SD Card Format
Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ supports exFAT and FAT32. Most current SD Cards come pre-formatted in exFAT, and exFAT is our recommended format.
If your cards are not pre-formatted, you can format them using a computer or many cameras. Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ cannot format cards.
If you insert an unformatted card, the status LED on Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ will blink the general error code.
See this article for more information: All About SD Card Use
What Happens After You First Insert a Card
When an SD card is inserted for the first time into Elgato Game Capture 4K60 S+ in standalone mode, a settings file called settings.txt is created. This file is used to change the standalone recording settings automatically.
The recording codec is based on the input format.
HDR signal – HEVC / H.265 format
SDR signal – AVC / H.264 format
Please Note: Tonemapping from HDR to SDR is not supported in standalone mode. HDR will always be captured in HEVC / H.265 format.
Writing To The Settings.txt File
This article tells you about how you can change the settings.txt file via a computer's text editor.
To do so, mount your SD card in a computer and edit it from there.
EGC_RECORDING_FORMAT_MKV=0
This setting will change the container of the recording to MKV. MKV is a corruption resistant container, meaning that if the recording should fail or the SD card is removed during the recording, the file is still usable. Note that not all video editors are compatible with the MKV container.
0 - Set container automatically based on SD card format. If the card is formatted as exFAT, recordings will be in the .mp4 container with AAC audio. If the SD card is formatted as FAT32, recordings will be cut into 4GB segments in the .mov container with PCM audio.
1 - Sets the recording to always record in the MKV container.
EGC_VIDEO_ENCODER=0
This setting changes the encoder that is used.
0 - Automatic format: this setting will encode using AVC / H.264 if the input
signal is SDR. If the input signal is HDR, HEVC/H265 is used.
1 - Encode using only AVC / H.264 (this will disable HDR input and recording).
2 - Encode only in HEVC / H265.
EGC_MAX_KBITRATE=80000
4K60 S+ records using a variable bitrate. This option defines the upper limit of bitrate that can be used.
However, if during a recording there is minimal motion, the bitrate will be dynamically reduced. This number should not exceed the write speed of the SD card used, otherwise recording will fail. The value is in bits.
80000 is 80 Megabit/second or 10 Megabyte/second
EGC_AUDIO_INPUT=0
This setting determines which audio source is used while recording.
0 - HDMI
1 - Line-in (Line level)
3 - HDMI + Line-in (This setting will combine both audio sources in one file)
EGC_AUDIO_VOLUME=176
This setting sets the analog line-in volume level. The value of 176 is recommended as it represents approximately the same volume as HDMI audio.
This value can range from 0-176.