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Mike Krzywicki photo
South Africa, Pretoria
1 Level
731 Review
51 Karma

Review on ๐ŸŽฅ StarTech.com USB Video Recorder - HDMI Capture Card - 1080p - 60fps - HDMI DVI VGA (USB3HDCAP) Black by Mike Krzywicki

Revainrating 2 out of 5

Near Perfect Video Capture

Product: StarTech.com HDMI Video Capture - 1080p - 60 fps Game Video Capture Card - USB Video Capture Card - with HDMI DVI VGA Experience Level: Professional photographer/videographer with over ten years of experience. Usage: One month Computer: Lenovo, Windows 7 64-bit, Intel i7 4770 processor (2013 model). I have been using this audio/video recorder for more than a month. It was used to record VHS, SVHS, Hi8 and game consoles. I'm VERY happy with the quality of the recording but very disappointed with the software. First the drivers. Oh those drivers. Expect the blue screen of death to appear at least 3 times a day if you take a lot of photos. It's no fun when that happens and I try to make sure every system tray program is off, but it still finds a way to crash. It still doesn't have a blue screen in the middle of the recording. This usually happens when I'm between snapping and checking email. He doesn't like the Microsoft Outlook website in Google Chrome at all. Speaking of which, only do about 4-6 hours of continuous recording a day or you could burn out the tape heads. Second, the included capture software is a trash can fire. Use VirtualDub in 32-bit mode (since there are more 32-bit video codecs than 64-bit codecs). There are a number of other things you need to tweak to make it work properly, but if you want my advice you'll have to pay me for it. Serious. In addition, whenever an analogue tape (S/VHS, Hi8, 8mm, VHS-C) does not have a perfect signal, a beautiful NO SIGNAL image appears on the screen. See screenshot below. Be prepared to spend a few hundred dollars more to fix THIS issue. The same applies here: If you want my purchase advice, you have to pay for it. Hours were spent researching/figuring everything out. If all you want is a video game/computer screen capture, this is perfect. It works with OBS Studio and other similar programs. For older cassettes you need to know a lot more. Claiming lossless raw data capture with Microsoft DirectShow software is legal. The footage from my game console looks better than most of what I see streamed on Twitch/YouTube. You just have to be very careful with the settings! If the bundled software was better, BSOD errors were rare, and BETTER DOCUMENTATION ON USING THE SETUP was available, then this review would be 5 stars. Those are serious issues with an otherwise perfect device. If you found my review helpful, don't forget to click the relevant words below so more people can see them.

Pros
  • Pleasing
Cons
  • Appearance