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Elgato To Shake Up Streaming Again With its New Cam Link

A compact USB device will turn your existing camera into the ultimate webcam.

Chris Jarrard

August 8, 2017 12:40 PM

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Not content with having the most popular game capture devices currently on the market, German video wizards Elgato are preparing to make grainy, low-bitrate cam streams a thing of the past with its Cam Link. The Cam Link is a thumb drive-sized device that accepts HDMI input from your digital camera, DSLR, or Hi-Def camcorder and prepares the signal in a way that lets the feed be seen as a webcam by your operating system.

Unlike recording directly to flash memory inside your camera, the Cam Link allows your video to be recorded directly to your PC, so you never have to worry about running out of space on a memory card mid-shoot. The low latency of the device will also allow for near real-time monitoring on a large screen (most likely your monitor) instead of the small displays typically found on the cameras themselves.

The Cam Link lets users capture a full 1080p60 stream from their cameras at the highest quality. Serious game streamers will be able to raise their level of production using the Cam Link. Typically, most streamers have been forced to use lower-quality webcams to get their faces onto Twitch and Youtube and will now be able to look their best for the audience.

The high quality video also calls for high quality hardware to process the data. The Cam Link will require at least a fourth-gen Core i5 processor, Windows 10x64 (or Sierra 10.12 for the Mac folks), and a USB 3.x port for operation.

Elgato is also releasing the Green Screen, a portable green backdrop that will hide background for streamers as well as provide a Chroma Key solution for using dynamic background images and video. The wrinkle-resistant green screen collapses into its own carrying case when not in use.

You can pre-order the Cam Link ($129.99) and Green Screen ($149.99) at Amazon or at Elgato’s website.

Chris Jarrard

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.