AVerMedia’s Stay Gamer Duo makes a lot sense, so why did it take so lengthy to show into actuality? The important thing characteristic is that it has two HDMI inputs. One is an HDMI 2.zero port on your console or gaming PC. The opposite is an HDMI 1.four that’s very best for one thing like a mirrorless digital camera. This allows you to have one piece of kit for capturing your entire imaging units, which ought to assist simplify the livestreaming course of.
The AVerMedia Stay Gamer Duo is accessible for $250. It captures 1080p60 footage in HDR by means of its HDMI 1 port. And that may pass-through a 2160p60, 1440p144, or 1080p240 picture (all in HDR) to your show. The HDMI 2 port, in the meantime, captures 1080p60. So this isn’t a card for recording 4K lossless video from a PlayStation 5 or the upcoming RTX 3080. That could be a good factor, nonetheless, due to the worth.
At $250, it is a well-positioned card for anybody who must seize each a gaming feed and a digital camera.
Easy but highly effective
The most important advantage of a seize card like that is that it eliminates the necessity for a number of particular person seize playing cards. AVerMedia’s Stay Gamer Duo does the job of an Elgato Gaming HD60S+ and its Camlink all by itself, all whereas sustaining that enticing value.
However in simplifying the {hardware}, AVerMedia doesn’t skimp on the capabilities. You possibly can simply carry the sport feed and digital camera feed right into a instrument like OBS or Xsplit. But it surely additionally provides you the choice of sending every HDMI port to completely different software program. That is essential if you wish to seize full 1080p60 video from each feeds after which edit them collectively later.
This makes the Duo a simple advice as a result of it does every part that just about any streamer would ever want. Even in the event you’re not planning to make use of a flowery, costly DSLR or mirrorless digital camera to start out, this offers you the choice to improve sooner or later. And at simply $50 greater than the Elgato HD60 S+, that looks like a wise transfer.
AVerMedia’s Stay Gamer Duo makes some needed compromises
You possibly can inform that one in every of AVerMedia’s objectives with the Stay Gamer Duo was to maintain the worth down. It succeeded, and it did so with none main sacrifices. However that doesn’t imply the Duo is with out shortcomings.
An enormous frustration for me is the dearth of HDMI 2.1. I get that assist for HDMI 2.1 is proscribed now, however that’s going to vary in a matter of months. PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X, and the next-gen GPUs from Nvidia and AMD will all use HDMI 2.1. And which means we received’t get 2160p120 video pass-through on the Duo. Even worse, we don’t get adaptive sync, which permits the framerate to sync up throughout units to eradicate tearing and jittering. Help for adaptive sync would make the Duo rather a lot higher at dealing with a second PC, however because it processes video at 60Hz, it could truly produce extra tearing in your footage in the event you play at a better refresh-rate.
Different points embody the dearth of 2160p30 assist on the digital camera port. This card ought to be capable to deal with that — though I get that AVerMedia probably doesn’t need to suggest that it is a 4K seize machine.
The final challenge is that the cardboard itself has a considerably cumbersome profile. This could make it troublesome to suit into you case you probably have loads of different PCIe units.
It is best to get it
Once I take into consideration who this seize card is for, I get excited. The AVerMedia Stay Gamer Duo is nice for anybody who needs to give attention to livestreaming. That viewers received’t even discover its points. All they’ll know is that it supplies a streamlined resolution for getting high-quality video from each a supply and a digital camera.
And it is smart to advocate at $250 as a result of it’ll prevent cash, area, and time sooner or later.
