They can record 4K gaming at 144 frames per second and offer genuine HDR10 compatibility.
HDMI 2.1 is Elgato’s primary focus at the moment. An announcement was made by the corporation regarding a pair of capture cards that are compatible with the most recent display technology specification. Both the 4K X and the 4K Pro are capable of capturing 4K gameplay at 144 frames per second, in addition to offering support for genuine HDR10, USB 3.2 connectivity, and VRR.
Additionally, this card is compatible with more recent variations of the USB-C iPad. Based on the information provided by Elgato and its parent company, Corsair, this is the very first time that a capture card has ever enabled native support for iPads. You will require a native display that is capable of supporting these metrics in order to capture 4K games at 144 frames per second with the 4K X, which is compatible with both Windows and Mac PCs. Otherwise, you will record 4K at 120 frames per second. Because of the magic of HDMI 2.1, you shouldn’t see any screen tearing whatsoever when using this device.
Taking things even farther is the 4K Pro. Due to the fact that it is located within your personal computer, this is a capture card in the conventional sense. The passthrough specification is increased to 8K and 60 frames per second, but you still get all of the features that are included in the 4K X. The company Elgato asserts that this card will turn “your high-end single or dual-PC setup into a live-streaming powerhouse.”
To achieve this goal, the 4K Pro provides support for low-latency passthrough at up to 240 frames per second in 4K, all while collecting 4K material at 1080p and 240 frames per second. You can see that this card has a wide variety of specifications, which means that you can alter it to find the one that is the most suitable for your live-streaming requirements. Additionally, the card is compatible with the Multi App solution that the company offers, which enables you to automatically send capture feeds to many applications at the same time. Elgato provides an example of capturing raw gameplay while simultaneously streaming in Zoom, Discord, and Open Broadcasting Service respectively. Through a PCIe 2.0 x4 connection, the 4K Pro is only compatible with computers running the Windows operating system.
Both OBS Studio and Twitch Studio, as well as Streamlabs Desktop and vMix, are among the most popular broadcasting applications that are compatible with these GPUs. You will also have access to the capture management program that the company offers, which allows you to export content as AAF files for editing in Adobe Premiere, Vegas Pro, and other products within the same category.
These two capture cards are now available for purchase. There is a difference in price between the PCIe-adjacent 4K Pro and the portable 4K X, which costs $230. Samsung has recently added support for HDMI 2.1 to its Q990D soundbar, which is connected to the previous announcement.