend people just buy a few of them
Omg thank you! This is exactly what I needed!
about the HDMI splitter: if your HDMI output device doesn't provide adequate power out of its hdmi port, then one monitor is definetly gonna have big issues displaying the image.
Thank you so much I’ve been trying to find a reason for why my Nintendo Switch keeps flickering on my PC
I appreciate the thoroughness. Saved me lots of time and money
7:49 OK.
One hdmi goes from the pc to the monitor for gameplay.
But the other one you show, is going straight back into the pc, via usb.
How is obs being displayed, is there a third connection, a display port?..
i bought a $15 capture card AND an elgato hd60s. The elgato consistently stuttered and was finnicky, even though i had the right cables, drivers, and a very good pc.. the 15 dollar one worked amazingly!!!! i still use it currently
Great work doing this video 👏
You always upload videos I need so thank you :D
I got one of the $7 wish cards off eBay and next I need a video splitter, so I can see my game without any lag on the TV while having it in OBS.
I found one for about $3 so basically you get a $10 Console gaming stream setup, (excluding the price of the actual console)
Merry Christmas and Happy New year
Same to you!
Great review! Thanks for your time.
I bought Elgato S60+ because it's reliable for long time uses as can record 1080p/60 with sound in sync.
It also have own settings for Wii U, Switch, PS4, Xbox One etc.
Good series . Hope you will continue this.
@7:00 Buy HDMI splitter.
4:57 not sure anyone noticed but why does the $13 card look better than the elgato at this point here
Can i use a captureCard to make the screen from my gaming pc apear on my second pc, and then live stream from my second pc to avoid any performance drops on my gaming pc while streaming ?
Those cheap USB 3.0 cards are quite impressive for the price... specially because of being an UVC compliant card they don't require specialized drivers...
I have a ASUS CU4K30, about 150~160€, HDMI passthru, runs on Linux with no issues, captures at 4K up to 30 fps, 2K up to 60 fps, and Full HD up to 120 fps, the passthru is 4K up to 60 Hz, 2K up to 144 Hz, and Full HD up to 240 Hz, not exactly cheap, but with HDMI 2.0, VRR and HDR support and USB-C 3.2 Gen 1x1 it is hard to complain (although HDCP protected signals might be a problem for some)...
This was fantastic, earned a subscriber. You actually did the work, respeeeeeeeeeeeeeect
I have a question. Should I buy a Cam Link 4k with an HDMI splitter or an HD60x?
I had a elgato camlink but it kept overheating and cutting out. I just got a magewell pci capture card and haven't had a problem. The PCI card probably gets as hot but it is inside my ventilated case and also has it's own fan. Also, if you want to capture multiple HDMI sources, say a game and a camera, then it is cheaper to buy a PCI card with multiple HDMI captures ports, well, cheaper than elgato camlink. On top of that you won't be saturating your USB bus.
In the end if you don't want heat to be an issue and want to spend the 'normal' amount for video capture I would spend a few pennies more and buy a PCI card. If you want to capture more than one HDMI source I would save money and get one card and not multiple elgato camlinks.
I'll be honest, the USB HDMI video capture that only cost $7 (I got mine for 5€) was not only the one that was the cheapest but also the one which worked best for me and had the least problems. If you don't mind the picture is 1080p, 30 fps and that the sound can sometimes have a delay and is in mono, this video capture is not bad. Its better than the ones which need extra programs and I got some of them which didn't even work with todays Windows PCs (What a waste of money that was). But who knew that the cheapest video capture works pretty good.
Why do you assert it's a copy of Elgato's product? It seems like a logical form factor for such a device, and beyond that both offer HDMI capture over USB. That's not something unique to Elgato either.
I would've loved to see a full video comparing the quality of camera footage from the elgato camlink with all of the other capture cards
In my country, Panama, that capturer is the simplest of 4k, the first one that is shown with a price of 7.00 usd, in Panama they sell it at a price of 25.00 usd
Great video, subbed.
I have the 7 dollar one but it was usb 3.0
Loved the video!
Is there a difference between $7 Wish capture card ( recording with a DLSR camera for webcam) VS the 4k Wish Capture card?
I still have a Roxio HD Pro capture card that I got for my birthday a few years ago. I used it to capture gameplay of the XBOX 360.
