Buying the right Capture Card

Here is my little guide on choosing the right capture card.

What is a capture card?
When I am referring to a capture card, I mean a video capture card. These are external or internal devices that you connect to your PC to record an external video source, in most cases a gaming console. You can then use the recorded video to make clips that can be uploaded to a video sharing site such as YouTube.

First…
You will need to choose whether you want to capture in SD (Standard Definition) or HD (High Definition), I of course recommend you go for the HD capture cards because SD is pretty much out dated now. Obviously an HD capture card will cost you much more than a SD capture card, but it’s definitely worth the extra money. Even if you do decide to buy a SD capture card you will probably get annoyed with how bad the quality is, realise that you wasted your money, and then go to upgrade to a HD one.

So on that note, this guide is going to be for HD capture cards only. Im sorry if you want a SD capture card, but I have owned a dazzle and trust me, it was horrible. The quality of video that thing created was unworthy of uploading to YouTube in my opinion, so they are a waste of time and money.

The Capture Cards
AverTV CaptureHD
The first capture card I am going to show you is the capture card I used to own myself, the AverTV CaptureHD H727.
This capture card fits into a PCIe slot on your PC’s (NOT Laptop’s) motherboard so it is hidden away and doesn’t clutter up your desk. It can be used on a fairly low spec PC, a Core 2 Duo @ 2.4GHz with only 1GB of RAM. More is definitely recommended.

It can capture using a HDMI, Component or AV input. Unfortunately it supports only 1080i, NOT 1080p. Running at 1080i I think the quality is pretty bad when recording with this card, but switching it down to 720p will increase it alot. This is the reason I no longer own this card, whenever it is plugged in it stops you using 1080p on any other device.

Another problem I faced with this capture card is, it has only input slots meaning you will need to buy a HDMI splitter to be able to play games on your TV whilst recording them on your PC. You will not be able to use the PC screen for gaming as there is a delay on the video.

The software provided with this card is styled like the Windows Media Center and is pretty crap. It is required that you install it for the drivers, but you shouldn’t use it for recording.

A pro for this capture card is that it has a built in TV tuner than can pick up Analogue and Digital signals over an antenna using the Coaxial input. The picture quality is not great but it is better than nothing.

Another pro for this card is that it is the cheapest HD capture card on the market, at around £80GBP, but remember to add on the price for that HDMI splitter.

One more note about this card, it cannot capture or even use anything above 2 channel audio, this is another reason I got rid of this card.

Here you can see a Test Video that I uploaded to youtube showing the quality of the CaptureHD, and you can also check out my Recording Guide. If you ever plan to do a livestream/broadcast, do not choose this capture card because it has so many software incompatibilities its just madness.

BlackMagic Intensity Pro
Next up is the Intensity Pro from Blackmagic design, it is also connected to your PC through a PCIe slot just like the AverTV, but it requires a much higher spec PC. 4GB of RAM is recommended, a 64bit version of Windows 7 and it is also recommended you have your hard drives set up in a RAID for faster data rate whilst recording. (Dell Motherboards do not support this capture card, this is the reason I don’t own one)

There is a simple reason for this requirement… its ALOT better than the AverTV cap card.

It has 2 HDMI ports on the back, one for input and one for output, this means that you will not need to buy an external HDMI splitter as the Intensity Pro can do it for you. Don’t worry if you use Component HD cables as it also ships with a Component to HDMI adaptor.

Unlike the AverTV, the Intensity Pro can capture full 1080p video and record it uncompressed. The software shipped with the card is great and you will definitely want to use it for recording with the Intensity Pro.

If you want to livestream your video, this capture card is definitely for you as it is supported by most livestreaming software such as Flash Media Encoder, Wirecast, xSplit and so on.

Unfortunately the Intensity Pro is not as cheap as the AverTV CaptureHD but it is definitely worth the little extra money as the quality is so much better. You can pick one up at around £130GBP, shop around.

Also, just like the AverTV CaptureHD, this card can only use 2 channel audio.

On this video you can see a test of the quality from the Intensity Pro, uploaded by a friend of mine, TheChrisD.

Hauppauge HD PVR
The HD PVR is probably the most popular capture device because it is older than the others and it is connected to your PC using USB2.0. This makes it much easier for people who know less about computing to use, and it can also be used with a laptop. All it requires is 256MB of Graphics RAM and a Dual Core CPU.

You will need a little extra desk space as this is an external device and it also requires you plug it in to an external power source.

The HD PVR can not capture through HDMI as it only has HD Component input and output. It also has an Optical input and output for people who use a surround sound.

Unfortunately, just like the AverTV it has a max resolution of 1080i, not 1080p. So yet again, you will want to turn down your input resolution to 720p for the best quality.

This device is not recommended for people who wish to live stream as you will need to open up the video source on your PC screen, and then live stream your PC screen. Just stupid really. The software that comes with the device is great for recording, but the HD PVR has a max bitrate of 13.5Mbps which is really low compared to the 2 devices above.

On the audio note, the HD PVR has an optical input and output, so my guess is it can capture audio better than 2 channel, but I am not sure about this.

Here is a test video I found on youtube, the description claims it is unedited.

Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle
This capture card I highly recommend. It is a USB 3.0 Device or there is now a Thunderbolt version which I suggest if you are a Mac user you get that one. If you are a PC user you can get the USB 3.0 version but I suggest waiting for Thunderbolt to come to PC before you buy one.

Just like the Intensity Pro, this is a very powerful capture device and requires you have at least 4GB RAM, 64bit Windows 7 and a RAID array on your hard drives for fast data transfer. There is no reason for a dell motherboard to be incompatible with this device but make sure you have an on-board USB 3.0 socket and a X58 or above chipset for it to work.

The device has HDMI, Component, Composite and S-Video inputs and outputs, so no need for a splitter and it can be used in just about all set-ups!

It can record in full 1080p at 60 frames per second uncompressed and just like the intensity pro, the software that comes with it is great and should be used for recording.

This device is also great for live streaming as it has support for flash media encoder, Wirecast and xSplit like the Intensity Pro.

Unfortunately this is also an expensive capture device, you can pick them up for around £130 if you shop around, but in my opinion, this is the best capture card out there and if worth the money.

Another good thing about the Shuttle… it can capture 8 channel audio which puts it right in front of all the other capture devices out there.

Here is another test video where you can see the quality of the Shuttle, it is a video I found on YouTube, it appears to be unrendered in 3rd party software.