qBlank vs Streaming Center

Streaming Center is AVerMedia's app for streams and recordings with its own devices. qBlank plays and records any card, a screen or a window.

In short

Compared with Streaming Center 1.8.22.2, its release notes, AVerMedia's product page and its Japanese manual.

qBlankStreaming Center
Source codeOpen, GPLv3Closed, free
Made forPlaying on a card, screen or window, and recording itStreams and recordings with AVerMedia devices
DevicesAny capture cardAVerMedia cards, cameras and microphones only
SystemsWindows 10 and 11, 64-bitWindows 10 and 11, 64-bit
DownloadOne file, about 3 MBInstaller, 335 MB
DisplayOwn renderer, Direct3D 11 or VulkanThe scene, in the main window, a preview window or full screen
Analogue consolesVideo standard, deinterlacing, composite filtersVideo standard and deinterlacing not stated
Screen and windowMonitor or windowMonitor or window, as sources in a scene
RecordingMKV, MP4, AVI; H.264, H.265, AV1, losslessH.264, H.265, AV1; container not stated
Streaming–To several platforms at once
Replay bufferMemory or disk, up to 30 minutes–
Virtual camera64-bit, HDRYes

The two projects

Streaming Center

  • AVerMedia's app for streams and recordings. It brings RECentral, CamEngine and VibeEngine together.
  • RECentral 4 got security updates until 31 August 2026.
  • Free, closed source. For Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.
  • 1.8.22.2 came out on 27 May 2026, as an installer of 335 MB. A beta, 1.9.4.5, followed on 10 September 2026.
  • The devices' own settings are in a second program, AssistCentral Pro.
  • AVerMedia's FAQ: the older StreamEngine clashes with Windows 11 24H2 and can upset Streaming Center and OBS.

qBlank

  • Open source under GPLv3. Code, issues and releases are on GitHub.
  • English and German, with a manual in both.
  • One file of about 3 MB, from winget, the website or GitHub.
  • Recording needs ffmpeg. qBlank offers to download it, from a fixed source, checked against its hash.
  • Updates are checked on start, if you want.

Capture card: display

Streaming Center: a scene

  • The card is a source in a scene, on a canvas with its own resolution and frame rate.
  • The main window shows the scene. A preview window shows it on its own, even with Streaming Center minimised. Full screen too.
  • The general settings have a switch for VSync.
  • RTX Video Super Resolution sharpens low-resolution sources on an NVIDIA RTX card.

qBlank: its own renderer

  • qBlank draws the picture itself, with Direct3D 11 or Vulkan. Display → Graphics API picks one.
  • Each frame is drawn when it arrives, at the source's rate. A frame not yet drawn is replaced by the next, never queued behind it.
  • One frame of queue in the swap chain, tearing allowed, VSync off by default.

F1 shows what qBlank adds itself: Pipeline is the time from a frame's arrival in qBlank until it leaves qBlank. About 1 ms at 1080p60. The card and the monitor add their own on top.

The F1 statistics on Compact: Source rate 64.95 fps, reported 143.86; Output 64.9 fps, VSync off, tearing allowed; Pipeline 1.3 ms
F1 on Compact, here on a window: the source's rate, what reaches the screen, and qBlank's own time.
The two were not measured against each other here.

Capture card: setup

Streaming Center

  • It opens AVerMedia devices only, and only with their driver installed.
  • A source's settings set resolution, frame rate and format, as far as the device offers them.
  • VRR recording mode, on the GC553G2, GC553Pro and GC575, is meant to reduce flicker and stutter.
  • HDR recording for cards that send P010, with HDR tone mapping and brightness.

qBlank: fitted to the signal

  • Source lists what the card offers: Colour format, Resolution and Frame rate.
  • Match the resolution to the video standard is on by default: if the resolution does not fit, say 720×480 on PAL, qBlank sets the right one itself.
  • Enter values manually is there for formats a card does not list.
  • NV12 and P010 as well as YUY2, UYVY and RGB. 10-bit stays 10-bit, HDR stays HDR.
  • The colour range is measured from the picture.
The Source tab of the settings: picture source Capture card, Screen or Window, the input set to Automatic, the card picked under Video device, and the buttons Configure card and Reinitialise card
Source: card, screen or window as picture source, then the card and its input.

