PWAY HDMI to USB-C Video Capture Card Review

PWAY HDMI to USB-C Video Capture CardShow more

Blog:

This budget-priced capture card allows you to record from almost any 4K HDMI source and output it as a 1080p stream to the target computer.

Priced at £29.99 this capture card from PWAY is far less costly than many of the better-known rivals. Of course, that is no saving if the product is no use but in fact, I was very pleased with the way it performed.

In the rather low-end blister pack was just the capture device itself, and a USB 2 to USB-C cable, no HDMI cable or instructions were included although full specifications are printed on the inlay card. The Capture Card itself is made from brushed aluminium effect metal, has a USB-C port on one end and an HDMI port on the other. Build quality feels fine and externally there is nothing that can break or fall off.

The point of this device is to stream video from any HDMI source of up to 4K@30Hzto a PC or other capture device using a USB-C interface at a resolution of up to 1920 x 1080P@60Hz,. Note that the device converts the video and does not render it and this needs to be done by the capture device. If the processing power on the capture device is not sufficient there will be stuttering, dropouts and other issues in the recorded file.

For testing purposes, I connected my Roku 3 streamer to my Windows 10 Test PC. I used the AMCap software application but it should work equally well in other software or withsource devices but this I have not yet tested. No drivers were needed on my Windows 10 PC and it worked straight from the box using the default settings.

Using that as a starting point you can then fine-tune the capture settings that you need. It is worth spending time to get this right and then take note of the settings that worked best. PWay suggests using MJPG for the video, but not all software supports this. Remember that the quality of the final recorded file will in large part depend on the capability of your computer to render the video.

This is an excellent device that worked well for me and with far fewer problems configuring it than I expected.

Music: YouTube Audio Library: Silent Partner: How It Beg