Elgato’s latest capture card plays nicely with variable refresh rates

Elgato’s latest external capture card is the HD60 X. It’s priced at $199.99, like the HD60 S Plus before it, but features an updated design that sees its HDMI and USB ports all placed on its rear to keep cable clutter to a minimum. It can capture up to 4K 30fps HDR. 1440p 60fps SDR, or 1080p 60fps HDR, and pass through up to 4K 60fps HDR, 1440p 120fps SDR, or 1080p 240fps SDR. If high frame rates are your priority, then it’s possible to capture up to 120fps in 1080p by scaling down 1080p 240fps footage.

The HD60 X is also Elgato’s first capture card that can pass through variable refresh rate (VRR) footage, company spokesperson Justin Ocbina confirmed to The Verge, which should keep your gameplay free of tearing, lag, and stutter when your frame rate is inconsistent on compatible hardware. It arrives as Sony is preparing to finally roll out VRR support on the PS5. VRR is also already available on the Xbox Series X / S.

Other improvements with the HD60 X include the ability to capture video with less latency than its predecessor and better HDR to SDR tonemapping when you’re converting a signal to SDR to stream on Twitch, YouTube, or other services.

Although the HD60 X is retailing for the same $200 price as the existing HD60 S Plus, Ocbina says the older model isn’t set to be discontinued, but its price will be reduced. Meanwhile, if you’re looking to record at 60fps in 4K, then you’ll need to step up to the Elgato 4K S Plus or 4K60 Pro Mk 2, which, as of this writing, are selling for $310 and $226 on Amazon. The HD60 S and HD60 Pro, meanwhile, are being discontinued.