The 8 Best Retro Capture Cards (2022 reviews)
We consider a retro capture card to be a worthy investment in the long run.
Let’s take you step by step, type by type, and find the best retro capture card for you.
Our review process:
Our Top Picks:
Best Overall: Buy: Elgato Capture Card READ REVIEWBest For Basic Capture Tasks: Buy: Elgato Retro Capture Card READ REVIEWBest For Those Platforms: Buy: Digitnow Retro Capture Card READ REVIEWBest With Proper Drivers: Buy: Redgo Retro Capture Card READ REVIEWBest With Encoder: Buy: Startech Retro Capture Card READ REVIEWBest For Packing List: Buy: Leadnovo Retro Capture Card READ REVIEWBest For Mic Input: Buy: Digitnow Usb Capture Device READ REVIEWBest For Dslr: Buy: Rybozen Retro Capture Card READ REVIEWBest Overall: Elgato Capture Card
Buy on Amazon The card is a must have accessory for your daily life. The Elgato Capture Card worked perfectly, is highly recommended and it allows for great image. Make sure this fits by entering your model number. In addition, it performs great and it is knowledgeable. The card is very good, it downloads the program and has a play design. Moreover, the card has dropped frames, it allows for a great deal and has a good design. Most importantly, the elgato capture card is super simple and it is used for system requirements.Most buyers quickly discovered that the card has many models with different options. Moreover, a few strongly agree that the card will work if plugged into a pci slot. In addition, a few also found that the card gets its power via this port, so make sure that port works.Customers also found that its wise to buy a recommended capture card, along with this card.
Top Customer Quotes:
- This takes these converted signals and works fine with them.
- Supported resolutions: 1080p60, 1080p30, 1080i, 720p60, 720p30, 576p, 576i, 480p.
- This is a bit complex if you are willing to try it.
- This comes with 2 pcie slots on the ipskl-vm motherboard.
Best For Basic Capture Tasks: Elgato Retro Capture Card
Buy on Amazon If you often find yourself scrambling for an appropriate and satisfactory card, Elgato retro capture card should be your first option for buying. The Elgato Retro Capture Card is great with video conversion and it is best for audio quality. There is no easier way to digitize home videos to playback on your computer, to sync with an iPad or iphone, to edit in imovie or Windows live movie maker, or to upload to YouTube. Moreover, the card allows for maximum resolution, works like a charm and it is reliable. Above all, the elgato retro capture card allows for great pictures and it is really fast.Almost all buyers opine that the card is the best choice for video capture. Also, they say that the card is a very efficient and economical method of transferring from VHS to digital. Moreover, they also found that this device requires a " true " 2.0 ghz cpu processor speed.Few customers got recommended capture card, along with the card.
Top Customer Quotes:
- This is easy to setup, can mess with video resolution and it does the job.
- This allows for simple installation, is great for easy setup and it worked perfectly.
- This is a great way to transfer VHS, DVR, anything with a red/white/yellow cord to mac.
- This is perfect for an affordable price, is very good and it installed quickly.
Best For Those Platforms: Digitnow Retro Capture Card
Buy on Amazon The Digitnow line of cards comes in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. The Digitnow Retro Capture Card is for driver installation, works great with obs and it allows for a quick installation guide. Connect the analog signal video recorder with your pc/laptop and achieve the conversion to digital signal capture high-quality video & audio through the popular usb 2.0 interface and does not need external power. In addition, it can capture high quality video and audio via its usb 2.0 interface and without the use of a sound card. Finally, the digitnow retro capture card is easy to capture and edit high quality video and audio with this usb 2.0 video capture box.Almost all buyers agree that the card comes with a dvd creator. And, a few say that the card comes with good software on the disk. Moreover, a few strongly agree that the card is designed for those platforms, so it would work equally as well. In short, many have used the card for more than a few months without letup, and it shows no sign of giving up.Top Customer Quotes:
- This is great value for the hardware but zero value for the software.
- This comes with decent software and it is great for high performance.
- This comes with software, instructions, really anything to make it user-friendly.
- This does work with mac but not in instructions.
Best With Proper Drivers: Redgo Retro Capture Card
Buy on Amazon The features department is where the Redgo retro capture card truly manages to shine. The Redgo Retro Capture Card is great with excellent customer service, works as expected and it is really fast. Convert your VHS tapes, hi8, v8, vcr, home movies, games or other analog video sources supporting composite rca or s-video outputs to digital format to your mac or computer. You can use burning software and burn to DVD. In addition, the card is great with life saver and it is perfect for working with windows. The card works as intended, is easy to edit and it gets to work. Also, its price is right, it works great, it can be used for pretty much any plug and has a good design. Lastly, the redgo retrocapture card is very good, does the job and it is great for decent quality.Most buyers quickly discovered that the card was the cheapest one that actually worked. Further, they also found that the card works well with esky backup cam/ samsung tablet with easycap viewer app. In conclusion, for most buyers, it was what they were looking for.Top Customer Quotes:
- This will recode the vlc .avi file to smaller files.
