Hi guys, my capture card is stuttering on stream despite under 55% utilization on all metrics on my streaming pc, and no stuttering and under 75% utilization on my gaming pc. This is the 2nd USB3 capture card that I've tried under 2 different manufacturers and brands. Any help in figuring out how to avoid this input lag that seemingly shouldn't be happening would be much appreciated. My webcam and no other aspects of the stream lag. Over time throughout the stream the cap card seems to get worse and worse. In the last stream I tried adjusting settings on the fly like adjusting the buffering setting, the resolution, the color and video formats, etc with no results
Question / Help USB3 Capture Cards Stuttering
- Thread starter Mednar
- Start date
current cap card: https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-Capture...=1519797789&sr=8-4&keywords=pyle+capture+card
Previous one I returned: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4SM7H6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Previous one I returned: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4SM7H6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Boildown
Active Member
Don't use a webcam in 1080p mode, especially when using a USB capture device on the same computer. They'll use up all the USB bandwidth, and the webcam if its a USB 2.0 webcam might drop the speed for all the devices down to USB 2.0.
Try to find a USB port on a different USB root hub to put your webcam on, if your laptop has more than one root hub. And unless you're a cam girl where the webcam is more important than the gameplay, run your webcam at significantly less than 1080p resolution. 540p for example, maybe smaller.
Generally speaking USB capture devices suck at their job due to bad USB chipsets on cheap laptops and competition for limited USB bandwidth, the need to compress the video before sending it to the computer, reducing quality and increasing video lag and the chance for audio-video desync. Desktop PCs and PCIe capture cards are a far better use of your money and have the benefit of actually working properly (more often).
Riley Nielsen
New Member
As Boildown said, a PCIe capture card may be a better solution. The Elgato HD 60 (they sell both PCIe and USB versions) are well reviewed. Personally I have a BMD Intensity Pro 4K but it's a bit harder to use since it lacks an on-board encoder.
Just to clarify, I had been using an ElgatoHD60 but it was maxing out my CPU so it was suggested to get a USB3 capture card instead. To clarify, are you saying to plug my camera directly into the USB port as my capture card is already as well, and throw everything else (mouse, stream deck, fan, mic) on the hub? I have 2 USB3 ports and a USB2 port, the cam is USB2 and the cap card is the only USB3 device I have.
And based on the logs are there any settings you would recommend over others for the cap card? Buffer enabled vs auto vs disabled, full vs partial color, auto vs the other video types, etc. Looking to get it set up as optimally as possible for tonight's stream. Thanks, really appreciate the help!