Magewell Pro Capture SDI

About this product

Need to get one SDI camera or router feed into a streaming, recording or switching PC? The Pro Capture SDI does it from the smallest PCIe slot, and its loop-through passes the signal on to the rest of your chain. It is a capture card that fits inside a desktop computer or server, takes one SDI source, the coaxial video connection used by broadcast cameras, and hands the uncompressed picture and sound to software on that computer. It is a one-channel HD PCIe capture card, small enough for almost any PC.

What goes in

• SDI. One BNC input accepting SD, HD and 3G-SDI, including 2K at 2048×1080, which is the largest input picture.
• Long cables. A built-in equaliser allows cable runs up to 150 metres for 3G-SDI, 190 metres for HD-SDI and 330 metres for SD-SDI, so the camera can be at the far end of the hall.
• Audio. Up to eight mono channels of embedded audio per input at 48 kHz, which means there is no separate audio lead to run. These are channels 1 to 8 of the 16 that SDI can carry.
• Loop-through. One BNC loop-through output passes the SDI signal on to a monitor, router or recorder, up to 2048×1080. You can add capture to an existing feed without buying a distribution amplifier.

Signal details

With dual-link and 3Gb dual-stream signals, the card captures the first link or first stream. Closed captions are available to developers through the SDK. The input is SDI; for HDMI sources, see the Pro Capture HDMI.

Less work for your computer

Video processing happens on the card, leaving 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. A PNG image can be overlaid as an on-screen display, which is handy for a logo or caption. 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. Scaling makes the picture fit the size you ask for.

Fits the PC you already have

• Slot. PCIe Gen2 x1. Any PCI Express slot is at least that size, so it also works in a longer x4, x8 or x16 slot. Whichever slot is free will do.
• Size. A low-profile card, 87.68 × 68.88 mm without the bracket. A low-profile bracket is supplied, so it is ready for slim and rack cases.
• Power. About 4.45 W at most, taken from the slot, with no extra power lead.
• Several cards. A rotary switch on the card gives each one a number (0 to F), so several can sit in one computer and be told apart in software.

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 you can use it with OBS, vMix, Wirecast, XSplit, VLC and other compatible programs.
• Magewell software. Magewell’s Capture Express program is included software, and a Capture SDK is offered for developers on Windows, Linux and Mac.

Where it sits in the range

For two SDI sources on one card, see the Pro Capture Dual SDI (PCIe x4, low profile, loop-through on SMA connectors). For four, see the Pro Capture Quad SDI, a normal-height card with four capture inputs. For HDMI, see the Pro Capture HDMI. All cards are on the Pro Capture range page.