This guide goes over how to use Elgato 4K Capture Utility. 

Overview video: 

Content

Introduction
Supported Devices
 
Interface

Interface - Capture
Interface - Library
 
Settings

Settings - General
Settings - Device
Settings - Device - EDID Options
Settings - Picture
Settings - Recording
Settings - Recording - Video Encoder
Settings - Recording - Format
Settings - Live Commentary

Introduction

The 4K Capture Utility was introduced to allow users to capture full 4K (3840x2160) resolution video at up to 60fps in HDR (High Dynamic Range). The older Game Capture HD software is limited to 1080p (1920x1080), which requires the source to also run at 1080p as it can’t process scaling from a 4K input source.

This guide was written with 4K Capture Utility 1.7.6. 

Supported Devices

The 4K Capture Utility currently can be used with:

• Game Capture 4K60 Pro
• Game Capture 4K60 Pro MK.2
• Game Capture 4K60 S+
• Game Capture 4K X
• Game Capture 4K Pro
• Game Capture HD60 X
• Game Capture HD60 Pro
• Game Capture HD60 S
• Game Capture HD60 S+
• Cam Link
• Cam Link 4K
• Cam Link Pro

Note: Use of Game Capture HD60 Pro's onboard H.264 encoder is not currently supported in 4K Capture Utility. Recording on this device will use CPU or GPU resources. To use the onboard H.264 encoder, you will need to continue using Game Capture HD.

The 4K Capture Utility does not support:

• Facecam
• Game Capture HD
• Game Capture HD60

For Game Capture HD or Game Capture HD60 devices, you will need to use the older Game Capture HD software. See: Elgato Game Capture HD 3.6 Software Interface (Windows) for more information. 

Interface

Similar to the Game Capture HD software, 4K Capture Utility has two main tabs: Capture and Library. Capture is where you’ll see a live preview from your capture device as well as be able to start and stop recording and flashback functionality.

The Library tab is for viewing and managing your recordings. See the Interface - Library section located below.
 

Interface - Capture

A. When a signal is being detected, it will show the details of the signal such as Resolution, Framerate, and SDR or HDR. If capturing as well, it will display the resolution, framerate, and bitrate of the recording.

On the top right, you can see the drive letter you are recording to and the reported free space on that volume.

The gear cog icon will open the Settings menu. 

B. On the bottom left of the software, you can click on the i button to change the title of your recording, the game, and the tags of the file. These are used for naming and applying metadata to the final recorded file and sorting the recordings in the library.

C. In the bottom center of the window, you will find a timer and a red recording button. The timer will show you the current duration of your recording or the current time you’ve selected when using Flashback Recording.

When recording, the recording button will pulse to a bright red. If this button is a constant dark red and the timer is not counting up, then the recording is not active.

D. Above this space is the Flashback Recording Timeline. This timeline represents the current duration of Flashback Recording. You can slide the Current Time Indicator to skip backward in time to look at what just happened and then press the record button to capture all events since the Current Time Indicator.

E. On the right side, a Screenshot button.

This will capture a lossless PNG image of your source. Its quality is not determined by the resolution or format options you chose in recording settings, only that of the input. The screenshot is stored on your Desktop directory by default.

You can change the screenshot location by going into Settings > Recording. See: Settings - Recording

Next is a mute button for your microphone used for Live Commentary and a visual indicator of the volume of your microphone activity.

Next to this you are able to see a visual indication of the audio levels and activity of the source being captured from the capture card as well as a mute button to disable the Audio Preview without affecting the recording.

Interface - Library

With the Capture tab covered, let’s look at the Library tab. Here is where you will see any and all recordings you’ve captured with 4K Capture Utility You will only see listings from recordings stored in the designated recording destination.

In this window on the left side, you can filter recordings by the Game and Custom tags you apply when beginning recording. You can also sort these results by Title, Game, Duration, Date of Recording, File Size, and the Format/Resolution setting. As well as filter any recordings that you’ve starred for special attention.

On the top right is where you can manually search for a video, as well as change the View style from Tiles to a List. If you specifically named a session of recordings, here is where you could search for it directly.

Settings - General

On the first tab of the Settings screen, you’ll see information about the currently installed Software version, checking for updates, and for configuring Stream Link. See the 4K Capture Utility - How To Use Stream Link article for more information.
 

Settings - Device

On the Device tab, you’ll have options for controlling some of the advanced options of the Capture Device. The Capture Device drop-down menu will show all currently connected and detected capture devices.

See: Supported Devices

Below this, you can find information on the Firmware version of your hardware. While we do offer the ability to update the firmware here, please do not update the firmware unless Elgato Gaming Technical Support instructs you to.

Please contact our Technical Support team before performing this function if you think you need to: http://e.lga.to/help 

Video Input shows the currently detected signal type from the HDMI input of the Game Capture device and if it is HDR.

Audio Input allows you to use the 3.5mm Analog Audio Input on your device the Elgato Chat Link.

Changing the Audio Input to Analog Audio is currently only supported with:

• Game Capture HD60 S
• Game Capture HD60 S+
• Game Capture HD60 X
• Game Capture 4K60 S+
• Game Capture 4K X

Analog Audio recording is not yet supported with other Game Capture devices at this time.

HDMI Color Range specifies if or how the capture card will override the range of color values from the Source. Bypass is recommended. However, if you’re noticing the recorded video is oddly contrasted or faded, adjusting this option may help.
 

