Best capture card for retro gaming?

[Verequies]

Hey Guys

As the title says, I am wondering what the best capture card for retro gaming is. Currently have a number of retro consoles/computers such as Apple II's, BBC Micro, C64, PS1, PS2, Xbox Original, Wii, and so on. What do you guys think?

Thanks in Advance,
Hamish

[Fudoh]

Framemeister plus Elgato Game Capture HD60/60Pro/60S. This way you can capture everything at 720p60 or 1080p60.

If you prefer native capture you can go for a Micomsoft X-CAPTURE or a similar box from Startech, but it's more complicated and you'll have to do a lot more work in post before you can properly upload your material.

[Verequies]

Alright I'll have a look at those, definitely interested in native capture, so the X-CAPTURE might be the way to go. However, I've been switching over to Linux lately, do you know if these devices work with Linux, and or other alternatives that do?

[Fudoh]

no idea, but I guess you'll be out of luck.

When you capture in native resolution, consider that you're most likely using a codec that uses 4:2:0 chroma compression, meaning that you won't be able to retain original color detail in your captures. If you capture upscaled instead it doesn't matter, since a 480p file will still retain 360x240 chroma resolution.

[AndehX]

Framemeister plus Elgato Game Capture HD60/60Pro/60S. This way you can capture everything at 720p60 or 1080p60.

This is the exact setup I use. It's definitely much more streamlined. The only downside to this though, is having to deal with the noise issues of the framemeister that shows in up dark/solid colours.
This setup also allows me to output all my consoles to my projector for when I have friends round.

[Verequies]

When you capture in native resolution, consider that you're most likely using a codec that uses 4:2:0 chroma compression, meaning that you won't be able to retain original color detail in your captures. If you capture upscaled instead it doesn't matter, since a 480p file will still retain 360x240 chroma resolution.

Ah okay, didn't know that, perhaps a standard HDMI capture card might be best. I did some research about getting the Elgato cards to work with Linux. Turns out there is an unofficial driver, but only supports the original Elgato Game Capture HD. I did find a couple of devices, in particular the Epiphan AV.io HD (https://www.epiphan.com/products/avio-hd/) and Magewell USB Capture HDMI (http://www.magewell.com/usb-capture-hdmi). Those cards seem to be driverless and support Linux. Do you think they would be fine for retro capturing, and work with the Framemeister?

The only downside to this though, is having to deal with the noise issues of the framemeister that shows in up dark/solid colours.

Are there any alternatives to the framemeister, that you could suggest?

[FinalBaton]

Another thing to consider is : if you have a slow PC, you might actually be better with native capture. since it requires a loooot less resources than capturing HD footage. I am in that boat myself. My pc is slow(plus I don't have a USB 3.0 port on it anyway), so capturing in720p60/1080p60 is not an option, my pc would just crash, or the video's framerate would be jerky as hell.

But since I capture natively through my Startech USB3HDCAP (well, I actually have Amarec linedoubling on the fly. my pc is able to handle that, albeit I am testing it's limits.), my pc is able to handle it. I do have to upscale in post production though

[Fudoh]

Another thing to consider is : if you have a slow PC, you might actually be better with native capture.

that's part of why I recommended a live h264 encoder in the first place.

Do you think they would be fine for retro capturing, and work with the Framemeister?

impossible to tell without trying. A big advantage of the Elgato USB2 encoders is that they don't care for the refreh rate you input, so you can leave VSYNC on the Framemeister enabled and the card will just convert to 59.94Hz anyway. Avermedia on the other hand has lots of problems with the same setup and a straight USB3 converter box like the Magewell will totally depend on the software you're using for capturing.

[AndehX]

Are there any alternatives to the framemeister, that you could suggest?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHoOKLWIMKU

[Fudoh]

hardly for your setup, since you need good composite processing, s-video (C64) and RGB. OSSC only has RGB. Many others just composite and RGB.

[mvsfan]

ive noticed that a lot of people are starting to reccomend the startech usb3 capture over the Pexhdcap like i have.

Is it really that much better?

i havent noticed anything yet with the pexhdcap that would make me want to change it. it seems to capture fine.

Since i started using an RGB cable with it instead of component that is.

when i was using component the colors would fade in and out.

[blizzz]

The PEXHDCAP shot up in price recently, that's why it's no longer a good recommendation.

Never had problems with component capture on it, it's by far the best component quality I've seen so far. It's pretty much pixel perfect. Just look at this gorgeous photo. That was when I connected my PSP Go to my PC and scaled it to 1080p to my TV. (Same game using the Framemeister)