The AV.io HD video grabber from Epi-fan Video is an extremely flexible and high-quality
video capture device.
I have to say, it really impresses me - but does it surpass other capture cards?
Stay tuned to find out!
And be sure to subscribe to the channel for more awesome tech content and reviews like
this one - you don’t want to miss what we have coming up next.
No software nor proprietary drivers need to be installed on your computer to use this
video grabber, and it can even be used as a webcam in programs like Skype!
Impressively enough, the AV.io is compatible with all major operating system platforms
- Windows, Mac, and even Linux!
Epiphan does offer a configuration tool download on their website, which lets you customize
how the device handles aspect ratio changes and things like that - which is a nice bonus.
Taking a tour of the physical product, you’ll find an attractive - and very high build quality
- metal outer shell with some branding on the top and the usual FCC legal stuff on the
bottom.
It’s very tough feeling, and nothing moves around on the inside.
On one end, you have the USB 3.0 B-type port and a blue signal LED, which lights up to
let you know it sees your video signal, and a couple of screws.
On the other end you have a couple more screws and a DVI-I port - which is compatible with
both digital and analog sources, including audio!
Inside the box, you get a DVI-HDMI adapter for hooking up audio sources, as well as a
DVI cable and a DVI to VGA cable, as well.
If you wish to hook up component signal devices, you will need a component to HDMI converter
for your signal, prior to it reaching the device.
This also does not have video passthrough, so if you need your signal going elsewhere
(such as to a TV or monitor) you will need to split it prior to connecting to the AV.io.
This is a USB 3.0 capture device, so you will need a decent USB 3.0 port on your computer
to use it for higher resolutions and bitrates, though compressed video at lower resolution
and frame rates can be pulled via USB 2.0.
Impressively, the device can capture pretty much any resolution up to 1920x1200 at 15,
30, or 60 frames per second.
This works with both computer display resolutions as well as game consoles.
My PS4 running through this looks absolutely great!
The video captured by the AV.io looks amazing.
It can feed an uncompressed video signal to your capture program - I use OBS, but it will
work with just about anything - or you can compress it however you like.
There is virtually no input latency or lag on the video input, so it’s perfect for
live streaming.
The device is capable of recording high-quality 16-bit 48 khz PCM audio with your video, as
well.
However, the best part about this capture card is that it does 90% of the work for you!
Whether you’re upscaling, downscaling, stretching aspect ratios, or de-interlacing - the AV.io
handles all of that within its own hardware to make the least impact on your computer.
This means that you can even stream (for the most part) from a laptop!
It’s awesome.
And yes, it works great with gaming consoles, as well.
It’s hard to do any direct quality comparisons to other capture cards due to needing multiple
splitters, computers, and overall mess involved - on top of the fact that each capture card
records to its own compression and software, but I will say that recording with this capture
card through my OBS settings does look really, really good.
The colors also sometimes seem to “pop” a bit more than my Elgato HD60, which is interesting
to note.
This card is primarily intended for streaming, but it works great for just about anything.
Sports broadcasts, game streams, or desktop presentations - the AV.io is extremely flexible
for any need.
Used to, Black Magic was the go-to company for streaming and recording cards.
That may still be the case on the high-end, but for more budgeted and cheaper setups,
cards like this are where it’s at.
BlackMagic Intensity (and similar) cards require your CPU to do all of the processing, and
using multiple cards only increases the load.
With grabbers like the AV.io, your CPU is hardly doing any work!
Thanks so much for watching my review of the AV.io video grabber from Epi-fan.
Product links and my full, written review with high-quality images on our website will
be in the description below.
Be sure to comment, like, and subscribe for more awesome tech content.