Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840

by Elgato

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.2 x 7.3 inches ; 14.4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0029U2YSA
• Item model number: 10020840
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (207 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #4 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Computer Components > Video Capture Cards
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Elgato Video Capture Transfer Your Old Tapes to Your Mac Transfer video to your Mac from a VCR, DVR, camcorder, or any other analog video device as an iTunes-ready H.264 or MPEG-4 file. Elgato Video Capture’s easy-to-use software guides you through every step, from connecting your video source to recording the video on your Mac and choosing how you will watch and share it. There is no easier way to transfer home video to your Mac to play in QuickTime, to sync with an iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, to edit in iMovie, or to upload to YouTube.
Highlights High quality video capture Standard composite & s-video inputs Easy-to-use software Captures in MPEG-4/H.264 format Movies are immediately ready for iTunes Upload your movies directly to YouTube
	Turn Analog Video into iTunes-Ready Files There is no easier or more convenient way to transfer home video to your Mac. Elgato Video Capture records from analog video sources in the H.264 or MPEG-4 formats that are native to iTunes. Your video is captured in real-time and the video is immediately ready to sync with an iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV, to play in QuickTime, to edit in iMovie, or to upload directly to YouTube.
Preserve Those Precious Memories The era of VHS tapes is winding down, and after three decades there is a lot of video content to transfer for modern playback devices. What’s more, any video stored on magnetic tape (such as VHS, Video8 and Hi8) has a limited life span and deteriorates over time. Elgato Video Capture provides an easy way to bring those precious memories into iTunes, to edit them in iMovie, and to share on the Web.
	Capture from a VCR, DVR, DVD Player, or Set-Top Box Perhaps you’ve been given a DVD from a family event or reunion and you want to share it by posting it on your website or on YouTube. Or you’ve saved some great movies and TV shows on your DVR and want to play them back on your iPod. Elgato Video Capture can connect and capture video to your Mac from any device that has composite “RCA” or S-Video outputs. It also comes with a SCART adapter.
System Requirements Macintosh computer with Intel Core Duo processor 512 MB of RAM Built-in USB 2.0 port Mac OS X 10.5.6 Leopard (or later) QuickTime 7.6 (or later) iTunes 8.1 or later Technical Details Elgato Video Capture automatically detects NTSC, SECAM, PAL, and PAL/60 video formats for worldwide compatibility. Video resolution: 640×480 (4:3) or 640×360 (16:9) Video format: H.264 at 1.4 MBit/sec or MPEG-4 at 2.4 MBit/sec Audio: AAC, 48kHZ, 128 kBit/sec Generated files can be synced with video capable iPods, iPhones and Apple TV and can be edited in iMovie ‘09 without re-encoding.

Product Description

Transfer video from a VCR, DVR, set-top box, camcorder or any other analog video source to your Mac as an iTunes-ready file. The easy-to-use software guides you through each step, from connecting an analog video source, to capturing video, to choosing how you will watch and share it. One simple click adds your captured video to iTunes to sync with an iPod, iPhone and Apple TV, plays it in QuickTime, or uploads it directly to YouTube. You can also edit your video right away in iMovie. Elgato Video Capture features composite and S-Video inputs which enables you to connect any analog video device to your Mac, and comes with a SCART adapter. Elgato Video Capture handles NTSC, SECAM, PAL, and PAL/60 video and records in iTunes-ready, high quality H.264 or MPEG-4 files. Select between 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios to match the source video for optimal playback quality. After capturing you can edit your video right away in iMovie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

226 of 229 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drop dead simple..., June 5, 2009

By 

Christopher Morris - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840 (Electronics)

I read the reviews here and went ahead with my purchase anyway. I'm glad I did.

It couldn't be any more simple to record from an analog source to the Mac. My project is converting some old VHS home movies to digital videos. I wanted to try a test before I jumped into the real projects, so I decided to encode a small section of a VHS tape purchased around 1992.

