Viewing topic HDMI Capture Devices - Recommendations?

Title: HDMI Capture Devices - Recommendations?

Cyba.Cowboy 8 Apr 2022

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I want to capture some gameplay from my Sony PlayStation 4 Pro or Nintendo Switch OLED Model and stream it via Odysee in real-time (using OBS Studio, I suppose), preferably in 4K Ultra HD resolution (though I'll settle for 1080p, if I have to). In addition, I'll want to capture some footage for later uploading, too.

At this time, I use a laptop with USB Type-C and a couple of USB Type-A connections (pretty sure my HDMI port is output-only), so I'd need something that supports one of these interfaces... Once Jammy Jellyfish drops, I'll be using Pop!_OS going forwards, though as this is Ubuntu-based, anything that supports Ubuntu should be fine.

I looked at the 'Elgato' products, which look nice and all... But there's (extremely) mixed feedback as to whether they actually work and I've heard that their support pretty much evaporates the second you mention "Linux".

Can anyone recommend a HDMI capture device that either natively supports Linux-based operating systems or can be configured with minimal effort?

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Liam Dawe 8 Apr 2022

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I've been using the [Flint 4K Plus](https://www.cloner-alliance.com/cloneralliance-flint-4kp-plus/) and it's pretty good :), plug and play. Using it for all my Steam Deck footage, so I use it constantly to know it's good enough. All capture cards vary in picture quality though, and I do have a few issues with dark scenes needing some contrast adjustments but not too bad and I doubt any around that price would be any better.

Last edited by GamingOnLinux Bot on 13 Apr 2022 at 11:38 am UTC

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woox2k 10 Apr 2022

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Depends on what is your pricepoint. Pretty much everything above 100€ will do the trick just fine. Just have to look if they are compatible with Linux.
If you want cheap stuff and are willing to sacrifice some quality and resolution then i may be able to help you. Just recently i bought myself https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08DNBJ7D2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's only 1080p @ 30FPS over USB2 but it works well and image quality is reasonable. You can get this even more cheaply but be careful because there are tons of identical clones, some of which don't even work.

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slaapliedje 12 Apr 2022

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The AV.io devices all work phenomenally in Linux. But they're kind of pricey.

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Cyba.Cowboy 19 Apr 2022

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Quoting: woox2kDepends on what is your pricepoint. Pretty much everything above 100€ will do the trick just fine. Just have to look if they are compatible with Linux.

Well that's kinda the whole point of this thread - what's out there that is actually compatible with Linux-based operating systems... I'm not really familiar with the market at all (the only stuff in this product category which I am familiar with is the 'Elgato' stuff we sell at work, which is apparently not Linux friendly at all), so I thought I'd ask here.

Price is not really a concern for me...

Quoting: slaapliedjeThe AV.io devices all work phenomenally in Linux. But they're kind of pricey.

By "Epiphan"? You weren't kidding about the price, though they do like awfully nice (both cosmetically and in terms of specifications)...

Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 19 Apr 2022 at 3:24 am UTC

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slaapliedje 23 Apr 2022

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Quoting: Cyba.CowboyBy "Epiphan"? You weren't kidding about the price, though they do like awfully nice (both cosmetically and in terms of specifications)...

Yup those are the ones.

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BrooksWilliams 9 May 2022

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I am also using Flint 4K Plus and I am sure you won't regret your decision. It is easy to use. I can record and stream at up to 1080p at 60fps. I found out about this when I was searching for this [https://www.topessaywriting.org/correct-my-essay](https://www.topessaywriting.org/correct-my-essay) website. I am a college student and I always need help to complete my essay assignments.

Last edited by BrooksWilliams on 20 Jun 2022 at 3:23 pm UTC

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Liam Dawe 9 May 2022

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My main issue with the Flint 4K is the brightness always seems a bit off. Like if I record a screen on the Steam Deck with it with an app open that has a bright GTK theme, it's too bright and some parts don't quite show up. Haven't been able to solve it yet.

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Liam Dawe 9 May 2022

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Hmm, good tip, I'll save this post to experiment this week and see what happens, that could possibly be the issue with the Deck.