Settings - Device - EDID Options

Input EDID Mode refers to controlling how the Elgato Game Capture 4K60 Pro will present itself to the source/console device. An EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) is a specification of supported resolutions and refresh rates of a display. Leaving this on the default Merged is recommended unless otherwise suggested by Elgato Technical Support.

Note: Not all Elgato Game Capture devices support custom EDID options. 

For more information on what EDID is and how our devices use it, please see: 4K Capture Utility - EDID Configuration

Settings - Picture

The third tab, Picture, offers controls for basic color and image controls.

•  Brightness
•  Contrast
•  Saturation
•  Hue   

If you are unhappy with the changes you made, you can double left click on an individual slider to reset it to defaults.
 

Settings - Recording

The fourth tab, Recording, is where you control all options regarding how the video is encoded and where it’s stored.

Location: This is where your final file is recorded. Unlike the Game Capture HD software, the 4K Capture Utility records directly to the final .mp4 file rather than recording to a temporary folder, then requiring an export process. This means the final file is ready to watch shortly after stopping recording.
 

Settings - Recording - Video Encoder

Video Encoder allows you to select various hardware or software encoders for the 4K Capture Utility to use for recording. By default, 4K Capture Utility will automatically select what it believes to be the best performing option. This is typically your Graphics Card (GPU) rather than CPU for best performance.

Software (Built-In) encoding uses your computer’s processor (CPU) to compress the video stream. For recording at 4K 60fps using the Software encoder, you will need a very strong processor. 

To record in full 4K 60fps with an Nvidia Graphics Card, the 4K Capture Utility requires an Nvidia GTX GPU and at least that of 9th Generation (2nd Generation Maxwell Architecture). The 4K Capture Utility uses Nvidia’s NVENC function for this process.

If you are going to be recording HDR, this requires an Nvidia GTX 10 series card or newer. Ex. GTX 1050 Ti, GTX 1660 Super, RTX 2060, RTX 3060, etc

We specifically require Nvidia “GTX” class graphics cards. “GT” graphics cards will not work as they lack the specific Nvidia Encoding function (NVENC)

HDR recording is available on the:

• Game Capture 4K60 Pro MK.2
• Game Capture HD60 S+
• Game Capture HD60 X
• Game Capture 4K60 S+
• Game Capture 4K Pro
• Game Capture 4K X

4K Capture Utility will always use the onboard H.264/H.265 encoder on 4K60 S+ instead of using your CPU or GPU to encode. 4K60 S+ is always sending encoded video to the computer in use. For this reason, it is not possible to adjust this for 4K60 S+.

Note: 4K Capture Utility does not support the onboard H.264 Encoder of the Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro. Using HD60 Pro in 4K Capture Utility will use your system's GPU or CPU for recording.
 

Settings - Recording - Format

Format controls the resolution and framerate of the final recorded file. The 4K Capture Utility supports recording up to 3820x2160 at up to 60fps. The full list of supported resolutions in the software is as follows:

•    2160p
•    1440p
•    1080p
•    720p

Each of these resolutions can be recorded at 30 or 60 frames per second.

While Game Capture 4K60 Pro can support many other resolutions, the 4K Capture Utility cannot capture or record at other than the ones listed in this article. Third-party software such as OBS Studio will be needed for this purpose. If you are capturing an Ultrawide resolution such as 2560x1080 or 3440x1440, this may appear as stretched or letterboxed video in the recording.

Framerates other than 30 or 60 will be recorded as 30 or 60. If you are using your 4K60 Pro to capture a 120hz, 144hz, or 240hz source it will be recorded to a 60fps file. If you wish to record high framerate video from 4K60 Pro, you will need to use third-party software. 

4K Capture Utility can record in the H.264/AVC format at up to 140 Mbps for SDR content, or in the H.265/HEVC format up to 105Mbps for HDR content. However, the maximum and minimum bitrates depend on the Resolution and FPS.

•    2160p60 can be recorded at up to 140 Mbps (30fps at up to 70 Mbps)
•    1440p60 can be recorded at up to 100 Mbps (30fps at up to 50 Mbps)
•    1080p60 can be recorded at up to 60 Mbps (30fps at up to 30 Mbps)
•    720p60 can be recorded at up to 30 Mbps (30fps at up to 15 Mbps)

Final bitrates may vary from the set bitrate due to the type of video content.

Output will provide a preview of the currently selected Resolution, Framerate, and Bitrate. It will also provide a rough estimate of the disk space required per hour. As mentioned before, these values will slightly vary based on the content being recorded.

Reduce Preview Framerate During Recording - In order to reduce system load, you can limit the framerate of the preview window to 30fps when recording is active.

Enable Flashback Recording - Those familiar with our Game Capture HD software will recognize Flashback Recording. This allows the software to begin recording in the background once a signal is received from the capture card. However, this recording is not permanently saved unless you use the Flashback Timeline when recording to capture that session. Once you close the software, this temporary Flashback Recording will be deleted.

Flashback Recording in 4K Capture Utility can be as little as 5 Minutes long or up to 4 hours.

Live Commentary

4K Capture Utility allows you to capture a microphone or other input during your recording. This audio is mixed together with gameplay audio automatically as well as an individual audio file along with the recording for finer editing later on.

Mono Downmix allows you to take a source that might be stereo with uneven audio and mix it to a mono source that is balanced on both sides. This may be needed for some audio interfaces.

Monitor Audio will playback audio from your Audio Input over your computer's speakers or headphones to be heard by you. However, there may be delays so this is generally something you won't keep active.

Input Gain allows you to control the volume of audio received from the audio input and how loud the audio is in the recording.

Input Level provides a quick at-a-glance look at the audio volume coming from the input.