N00b capture card question

[illram]

Are there capture cards capable of doing the following:

1. Input a 1080p (or higher) HDMI feed to your PC
2. Decode bitstreamed Dolby Digital (AC3) or DTS audio, and
3. Output decoded PCM multichannel audio to another source, such as the GSX1000.

Ideally, do all 3 with no latency added.

Basically, can you use a capture card as a little receiver for your PC to decode bitstreamed console audio and send it somewhere else?

 

[RanceJustice]

For your first answer that is an easy yes; for the last two, I THINK they are capable though there may need to be some intermediate steps and it may depend on the card. As far as the cards are concerned, it appears that the most powerful and full featured "modern" streaming capture cards (aside from pro-level and pro-priced stuff ) are by Elgato (recently acquired by Corsair). Their HD60 Pro and HD4K Pro are the most likely to do what you wish. If you have the funds, the 4K60 Pro is probably the best option - but I'd double check on their forums or whatnot to ensure audio decoding is supported as opposed to just passthrough.

While I know that many consoles output audio in those formats, if it turns out that traditional HDMI capture cards are not able to split it out easily and decode in other forms, there may still be ways to do it - either using more specific pro-tier hardware (ie Black Magic Design seems to be well regarded) or multiple devices. If nothing else in the event a capture card doesn't work in and of itself, one solution may be to use (on your console of choice) a sound card or receiver that can decode that kind of audio (I seem to recall many consoles having digital outputs etc) , and then have it sent to the same PC that you're capturing video into, muxing the two together for whatever you need.

 

[Nytegard]

The consumer graded capture cards will not do 2 nor 3. Dolby & DTS I believe are protected by patents, and all of the ones I've tested, always down sample to stereo. There are a few that have passthrough though, if you don't plan on actually capturing multichannel.

As for number 1, any modern capture card should support 1080p. As for 4k, each has a brand. And if you want HDR, Avermedia has a consumer graded device (The Live Gamer 4k) which will capture HDR in h.265 format. If you want to upload it to YouTube and keep HDR, you need to use specific version of h.264 though. It will require a bit of work via Vegas or Premiere Pro.

That said, the professional cards will allow 2 & 3. I personally use a Decklink and have had no problems. The only problem is that YouTube will down sample to stereo.

 

[illram]

Thanks!