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slavezeo 11 May 2022

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I have an ElGato HD60 S+ and its wonderful. It shows up as a UVC camera (so no drivers needed) and the quality is great. It's kind of pricey though. Normally about 170$ USD but I found it on sale for 120 sometime last year. There is also an ElGato HD60 S (no plus) that is not Linux compatible.

Originally I had a Pluggable NIX USB3 HDMI capture device which was very compatible but had its issues. Honestly though there were plenty of workarounds to the issues and I'd still be using it if I hadn't got the HD60 S+ on sale.

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Cyba.Cowboy 11 May 2022

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Quoting: slavezeoI have an ElGato HD60 S+ and its wonderful. It shows up as a UVC camera (so no drivers needed) and the quality is great. It's kind of pricey though. Normally about 170$ USD but I found it on sale for 120 sometime last year.

With these "plug-and-play" (UVC) streaming devices, do you need to muck around too much, or do you just select them as a video / sound input source in OBS Studio?

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catbox_fugue 12 May 2022

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i wish magewell had linux support. sadly they do not
they are also heavy in price but make up for it in performance
https://www.magewell.com/kb/000020014/detail
*edit* to be fair they do have kernel module support and some support articles
but their firmware blobs only have windows & macosx downloads.

by the number of streamers with mixed reviews and some have completely sworn off elgato capture cards because of quality and reliability

so yeah i cant really recommend anything. only capturing i do is from a laserdisc rca to hdmi!

Last edited by catbox_fugue on 12 May 2022 at 5:39 pm UTC

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catbox_fugue 12 May 2022

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also you will want to note if anything youre using strips HDCP encoding from the source so that you CAN capture it.

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slavezeo 14 May 2022

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Quoting: Cyba.CowboyWith these "plug-and-play" (UVC) streaming devices, do you need to muck around too much, or do you just select them as a video / sound input source in OBS Studio?

The pluggable NIX I had to mess with a lot to get it set up right. The elgato was pretty much plug it in and select it as a video device on OBS.

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ruskie 4 Aug 2022

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Quoting: catbox_fuguei wish magewell had linux support. sadly they do not
they are also heavy in price but make up for it in performance
https://www.magewell.com/kb/000020014/detail
*edit* to be fair they do have kernel module support and some support articles
but their firmware blobs only have windows & macosx downloads.

by the number of streamers with mixed reviews and some have completely sworn off elgato capture cards because of quality and reliability

so yeah i cant really recommend anything. only capturing i do is from a laserdisc rca to hdmi!

Umm I use a magewell USB HDMI capture(Magewell USB Capture HDMI+)(they even mention linux support on their website) - it shows up as a UVC device - no drivers needed. I had some issues with it - as in it only worked reliably on a base USB 3.0 port - 3.1 and higher would cause random lockups of the capture(replug)(solved it with getting a usb 3.0 pcie controller card).

I've since switched to a black magic PCIE based capture device that does need their libraries but it works fine with obs. I still use the magewell one as well.

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slaapliedje 4 Aug 2022

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Quoting: ruskie
Quoting: catbox_fuguei wish magewell had linux support. sadly they do not
they are also heavy in price but make up for it in performance
https://www.magewell.com/kb/000020014/detail
*edit* to be fair they do have kernel module support and some support articles
but their firmware blobs only have windows & macosx downloads.

by the number of streamers with mixed reviews and some have completely sworn off elgato capture cards because of quality and reliability

so yeah i cant really recommend anything. only capturing i do is from a laserdisc rca to hdmi!
Umm I use a magewell USB HDMI capture(Magewell USB Capture HDMI+)(they even mention linux support on their website) - it shows up as a UVC device - no drivers needed. I had some issues with it - as in it only worked reliably on a base USB 3.0 port - 3.1 and higher would cause random lockups of the capture(replug)(solved it with getting a usb 3.0 pcie controller card).

I've since switched to a black magic PCIE based capture device that does need their libraries but it works fine with obs. I still use the magewell one as well.

Kind of sucks that after all the many years of USB, there are such incompatibilities. I have read how with some VR headsets, they don't like particular chipsets, I have had a cheaper USB to MIDI adapter block my computer from booting (worked fine if I plugged it in after boot).

The Blackmagick hardware does seem to have great Linux support at least!

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