Excellent comparison mate, I'm glad I watched your video. I want to start streaming just for fun and I'm not interested in spending so much money on one Elgato device so I think I will go with you recommendation (your favourite option ($13 USB capture + hdmi splitter). Thank you very much!!
The delay is not a problem for recording but for streaming it is unacceptable audio sync with any audio inputs you have - microphones etc
That was actually the reason i got an Atem mini as it could record audio and video in one device. But it's also way more expensive
Hi I was trying to download the LUTS for the 7$ card and it said that the file does not exist, the capture card is great however the whites do in fact appear yellowish from time to time and this would make the footage much better.
Same, I need that LUT!
Worked for me thank you!❤️
Awesome video. I try to push cheaper options for my viewers, and this video is perfect. I'm going to share this
Love all your stuff !! As I struggle with OBS, I wonder if you have reviewed version 28. yet? Still no game audio on test streams.. Good vid BTW - informative, Thankx.....
I've got a few different capture cards now; I got the internal 4k elgato for cheap on ebay; it's great, my *only* issue is that sometimes you have to tweak settings for an image to even appear and I wish there were a way that it would passthrough video to the HDMI out with the PC off / on standby.
My Elgato HD60 doesn't work very well - you have to use a USB3 hub as it doesn't like the chipsets on my motherboard (works fine with my Mac)
I have 2x £15 capture cards that do 1080p60 with surprisingly low latency for connecting gopro cameras. Pretty good, would recommend even for game capture from consoles.
Surprisingly so many of the little budget cards are garbage so it's nice to find one that is actually decent.
what is the 15 pound capture card that actually does 1080p60? you got a link/name for those?
I'm tryna find a capture card so I can livestream my Nintendo Switch
I use the one the pops up first when you search up capture cards on Amazon. I’m new to streaming, so it does the job. I haven’t had a problem with it yet, and I’m hoping I don’t because I don’t want too spend a lot of money on capture cards.
Thank you for this video. This one is the best out of other 10 videos i've watched recently. You've saved me lots of headhache and upset.
Like & Subs. fellas.
Hi, the Capture card from 7:49 is 60 fps or 30 fps?
HDMI to USB conversion will always create a delay there's no way around that.
Im still trying to find a 1080p\60fps capture card that wont cost me a kidney like Elgato ones. I bought 4 different cards from 10 to 35 dollars, ALL OF THEM said "1080\60 output" and ALL of them were lie.
i use that exact 7 bucks capture card with a cheap hdmi splitter aswel and honestly it's not that bad, I've had no problem with the capture card but i needed to replace my hdmi splitter once. So i would recommend looking better into hdmi splitters but the capture card is nice and doesn't have problems
9:40 is there an option to do this with only one monitor without having to deal with delay?
One thing that's driving me crazy is the mic audio. How does the streaming pc pick up your mic? Do you have to connect it directly to the stream pc or does it just pick it up solely through the HDMI cable? Hopefully someone can answer as this has been the only reason ive been putting off buying a capture card 😅
It should automatically capture your mic. OBS will let you know if its on or not. Bonus information unrelated to what you ask for. You can buy any of these cards and still have a 4k 60fps video. The trick is, you have to figure out what your PC can handle when recording. Can it handle 720p 60? Can it handle 720p 30? Can it handle 1080p 30? When you figure out which resolution works best for you. Take the footage and use a program called Handbreak to upscale your footage to the real resolution you really want. Denoise option in handbreak is very important when you sharpen your footage for the upscale. Denoise will remove all blur on low resolutions like 640x360p.
Your videos are amazing you should have more subs!
As strange as it may seem, there are a couple of situations in witch you will only be able to use the 7$ Wish capture card (or similar options)
Because of the usb 2.0?