I popped the software disc into my laptop and it installed in a few minutes. When finished, I launched the application and it presented me with a screen to test the video signal. I plugged in both ends of the device and I saw what was playing on my VCR instantly. The next screen made sure I had audio. Once set-up was out of the way, it was off to the races. I tested with a 10 minute section of the video and the software stopped recording exactly when I told it to.

I wanted to address the "issue" the other reviewers mistakenly have with this product not outputting H.264. The first video I captured has a file extension of ".mp4" and the description is "MPEG-4 Movie" in Finder. When I right-clicked and chose Get Info on the file, under Codecs, I see H.264, AAC listed. This proves H.264 encoding works with this product. I request the reviewers who said this is not working do the same and report the results.

Bottom line, this is a very simple to use product and I am looking forward to using it to convert those old movies from VHS. MUST BUY.

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Video Review of the Elgato Video Capture Device, January 24, 2010

By 

Charles Evans "Call me Kevin" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840 (Electronics)

Length:: 3:38 Mins

If you are like us you probably have hours and hours of home movies that are slowly decaying on VHS tape. In the ideal world I would have all of our home movies on my computer where they can be made into DVDs or sent to a media player (I am using Apple TV with 160GB Hard Drive - MB189LL/A since it works seamlessly with my Mac). I happy to report that the Elgato helps to solve the problem of how I am going to get this media into my computer. I will say that there are other options such as buying a VHS/DVD recorder and then using software such as Handbrake to rip the content off of the DVD. I am sure there are others ways too... but using the Elgato Video Capture was the choice I used.

Pros-

- Easy set-up (less than 5 minutes)
- Cost effective
- Works for all media types - if it has a RCA or S-Video output you are in business - This includes a my mini-DVD video camera, Slngbox, DVR, or your TV
- Will record directly from your Tivo (see above)
- I didn't have any of the problems with the video/audio syncing
- Works perfectly with a Mac (PC users have other choices)
- Will publish directly to YouTube and ITunes

Final Verdict - Works perfectly for me and I couldn't be happier!

77 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very easy to use & understand, makes great DVD's, August 16, 2009

By 

Gary Miller (Anchorage, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elgato Video Capture Device 10020840 (Electronics)

If you're like me, I have way too many old VHS tapes that I want to convert to DVD, but haven't found sofware/hardware combination that is easy to use, and does a great job.... Well, I've solved that problem with Elgato's Video Capture, it's so easy to use and understand. This company comprehends what we want and gives it to us. Yea.

Ok, all I need to do was first install the supplied software, hook up my VHS player with the included cables, and then read the well written instructions by Elgato. Sound easy, it is.

I looked up the first tape I wanted to do, and it had the time of it, so I set that up, All of the steps were made even easier with the step by step video/slide training on Elgato's site. Each step showed what I was to do, cables, plugs, settings, all of it there.

So once I made my first DVD from VHS, I was able to trim the boring stuff at either end, good idea. Then I was asked if I wanted to:

Play with Quick Time Player that's already on your Mac
Add to iTunes
Edit with iMovie
Upload to YouTube

I chose iTunes, so I could watch it on my iPhone/iPod or on the computer. I highly recommend it. no issues found ...I looked and could see that I could also use my camcorder, DVD player, and other analog video to my Mac via USB 2.0. The software that Elgato gives you yields H.264 or MPEG-4 that I easily sent to iTunes. Great!

Elgato Video Capture Technical Information:

Elgato Video Capture automatically detects NTSC, SECAM, PAL, and PAL/60 video formats for worldwide compatibility.

Video resolution: 640×480 (4:3) or 640×360 (16:9)
Video format: H.264 at 1.4 MBit/sec or MPEG-4 at 2.4 MBit/sec
Audio: AAC, 48kHZ, 128 kBit/sec

Generated files can be synced with video capable iPods, iPhones and Apple TV and can be edited in iMovie `09 without re-encoding.

System Requirements:

Macintosh computer with Intel Core Duo processor
512 MB of RAM
Built-in USB 2.0 port
Mac OS X 10.5.6 Leopard (or later)
QuickTime 7.6 (or later)
iTunes 8.1 or later