As somebody who likes to savor the recollections of a wonderful victory or a humbling defeat, there was one piece of tech that I wanted so as to add to my PC setup earlier than the rest — a seize card. For fairly some time, I loved taking a while in the course of the weekend, streaming totally different video games or recording footage for content material creation. However as I started experimenting with my ElGato seize card, I discovered that there have been loads of different causes people ought to look into seize playing cards.
From extra outputs that will not in any other case work to utilizing different cameras past your potentially outdated and dangerous webcam, seize playing cards provide super worth. Seize playing cards are available a wide range of sizes and styles, however provide nice worth whatever the worth.
Hook up a DSLR Digicam as a webcam
Or seize video immediately onto your PC for straightforward recording
Some cameras have an possibility to attach on to your PC to add recordsdata, which is a superb possibility. At all times coming out an SD card could be extremely annoying, so having an possibility to simply plug it immediately into your PC and get recordsdata off is nice. However what should you wished to unlock the complete potential of your DSLR and make it the nicest webcam you will ever see in your life? That is the place a seize card can come into play.
As Yadullah Abidi mentions in an article about why he uses his DSLR as a webcam, the standard is unbeatable, he would not want to stress about lighting, and it is an awesome extra use for an already spectacular digital camera. Plus, why shell out for a webcam when chances are you’ll probably have already got one thing that beats it tenfold?
Utilizing recreation consoles on laptops or moveable displays
Put your Nintendo Swap or Steam Deck on an even bigger display on the go
I am an enormous fan of moveable gaming, however generally I need to play my favourite video games on an even bigger display or seize gameplay for YouTube or TikTok. The Nintendo Swap and Swap 2 can save particular gameplay clips, however they’re roughly 30 seconds lengthy and do not all the time look the most effective. That, and with laptop computer shows wanting nicer than ever, there are just a few other ways you need to use a seize card with minimal lag. It will not be excellent; I will be upfront and trustworthy about that, but it surely’s generally nicer than simply enjoying on a 6- or 7-inch show.
Utilizing packages like OBS can lead to a little bit of lag. Nevertheless, after watching this video from @Shanselman on TikTok and testing it for myself with my ElGato 4KS, I can verify that it really works like a dream. There’s nonetheless a small quantity of lag, however utilizing VLC and the next settings could make it run a lot nicer:
- Body Price: 60.000
- Colour House/Compression: MJPG
- Output Dimension: 1920×1080
- Caching: 1ms
Turning my DeX into one thing higher
Samsung DeX is slick, and now I can document what I am doing
Samsung customers could not understand it, however they’ll flip their telephones or tablets into useful, moveable computing machines. Or, should you’re like me, you possibly can play video games on the massive display. I am not speaking about simply enjoying Conflict of Clans both — you possibly can play larger, higher video games with keyboard and mouse assist, in addition to controller assist. Utilizing an HDMI-to-USB-C adapter, you possibly can flip your gadget into an especially moveable desktop expertise with Samsung DeX.
Quite than recording immediately on my gadget after which transferring it to my PC, I can use a seize card to document DeX immediately. This protects valuable house on my cellphone, removes an additional step from the recording/enhancing course of, and helps me seize footage immediately onto my PC. Since my cellphone solely has 128GB of reminiscence, it is a super assist in the case of saving house.
Some seize playing cards could be extremely costly
Know what you want, and store sensible from there
Whereas I have been utilizing the ElGato 4KS for some time now, it is an costly piece of know-how. Some people do not want all the options that this explicit card has, and that is no drawback — there are a number of glorious seize playing cards on the market that provide comparable options for a fraction of the value.
UGREEN, for instance, has seize playing cards beginning at roughly $30, all whereas providing 2K/30Hz or 1080p/60Hz, which might be greater than sufficient for a majority of customers. I have been utilizing UGREEN cords, chargers, and video cables for years now, and have all the time been shocked at their high quality. Whereas I have never personally used their UGREEN seize card, as I wanted a substitute that I may get the identical day, I would not be shocked to see it on par with another that I’ve examined.
- Model
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UGREEN
- Max Passthrough Decision
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4K/3840 x 2160 pixels
- Max Seize Decision
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2K/2560×1440
- OBS Appropriate
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Sure
They come in useful greater than chances are you’ll anticipate
Very similar to the ElGato Stream Deck, there are a surprising number of uses for something that is primarily meant for streaming. These are simply a number of the explanation why I really like my seize card, and why one could also be useful for you. I imply, I’ve all the time wished a DSLR digital camera, and this can be the proper excuse to lastly persuade myself that I ought to get one.
No matter whether or not it is for recording, streaming, and even taking DVD house movies and changing them to a more moderen file format, this may very well be an ideal addition to your construct. I do know that I’ve gotten my cash’s value out of mine, and can proceed to take action for the foreseeable future.