I bought the second one on Amazon a year or so ago and it works fine. Use it all the time but Im not using for streaming etc. The only complaint I have is the metal sheath comes loose and moves around. The only thing weird here is he was able to split the hdmi without using a booster, I was never able to do that, had to use a power boosted splitter. Im confused.
hey just wanted to ask what power boosted splitter you use as im stuck with the same problem
You can also have 2 monitors. On can duplicate the recorded screen and have the other monitor black that is duplicating the input
I have the 4K cap card with HDMI output that does 4K passthrough and 1080 60 and it was only 32 $ @ Amazon I use 2 because they run hot after hrs of recording I use them to record practically everything I watch that's worth rewatching 🤷🏻♂️
The biggest issue on the cheaper ones is that the Audio Desyncs after using them a good bit and becomes unfixable without constant monitoring. Some can last an hour before it starts a problem and some start within 10 minutes. Settings changes only last so long before you have to redo them. I've used 4 different ones from 4 different companies, and they all ended the same way after about 80-100 hours of use.
If you buy 10 cheapies totaling $150ish, that will last you for 800 or so hours, that's not too bad if you're only a moderate streamer. No idea how long the Elgatos last. Haven't got one yet. The cheaper ones def worth getting if you only stream a few hours a week or month. $10 - $15 might last you for 5 or 6 months, maybe longer.
then why not use aux cable instead? hdmi audio is not the best thing around most of the time
Interesting. I own one of the $7 ones, have had it for almost 2 years now and have filmed probably that much footage in that time and I've never had audio sync problems. I guess YMMV.
Just wanted to let you know that the $7 capture card is only 30fps when set to 1080p, it is 60fps when set to 720p.
The splitter won't always work if you buy one of the cheap ones. Since they're not powered they don't have any gain and you end up slicing the signal in half instead of doubling it. When I tried it I got no signal on at least one of my displays. Powered splitters are better but they're so expensive that you'll spend the same money just buying a used elgato hd60 d
I bought a similar one to the 7 dollar one. I didn’t realize that it doesn’t do stereo. You just get mono in both channels. Which one of these have good stereo audio. I stream from ps4 and wanted to be able to to hear twitch notifications through my headset instead of coming out of my computer. But can’t because of the mono audio Makes it hard to hear enemies around me correctly. I can just use the aux on my monitor to hear stereo, but the problem is my viewers can only hear everything in mono.
So I guess I got lucky cause they probably don’t care that much about it, but I do 😂 also my card can’t handle 1080p30. And can’t handle 60fps at all. I use 720p30
These cheap capture cards have a settings menu for the picture quality where you can adjust color etc that you didn't even find...
They used to have almost no delay and a heatsink but early on they already upgraded them to 60fps 1080p, removed the heatsink which made some versions overheat so they added the delay.
Some other UA-camr did a lot of videos on them, they all got introduced on the market when the home office pandemic started
i have an elgato hd60. when recording some emulator gameplay from another PC there´s a two seconds delay on elgato software. i bought the $7 and its almost free of lag on OBS
As always excellent and functional
What HDMI Splitter did you use, do you have a link to it?
Thanks this was helpful!
I still have a Aver Media Box capture card from back in the day. Hate that thing to its core, never worked and footage always seemed choppy. Looking back at it, it was probably just the Ps3 I was running it through lmao. Nonetheless it was a lackluster product.
Interesting to see how cheap the tech has gotten!
thank you! very informative video
Where's the color grade in the description he was talking about? I just bought a similar capture card and it definitely has a lot of yellow/saturation to it.
this was very helpful thank you
I have a Elgato HD60 S and I am very happy. Pretty good deal you also have 2 HDMI and in the programm "Game Capture" you have clearly no delay. For me it is not so importent because i only use the programm Game Capture for the sound and recording and a little bit delay is not the problem but I recommend the HD60, HD60 S or HD60 S+.
Where's the filters, effect, LUT custom you've made? It's not on the discretion.. or I can't find it!!
what was the HDMI spillter called if you can send me a link to the one you bought that would be very nice.
I've duplicated your setup with the HDMI splitter and the small USB capture device. I was getting audio the first few days, then I had to unplug and plug back in both HDMI cables to get audio capture, now I can't get audio capture at all. This may be related to a windows update, but do you have any ideas? I have the privacy permissions turned on for apps to use camera and microphone.
Finally unplugged and replugged the USB device and Audio came back...I was enabling and disabling it in device manager, restarted pc, and changed drivers and it wasn't working....
Just discovered this channel. 🔥🔥🔥
It would probably help if I remembered to selected an HD resolution first.
Compact and informative.
I am generally confused with K terminology and the difference of visual effects.
Thanks.