Do You Need a Capture Card? 5 Reasons to Buy One

Video capture cards let you take another video source and port it straight to your computer. They're cheaper than ever, and easy to find, but you may never have considered getting one yourself. The truth is there are many reasons to keep a capture card at hand, and here are five of them.

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If you have VHS tapes or even something like LaserDisc media lying around, then you're facing the prospect of media rot, or that your playback devices will fail sooner rather than later. By using a capture card with analogue video inputs, you can preserve those media. You can use modern tools to clean up unwanted noise or other artifacts (if you want to, that is) and then burn the media to disk, save it on a hard drive, or upload it to cloud storage for safekeeping.

This doesn't mean you're throwing the original media away. In fact, it means you can enjoy your media as much as you want, without wearing out the original further, or risking more damage to it. Of course, this only makes sense if the media you have in an analog format was never released on more modern technologies. However, even if the same movie or show was later released on DVD or Blu-ray, that doesn't mean it's the same version. Just ask any Star Wars fans about those theatrical LaserDisc cuts.

You Want to Stream Console Gameplay

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Modern consoles are actually pretty decent at streaming gameplay without the need for extra hardware, but if you want to stream from older consoles, or you want the most elegant solution, then you're better off using a PC with a capture card to handle all the streaming duties.

While you can use any capture device to stream, you're usually better off getting a capture card designed for gaming, which generally costs a little more but is worth it to preserve your gaming experience. As well as giving the audience the best experience too!

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If you have a Meta Quest 2,3, or Pro, then you can use a USB capture card to port video straight into a virtual monitor inside your headset. It's a simple process to get it all working, and it turns your Quest into a portable, private 1080p monitor that you can take with you wherever you go. Getting the right card for the best compatibility can be a little tricky, but if you find one that's worked well for other Quest owners, this is a great feature to take advantage of.

While the feature of using capture cards with the Quest headsets is great, for once, Apple actually beat someone else to the punch with a feature. If you're running the latest iPadOS version, then you can use a USB HDMI capture card as a video input source. The real purpose of this was to enable the use of external cameras for streaming or video calls, but app developers quickly figured out that you can turn an iPad into a portable monitor using the feature as well.

There are several apps on the app store that make this process smoother and give you various options to process the incoming signal. I hooked up my Nintendo Switch to my iPad this way and playing games like Red Dead Redemption was no issue at all.

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The best webcams are expensive, and still don't compare to a proper DSLR or camcorder. Many of these cameras have an HDMI-out port, which is usually meant for a field monitor, but you can also connect these cameras to your capture card and use it as a live feed for streaming or any other purpose. With superior lenses and proper optical zoom, you can elevate your live content with a camera you already own for the price of a capture card and perhaps a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable.

When I bought my first capture card in the early 2000s, it cost a fortune, and it could barely capture anything decent. These days, even the cheapest cards and dongles do an admirable job. All you have to do is come up with a creative use for one. Luckily, you just got a great head start.