Comparisons
qBlank vs OBS Studio
OBS composes scenes for streams. qBlank shows one source to play on and records it. Timing, sound, analogue consoles, screen, recording, and how to use both.
qBlank vs AmaRecTV
Both are small programs to watch and record a capture card. AmaRecTV has stood still since 2017. Display, setup, sound, analogue consoles, screen, recording, keys.
qBlank vs PotPlayer
PotPlayer is a video player that can also open a card. Display, setup, sound, analogue consoles, screen, recording.
qBlank vs NVIDIA App
NVIDIA's app records games on NVIDIA GPUs, with Instant Replay. Capture card, what gets recorded, codecs, replay, keys.
qBlank vs VirtualDub2
A video editor with a capture mode, long used for lossless captures. Display, setup, sound, analogue consoles, screen, recording.
qBlank vs Elgato Studio
Elgato's app for its own cards, after the 4K Capture Utility. Display, setup, sound, analogue consoles, screen, recording.
qBlank vs Streaming Center
AVerMedia's app for streams and recordings with its own devices, after RECentral. Display, setup, sound, analogue consoles, screen, recording, keys.
Side by side
Compared with OBS Studio 33.0.0, AmaRecTV 4.11, PotPlayer 1.7.23164, NVIDIA App 11.0.9, VirtualDub2 2.5.7, Elgato Studio 1.1 and Streaming Center 1.8.22.2. The details are on each comparison page.
| qBlank | OBS Studio | AmaRecTV | PotPlayer | NVIDIA App | VirtualDub2 | Elgato Studio | Streaming Center | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The program | ||||||||
| Made for | Playing on one source and recording it | Scenes for streams and recordings | Watching and recording a card | Playing video files | Recording games on NVIDIA cards | Editing video | Playing and recording on Elgato cards | Streams and recordings with AVerMedia devices |
| Still developed | Yes | Yes | No, last in 2017 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Source code | Open, GPLv3 | Open, GPLv2+ | Closed | Closed | Closed | Open, GPLv2 | Closed | Closed |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free; the AMV4 codec is paid | Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Systems | Windows 10, 11, 64-bit | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows 8.1, 10 | Windows, 64-bit, ARM64 | Windows, an NVIDIA card | Windows 7 and later, 32/64-bit | Windows 11, 64-bit, ARM64; macOS | Windows 10, 11, 64-bit |
| Download | One file, 3 MB | Installer, 187 MB | Zip | Installer or portable, 50 MB | Installer | Portable 7z, 42 MB | MSIX installer, 95 MB | Installer, 335 MB |
| Sources | ||||||||
| Capture card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | – | Yes | Elgato cards only | AVerMedia cards only |
| Screen | A monitor | A monitor | A region or monitor | An area | The desktop, off by default | A region or monitor | – | A monitor |
| One window | Yes, even covered | Yes | As a region | Yes | – | The active one | – | Yes |
| Older games in exclusive fullscreen | – | Game Capture | – | Game capture | Yes | – | – | Not stated |
| Playing on a card | ||||||||
| Display | Own renderer, D3D 11 or Vulkan | Preview, projectors | Overlay or EVR | A renderer of choice | – | Overlay or preview | Preview and full screen | Preview, full screen, preview window |
| Card format | Fitted to the video standard | Default, or by hand | From a list, or by hand | From a list, or Default | – | Driver dialog, or custom | EDID and colour range | Resolution, rate and format |
| Card sound | Own buffer from 5 ms | Held back to match the video | 16-bit stereo | Played through WASAPI | – | Played if switched on | HDMI or analogue input | Mixer with noise and echo filters |
| Analogue consoles | ||||||||
| Video standard | Found automatically | In the driver | In the driver | Not detected | – | In the driver | HDMI cards only | Not stated |
| Deinterlacing | Measured; also recorded | By hand; also recorded | Preview only | Motion adaptive, or the GPU's | – | Preview modes; half height when recording | HDMI cards only | Not stated |
| Composite dot crawl | Five filters | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Native pixel grid | Yes | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Recording | ||||||||
| Containers | MKV, MP4, AVI | MKV, MP4, MOV, FLV, TS and more | AVI | MKV, MP4, AVI, WMV, WebM and more | MP4 | AVI | MP4 | Not stated |
| Video codecs | H.264, H.265, AV1 | H.264, H.265, AV1 | AMV4 or VfW | H.264 and others | H.264, H.265, AV1 | VfW; H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, ProRes | H.264, H.265, AV1 | H.264, H.265, AV1 |
| Encoders | NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, CPU | NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, CPU | CPU | NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, CPU | NVIDIA | NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, CPU | H.265 and AV1 on the GPU | Not stated |
| Lossless | NVENC, UT Video, uncompressed | NVENC, UT Video | AMV4, VfW | Huffyuv, uncompressed | – | FFV1, uncompressed, VfW | – | Not stated |
| Sound sources | Card, inputs, outputs, system | Any, with filters | The card | The playing source | Game and microphone | One input | The card | Devices and PC sound, with filters |
| Tracks | Mixed, separate, or both | Up to six | One | One | One, or separate | One | Not stated | Not stated; voice also as MP3 |
| Replay buffer | Memory or disk, up to 30 min | Memory | – | – | Instant Replay | – | – | – |
| Camera | ||||||||
| Virtual camera | 64-bit, HDR | 64-bit, 32-bit, ARM64 | 32-bit | – | – | – | – | Yes |