There are also plenty of settings that can be adjusted if you feel the need or urge. For this review I left all the default settings alone.
Recording Something
When you then look at WinTV running, if your console is not on then you will either see a buffering screen, or a screen showing No Signal.
Once you switch on your console you will see it clearly on the screen.
There is even a screen capture option.
Just to show it working I recorded a few moments of my Xbox 360 starting up.
Final Thoughts
I found using the Colossus very easy to use and I didn’t have any problems recording various content. If you feel the need to record your gaming sessions, and I know a lot of people like to, then you should take a close look at this card. And you can also use it a TV capture card too!
There are instructions on changing the resolution on your consoles in order to get them to work with the Colossus (it doesn’t like 1080p, but 1080i is fine).
As most cable and satellite TV set top boxes encrypt HDMI output, cannot record from these sources, and the same goes for HDMI from your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. You have to use component cables, which still delivers acceptable quality.
Everything you need is included in the box, including an IR blaster and remote control. Just make sure that if you want to record from a games console that you have the relevant component cables for that console (I was lucky, I had a set of Xbox 360 component cables in a box in the cupboard).
Also, make sure that you have a spare PCI Express port available on your motherboard before you buy the card! It sounds obvious, but check just to make sure.
Cost wise you are looking at around £120 for the card, which is fairly reasonable for a decent capture card.
