Genki Shadowcast HDMI Capture Card Review - It is Just Not Ready
74In this episode, we unbox and test out the Genik ShadowCast, designed to let you play and capture gameplay on your computer without needing a separate television.
0:00 - Introduction
2:17 - Unboxing
6:51 - Testing the Genki Arcade App
7:27 - Genki Arcade Chrome App
8:28 - Super Genjin 2/Super Bonk 2
9:07 - Recording Format Issues
9:32 - Recording on Android
10:05 - Capturing in Streamlabs OBS
10:06 - Super Mario Collection
11:43 - Earthworm Jim 2
13:38 - Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
15:45 - PS4 Testing
17:27 - Final Thoughts
I am always looking for new ways to capture my gameplay footage. Over the past 4 years, I've gone from shooting my TV with a Phone, then I upgraded to an EZ Cap 284 to capture footage, followed up by an Elgato HD, and most recently I've moved to a Hauppauge PVR 60 Pro. The different capture cards all offer different benefits, from price to convenience to simply ease of use. When I got an email from Genki about their latest Kickstarter, the ShadowCast, and when I saw the $40 price tag I knew I needed to try it out.
The overall design is pretty simple. A device roughly the size of a thumb drive features an HDMI connector on one side and a USB-C Connection on the other. Plug the HDMI end into your game system and the USB-C into your PC or Mac, and you're ready to record and capture. Genki has their own Genki Arcade App for Windows and Macs, plus there is a Chrome app for capture as well. It also states it is compatible with OBS, Streamlabs OBS, X-Split, Zoom, and other popular applications.
For testing, I started by connecting the ShadowCast to the output of my HDMI Switcher, this way I wouldn't need to plug and unplug as I changed from system to system. Up first was my newly RGB-Modded Super Famicom Jr which I run through my RetroTink 2X Pro. I downloaded and installed the Genki Arcade app for Windows and, well... There's no record button! Seriously, you cannot record on a PC in their native app! That is terrible! I then went to the Chrome App and there were the recording controls I was looking for. Before recording in the Chrome App I decided to try recording in Streamlabs OBS.
From the word go, the game felt extremely laggy and had a lot of latency in it. Even with something simple like the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario 1, the delay was extremely noticable! I was extremely disappointed in this performance, and things didn't get better as I went along. Regardless of what I did the game play experience was not good as Genki presented it for use in their Kickstarter. Looking into the comments on the Kickstarter page, it appears that Genki removed the recording functionality from the Windows version of the Genki Arcade, as many others seem to have reported latency and lag issues. This is disappointing as the app was clearly not ready for release when the hardware was.
The easiest way to get around this lag and latency issue was to use an HDMI Splitter, outputting one side to my television and the other to the ShadowCast. This now fixed any gameplay issues as, well, I was bypassing the problem and displaying on my television. This is counterproductive as the whole idea behind the ShadowCast is to ELIMINATE the need for a TV to play on, when in actuality at this time you need a Television to make it playable.
Why it RoX:
- Only $40
- Supports 1080P/60FPS & 4K/30FPS
- USB-C output instead of Micro USB
What Could Be Improved
- High lag and latency
- Other capture cards work identically for less than 1/2 the price
- Genki Arcade App is not ready and will not record
- The one benefit of not needing a TV is actually needed to make work properly
- No Android support
Should You Buy One?
At this time, I have a hard time recommending the Genki ShadowCast to anyone. The main benefit promoted, being able to play and capture on your computer without a Television is simply not ready at this time. The Windows app doesn't record, and the output files for the Chrome App is a WEBM file, something my video players and editors doesn't recognize. In the end there's a lot of promise here but not a lot of execution. For the money, there are other options out there which work similarly or better that you might want to consider before this.
#Genki #ShadowCast #CaptureCard #Kickstarter
The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
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