What are the current good HDMI capture cards/USB units around?

[gilgamesh-au]

I have done searches on the forum but the results I get are a couple of years old so are probably a bit out of date.

My TV STB is about to be swapped and the new one only has a single HDMI and optical/coax digital audio outputs.
I have previously been capturing using s-video on a Canopus ADVC-300 but with the HDMI I now need to look at a replacement.

As the STB only has one HDMI port I'm also considering a splitter, but I may just swap cables around when capturing.

A key thing is the need to strip HDCP. I will also want to capture at 1080i/50. I'm in Australia and we use the PAL system (Just in case it's relevant).

File size is not relevant as I keep a reasonable amount of spare space on my media disk and I expect later encoding will reduce the size
(My current captures are uncompressed AVI so are huge, they get reduced when I later encode to MPG or XviD).

[manono]

A key thing is the need to strip HDCP.

Then you'll need to do more than just 'consider' getting a splitter, since they're the ones that can ignore HDCP if you buy the right one. There's a big thread on the subject here:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/334145-HDCP-strippers

I'm surprised you didn't come across the thread in your searches. Maybe begin at the end and work back.

[gilgamesh-au]

Then you'll need to do more than just 'consider' getting a splitter, since they're the ones that can ignore HDCP if you buy the right one. There's a big thread on the subject here:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/334145-HDCP-strippers

I'm surprised you didn't come across the thread in your searches. Maybe begin at the end and work back.

Thank you for the response.
I did come across that particular thread but I was hoping that HDCP removal might be available in current capture units. If that is not the case then a good splitter will need to be added to my list.

[usually_quiet]

Then you'll need to do more than just 'consider' getting a splitter, since they're the ones that can ignore HDCP if you buy the right one. There's a big thread on the subject here:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/334145-HDCP-strippers

I'm surprised you didn't come across the thread in your searches. Maybe begin at the end and work back.

Thank you for the response.
I did come across that particular thread but I was hoping that HDCP removal might be available in current capture units. If that is not the case then a good splitter will need to be added to my list.

HDMI capture devices are not permitted to capture an HDCP protected signal. It is a requirement for receiving an HDMI license. Reputable companies won't intentionally build capture devices that break the rules because they don't want to loose their HDMI license.

The ADVC 300 captures DV, not uncompressed, at 13 GB per hour. Uncompressed 8-bit SD video requires 70 GB per hour. Uncompressed 8-bit HD video requires 370 GB/hour or more depending on the resolution and frame rate. Lossless compression can reduce the file sizes considerably, but they are still going to be much, much larger than what you are used to.

Most people get a capture device that hardware encodes to H.264 for convenience and reasonable file size for their captures.

[gilgamesh-au]

OK, I defiantly need a splitter to strip HDCP.
But where do we stand with with the current availability of HDMI capture devices?
Lossless compression will be fine (emphasis on lossless). I will be encoding later to a smaller format such as H.264 but I will want to do two pass encoding and tweak other parameters to maximise the quality of the resulting file.
Thaks

[usually_quiet]

There are not any HDMI capture cards that are consumer friendly and dependable, which could be used for lossless HD capture and have not been around for a few years.

The AVerMedia C027 is still around and captures 576i, 720p, and 1080i.
The Blackmagic Intensity Pro can still be found, although it has been recently replaced by a new model, the Intensity Pro 4K. The Intensity Pro 4K's drivers still need work.
The Startech PEXHDCAP captures up to 1080p25.

There are no USB 2.0 devices that allow capturing losslessly compressed HD video. You need USB 3.0 for that, but not every USB 3.0 controller will work, and the USB 3.0 port needs to be able to operate at SuperSpeed. Compatible controllers depend upon the device.

The AVerMedia Extreme Cap U3 CV710 and Startech USB3HDCAP are less finicky than the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle. The specs for the AVerMedia Extreme Cap U3 CV710 don't mention 576i as an allowable input resolution, but it can accept 1080i input. The included software for the Extreme Cap U3 CV710 apparently de-interlaces everything.

Note that all these capture cards/devices are limited to stereo audio. If you want more channels, you will need to capture audio some other way.