- This is suitable for the win10 system.
- This works for Windows 7 but there is no app for it.
- This is corrected easily via an email correspondence.
Best With Encoder: Startech Retro Capture Card
Buy on Amazon Next on the list, we've got yet another card that manages to win our hearts. It's the Startech Retro Capture Card and it's widely considered as one of the most convenient cards you can buy. The startech retro capturecard comes with xlr to usb adapter, have installed the software and it is highly recommend. Captures lossless video at 60 fps, ensuring every frame of content is saved. This hdmi video capture device has h.264 video encoding for wide compatibility - even streaming live video feeds online with services such as twitch. The card worked flawlessly, has dropped frames, it did the job and has play design. Most importantly, the startech retro capture card includes easy-to-use software that’s compatible with NTSC and pal systems, making it a must for professional video archiving applications where source media can change from project to project.Almost all customers found that the card comes with software called "streamcatcher" which is able to display, record, and stream your video input. In addition, they strongly agree that the card is not as stable with higher end editing programs as it is with the included software for capture. Moreover, a few also found that the card can be used with pal cameras, and supports 1080p at 60fps. In conclusion, most customers call the card suits best, and no one questions it.Top Customer Quotes:
- This will capture any and all videos using hdmi, dvi, or s-video.
- This has not blue screened in the middle of a capture...yet.
- The usb3hdcap will record at the resolution of the source device it is outputting.
- This can go with excellent image and it is designed for audio quality.
Best For Packing List: Leadnovo Retro Capture Card
Buy on Amazon The Leadnovo line of cards comes in a pretty wide variety of styles, so you can definitely find one that suits your individual preferences and needs. The Leadnovo Retro Capture Card is compatible with multiple systems and it has screen tearing. Make sure this fits by entering your model number. This hdmi video capture card does not need to install a driver, and is easy to use. Above all, the leadnovo retrocapture card is used for video conference, game collection, multimedia teaching scenario,s etc, It has superior performance and compatibility than the previous versions.Almost all buyers quickly discovered that the card works well as long as you on a good monitor or TV. Moreover, a few also found that the card does not hurt the output of the original source. In addition, they also found that the card does not appear to be hdr, 4-4-4, etc.Top Customer Quotes:
- This game video capture device is stylish, compact and standardized.
- This will only record sound from the console directly and the microphone.
- This is true that you're going to need a fairly decent pc.
- The super performance chip can make video conferencing, game broadcasting, etc.
Best For Mic Input: Digitnow Usb Capture Device
Buy on Amazon The best part: Digitnow Usb Capture Device costs comparatively little and it is available to ship in 24 hours. The digitnow usb capture device is made for easy setup and it is ideal for best quality. Make sure this fits by entering your model number. Moreover, this is used for video production, is perfect for social media and it is reliable. The card is used for gameplay recording from the pc and it allows for easy set-up. Above all, the digitnow usb capture device works well for media center, is good for much cooler and it is highly recommend.Almost all buyers opine that the card is easy to use and makes high quality recordings. Moreover, they strongly agree that the card comes with arcsoft video editing software. Further, a few say that the card is acceptable given that the original video tape copied is over 30 years old. In short, for almost all buyers, Digitnow product was best suited.Top Customer Quotes:
- This device only supports fat32 formatted usb devices to save data to.
- The digitnow will work with both fat32 and NTFS formatted usb sticks.
- This does allow for recording from rca inputs.
- Hdmi pass-through without any time lags.
Best For Dslr: Rybozen Retro Capture Card
Buy on Amazon The Rybozen Retro Capture Card's superior materials make sure that it ages well with use. The rybozen retro capture card has a mic-in and it is with capture cards. The Kedok capturecard has a microphone input and you can use it to add external commentary when playing a game. And, the card is easy to store, is durable and it is reliable. The card works like a champ, is good for high speed, it is compatible with multiple systems and has a play design. Also, it is suitable for mobile phone, is highly recommend, it has capture resolution and has a good design. Most importantly, the rybozen retro capture card has support mic-in for commentary, It is best for high refresh rate and has a compact design.Most customers opine that the card is recommended to be used on a PC. Moreover, a few strongly agree that the card is always clear, smooth, not glitching in and out. Also, they also found that this capture card only captures the video source to your computer. Overall, at the price, they believe that they got a steal of a deal with it.Top Customer Quotes:
- There is no delay when you are playing a game live.
- This is a great capture card for a third of the price of the Elgato.
- This can import signals from hdmi, but cannot record on its own.
- Once plugged in, the device is identified automatically as a webcam.