What is a Capture Card? Everything you need to know

If you’re an avid gamer then you’ll know how fun it is to watch other people playing games and sharing their thoughts about them online. You might wonder how they go about capturing and streaming their gameplay so that viewers can watch them go through every heart-pounding moment of action.

The most popular way of capturing gameplay footage from games consoles is by using a capture card. It’s not something every gamer necessarily knows about, so here’s our short guide to capture cards, how it works and what other gaming-related items you need to use one.

What does a capture card do?

A capture card is a device that captures footage from a game being played on a console, such as the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Wii, or even a gaming PC. It works in a very similar way to screen-capture software by accepting video signal and recording it. The difference being though that the card is a separate component that puts less strain on the PC that’s being used to record. Depending on how powerful the PC is, the screen-capture software could cause skipping, lag or freezing in recording.

Capture cards can be bought as internal components for a PC or as an in-line box (for use for laptops that you can’t easily open/modify). They work by having an input for a cable HDMI, meaning pretty much any device that has HDMI output is able to be captured. Game footage can then either be streamed live via a game-streaming platform, such as Twitch or YouTube, or edited and uploaded.

Various companies are making new and advanced capture cards all the time, so it can be hard to keep up with what the best product for your individual needs is. There are also several types of capture card, according to platform type. As well as PC-to-PC mentioned above, Mac, 3DS and Wii gamers will need to buy a capture card that’s compatible with their console.

A capture card really is an invaluable piece of equipment if you want to start streaming your gameplay. You’ll quickly attract viewers as well as keep them coming back for more if your content is reliably lag free and of high quality. You’ll obviously want to keep your budget in mind, but generally, you get what you pay for. If you can, try to buy a capture card that uses a 4K resolution level.

What equipment do I need to use a capture card?

Capture cards vary by price and type, but whatever card you buy, there are some other basic pieces of equipment you’ll need to get going:

USB cable

You’ll need a USB cable to connect your capture card to your PC or Mac, then use whichever capture software you have to record gameplay footage or stream it live to sites such as YouTube and Twitch. If you don’t want the extra task of connecting a capture card to a PC via USB cable, then you can buy an internal capture card and just use one PC for both gaming and recording/ streaming. You’ll definitely need an external capture card if you’re using a laptop and not a PC, simply because you can’t install a capture card inside it.

HDMI cables

To connect your console to an external capture card, you’ll need an HDMI cable. You’ll also need a second HDMI cable that connects the capture card to your TV, so that you can watch what you’re playing as you go.

Console

Once you’ve decided you want to take the leap into live gameplay streaming, there’s a very important thing you need to consider. This is making sure that you buy a capture card that’s compatible with whatever console you use to play games. If your console’s internal capture card isn’t quite doing the job as well as you’d like, then an external version will boost its performance. Certain capture cards will only work with particular consoles, so if you have a PlayStation, don’t assume that a capture card that works with an Xbox will be compatible with your console also.

PC or laptop

When you’re playing a game on one PC and using another for streaming, then the performance of your game-playing PC won’t be affected by the work the second PC is doing. Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to have PCs that can handle a healthy amount of demand. The ideal minimum requirement is that they have an i7 processor. Also bear in mind that storage space, speed and memory all affect which capture card will work best with your PC, Mac or laptop.

Bandwidth

Not technically a piece of equipment, but you’ll need enough bandwidth in order to both play and stream games. For good data uploading you’ll want speed of around 10MB/s for 1080p resolution and 5MB/s for 720p resolution.

Keep in mind that a capture card is a key bit of equipment that allows you to capture your gameplay footage, for either streaming it live or to edit and upload it. Things to consider when buying a capture card include your budget, your console choice and whether you’re using a PC or laptop. If you’re looking to take the next step up from just playing games for your own entertainment to entertaining other gamers, you now know exactly how to go about it.