Atomos—the purveyor of HDMI monitor/recorders like the popular Ninja V—has just released a 4K HDMI-to-USB capture card that lets you turn your professional camera into an ultra-high quality webcam for streaming or video conferencing. The best part? It costs just $80.
HDMI capture cards like the popular Elgato Cam Link 4K are one of the easiest, highest-quality options if you want to turn your professional camera into a webcam for streaming or video conferencing. But getting your hands on one has been extremely difficult ever since much of the world locked down in March and everyone began working remotely.
Since then, just about every camera company has released some sort of bespoke software that lets you do the same thing over USB—see here, here, here, here, and here—but if you want the best possible quality, using an HDMI output is still the best way to go. Enter the Atomos Connect.
Officially announced yesterday, the company has dubbed the Connect “a convenient, reliable, and affordable bridge between professional 4K video capture and high frame rate UVC streaming over USB.” The key word there is “affordable.” Atomos envision everyone from gamers to educators jumping on the opportunity to pick up a capture card that comes in at about half the price of the $140 Cam Link 4K.
Spec wise, the Atomos Connect can accept an input up to 4K/30p from the HDMI output of your camera and outputs up to 1080/60p video straight into any computer with a USB port—no need for additional drivers, software, or a power supply. And if you own a Atomos Shogun7, you can use the Connect to pair the recorder with your Mac or PC and switch between up to four cameras that are all recording at once.
Whether you want to use a popular streaming solution like OBS Studio, set up a multi-cam “production” at home, or you just want to up your Zoom game by turning your full-frame mirrorless camera into high-end webcam, the Atomos Connect is a relatively cheap plug-and-play solution that will get you there. To learn more or if you want to order one for yourself, click here.
(via DPReview)
CORRECTION: The original version of this article stated that the Atomos Connect can output 4K video. This is incorrect. It can accept up to a 4K/30p signal but can only output up to 1080/60p. We apologize for any confusion.