Magewell Pro Capture AIO

About this product

When you cannot be sure what the next source will be, the Pro Capture AIO lets you take it anyway. It suits lecture rooms, hire stock, archive work and any desktop computer or server that has to deal with both new and old equipment. AIO stands for all-in-one: a single PCIe capture card that accepts almost any common video connection, digital or analogue, and hands the uncompressed picture and sound to software on that computer. It is a one-channel HD capture card.

One channel, many connectors

The card has several inputs and captures one source at a time. You can choose the input in software, or let the card scan for a live signal when the selected input has none, which saves a trip to the settings when someone swaps the cable. To capture two sources together, use a two-channel card or two cards.

What goes in

• SDI. A BNC input for SD, HD and 3G-SDI, including 2K at 2048×1080, with up to eight embedded audio channels. A cable equaliser allows up to 150 metres of 3G-SDI cable, so the camera can be at the far end of the hall.
• DVI and HDMI. DVI plugs straight into the card’s DVI-I socket. HDMI (HDMI 1.4a) connects through the supplied DVI-I breakout cable, which has an HDMI connector and component connectors.
• VGA. Through the supplied DVI to VGA adapter, so older laptops and PCs are covered.
• Analogue video and audio. A DB9 socket takes the second supplied breakout cable, giving component, S-Video and composite inputs (NTSC, PAL and SECAM) plus analogue stereo audio. That keeps your tape decks and older cameras in use.

Resolution and frame rate

The card takes input and capture resolutions up to 2048×2048 pixels, at frame rates up to 144 frames per second depending on resolution, with about 80 frames per second at 1920×1080 as an example. So 1080p at 50 or 60 frames per second is comfortably within range. This is the HD model; for 4K sources see the Pro Capture range page.

Picture work done on the card

Video processing happens on the card, which leaves the computer’s processor free for your software. The card handles cropping, scaling (up or down conversion), de-interlacing, aspect ratio conversion, colour space conversion and frame rate conversion, all with 10-bit processing, so the picture arrives in the size and format your software asked for. A PNG image can be overlaid as an on-screen display. One input can feed an unlimited number of capture streams at once, each with its own resolution, frame rate and colour format, so two programs can use the same source in different sizes.

Fitting it in a computer

• Slot. PCIe Gen2 x1. Any PCI Express slot is at least that size, so you can use whichever slot is free, including a longer x4, x8 or x16 slot.
• Size. A normal-profile card, 92.76 × 96.24 mm without the bracket. It needs a full-height slot, so check your chassis takes full-height cards.
• Power. About 5.03 W at most, taken from the slot.
• Several cards. A rotary switch on each card sets its card number, so several cards can share one computer and you can tell them apart.

Works with the software you already use

• Operating systems. Windows 10, 11 and Server 2016 to 2025, Linux (kernel 2.6.35 and above, including ARM) and macOS.
• Standard interfaces. DirectShow on Windows, V4L2 on Linux and AVCaptureSession on macOS, so it works with OBS, vMix, Wirecast, XSplit and VLC among others.
• Magewell software. Magewell’s Capture Express program is included, so you can capture from day one, and there is a Capture SDK for developers on Windows, Linux and Mac.

Where it sits in the range

Choose the AIO when the source varies. If your source is always HDMI, the Pro Capture HDMI is a low-profile card with an HDMI socket on the card. If it is always SDI, or you need a loop-through output, the Pro Capture SDI is low profile and adds an SDI loop-through. All cards are on the Pro Capture range page.