Magewell has announced a new upgrade of its free Capture Express recording application that expands the software’s streaming capabilities. 

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Magewell: A free upgrade expands the streaming capabilities of Magewell’s Capture Express recording application

Version 3.2 adds support for multiple streaming technologies including the Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) protocol developed and open-sourced by Haivision.  

While Magewell capture devices feature extensive compatibility with third-party software for streaming, live production, web conferencing, lecture capture and more, the Capture Express software offers Magewell users a lightweight, dedicated tool for recording, previewing or streaming input sources.  

Originally designed to help users verify their input signals and capture devices, Capture Express has evolved into a simple yet fully-fledged capture application supporting video up to 4K at 60 frames per second. Version 3.0 of Capture Express initially offered easy recording and previewing functionality, and the subsequent version 3.1 added the ability to stream H.264-encoded video using the RTMP protocol.  

The new version 3.2 update further expands the software’s streaming flexibility with support for the SRT protocol as well as MPEG-TS over UDP or RTP. Enabling secure, reliable, low-latency video delivery over unpredictable networks, SRT ensures high-quality streaming experiences even over the public internet. Magewell is a member of the SRT Alliance.  

James Liu, VP of engineering at Magewell, commented: “The importance of streaming as a communication medium has been accentuated in recent weeks by the health crisis the world is facing. While we had planned all along to expand the streaming capabilities of Capture Express, the beta release of version 3.2 has become particularly timely given the increased demand for streaming. Customers who previously used our capture devices primarily for internal production workflows may want to begin streaming to stay in touch with their followers, and Capture Express offers an efficient option for users who don’t need the full functionality of a third-party encoding and streaming application.”  

Capture Express 3.2 – the beta version of which is available immediately on Magewell’s website – automatically detects compatible graphics hardware in the host system and leverages GPU-accelerated H.264 encoding when possible, using the CPU for encoding only as necessary. Capture Express runs on the Windows operating system and is compatible with all current Magewell capture product lines, as well as Magewell’s first-generation capture cards and boxes.