About Capture cards

[MrWarren]

Trying a new area for this question. What can I get for advice on recording console gameplay? I previously owned an Elgato but when used for classic consoles it was utter crap, i want the same quality and clearness of a GameGrumps recording which shouldn't be too much to ask for.

I sold the elgato and want something suitable for classic and new age gaming. Are there any devices capable of this with actual support for both and not some dumbed down option to record old consoles?

[Samfisher]

If you want high quality, then you need a capture card with HDMI passthrough (no on-board processing) and let your PC do all the rendering grunt work.  Not sure of the exact models but I know Elgato and Avermedia has some cos I checked them out a few weeks ago.

[DeScruff]

I personally don't record game footage, but Ive heard of the issues when it comes to classic console recording because of the odd sorta not standard that was 240p.
If you are really serious about retrogaming, I can tell you the Ideal setup would be to use something called the XRGB-mini Framemeister as an upscaler. Then connect that into any modern capture card. This is how the guys at MyLifeInGaming do their videos, and their videos are... emulator quality sharp. They have a whole series of videos about getting the best video quality out of your retro systems, and even a video about their setups.
- They do use RGB modded systems (N64, NES), but In that video they show the upscaling quality of the Framemeister with basic composite video, and you could basicly replace "TVs" with "Capture cards" when they are talking about 240p video.
Just a warning though: The Framemeister is an expensive piece of hardware...

There are other upscalers out there, but their quality with retro systems varies, but ultimately I think it's better to get a good upscaler since then you can then use any 1080p capture card. - Also you wont have to worry about newer TVs butchering or flat out not working with 240p or analog connections.

[MrWarren]

It shows as 450$ USD now lol, they got a deal when they bought it, I think I'll have to find out what cheaper upscalers I could settle with, and find a new capture card even if it's not the newest thing out, just something will do.

 

Any idea what would be suitable within a low price range, someone mentioned Angry Video Game Nerd's setup, in a different forum I asked in, he uses multiple dvd and VCR setups, but it requires recording to a CD which I feel might be just as costly after a while.