AVerMedia revealed two new capture cards at Computex 2018 this week. The audio/video company is leaping into the 4K space with the $300 internal PCIe Live Gamer 4K and the $250 external USB type- Live Gamer Ultra. Both devices launch June 25, and they join the Live Gamer Extreme 2 and Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus in AVerMedia’s UHD product line.
The standout feature here for AVerMedia is that the Live Gamer 4K can capture video at a resolution of 2160p and 60 frames per second and in full HDR. That outdoes the Elgato 4K60 Pro, which cannot record HDR, while undercutting its $400 price by 25 percent. This should make 4K capturing available to even more people. Of course, $300 is still expensive, and the Live Gamer 4K requires a beefy rig to function. AVerMedia lists the system requirements as at least a GeForce GTX 1060 for 2160p60 HDR.
As an option for creating content that can capture the full resolution, framerate, and dynamic range of an Xbox One X, PlayStation 4 Pro, or PC running at 60 frames per second, AVerMedia may have the new capture card to beat. And for people who care more about framerate than resolution or HDR, the Live Gamer 4K can do 1440p at 120 frames per second or 1080p at 240 frames per second.
As for the Live Gamer Ultra, it can capture video at 2160p30 (no HDR), while passing through a full 2160p60 HDR signal to your monitor. And it can do 1080p at 120 frames per second as well.
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“The goal of our Live Gamer 4K UHD line of capture cards is to give streamers a strong range of 4K options to stream, record, and share spectacular gameplay visuals and audio,” AVerMedia marketing boss David Kao said in a statement. “Game streamers are the new rock stars, and AVerMedia caters to today’s celebrities while also providing aspiring and upcoming influencers with affordable, high quality tools as they prepare for a bright future.”
Kao is right that gaming streamers and video creators on YouTube and Twitch are superstars. And they have fueled demand in the growing consumer video-capture market. This has forced companies like Elgato and AVerMedia to innovate and produce affordable 4K products. I’ve spent the last several months with the Elgato 4K60, and I’m really happy with the video quality it produces.
Here’s what the 4K60 Pro can do:
But HDR is growing more and more important to getting the most from your games, and the 4K60 Pro doesn’t have that yet. Elgato may have a way to patch that in with an update, but it is still $400 while the AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K is $300. That’s a big difference. In the end, however, it will come down to how well these fit into the workflow for creators on YouTube and Twitch that will determine if they are successful.