Capture card: sound

Streaming Center: a mixer

  • The audio mixer takes input devices, and the PC's own sound.
  • Microphones get noise suppression, by AVerMedia's AI or NVIDIA's, and echo cancellation. Also a noise gate, de-esser, reverb, EQ and compressor.
  • Audio monitoring plays a source back. AVerMedia advises muting Default Audio Output then, or the game sound may be doubled in the recording.

qBlank

  • Any format the card sends. qBlank converts it to what the device plays.
  • Audio buffer from 5 to 200 ms, 30 by default.
  • Exclusive Mode bypasses the Windows mixer for less delay. It locks the device against other programs.
  • A/V offset moves sound or picture by up to 200 ms during playback, for a TV or headset that adds its own delay. It does not touch the recording.
  • M mutes, + and - set the volume. Neither touches the recording.
  • Microphones and other inputs go into the recording as separate sources. See Recording.
The Audio tab: Playback on System default with Exclusive Mode off, and under Delay the Audio buffer at 30 ms and the A/V offset at 0 ms
Audio → Playback and Delay, as it comes.

Analogue consoles

  • Streaming Center's manual says nothing about the video standard or deinterlacing. It has no filters for composite or pixel art.
  • qBlank finds the video standard, deinterlaces what is interlaced, and has filters for composite and pixel art. See analogue consoles on the AmaRecTV page.

Screen and window

qBlankStreaming Center
What it takesA whole monitor, or one windowA monitor, or a window from a list
Mouse pointerSwitchableSwitchable on the monitor
HowAs the picture sourceAs a source in a scene, next to others

qBlank

  • Screen takes a whole monitor, Window one window, games and video included.
  • A covered window comes through. A minimised one does not.
  • If the title changes or the window is gone, qBlank takes another window of the same program.
  • System sound without qBlank records everything except qBlank's own playback. qBlank stays audible and nothing echoes.
  • Hide qBlank from the capture is on by default for the screen. It keeps qBlank out of every screen capture, Remote Play and Remote Desktop included.
The Source tab with Window as picture source: the window Test window — python.exe, Refresh, the boxes for the mouse pointer and the preview, and four notes on covered windows, a lost title, exclusive fullscreen and sound
Source → Window: the window, pointer, preview, and what to know.
The Source tab with Screen as picture source: the primary monitor picked, mouse pointer, preview and hiding qBlank from the capture switched on, and the notes on exclusive fullscreen and sound
Source → Screen: monitor, pointer, preview, hide qBlank.
The panel qBlank shows with the preview off: Monitor 1, 2560 × 1440, 144 Hz, 5 fps, and the buttons Start recording, Screenshot and Show preview
Preview off: the panel instead of the picture.

Recording

qBlankStreaming Center
ContainersMKV, MP4; AVI for losslessNot stated
Video codecsH.264 on NVENC, Quick Sync, AMF or x264; H.265 on NVENC, Quick Sync, AMF or x265; AV1 on NVENC, Intel Arc, AMD or SVT-AV1H.264, H.265, AV1; AV1 with the GC553G2, GC553Pro, GC551G2, GC575 or GC573, from an RTX 40 or RX 7000
LosslessH.265 lossless on NVENC, UT Video, uncompressed RGBNot stated
HDRFrom card, screen or windowFrom cards that send P010
Sound sourcesCard, inputs, outputs, system without qBlank; gain up to +12 dBThe mixer: devices and the PC's sound, with filters
TracksMixed, separate, or bothNot stated; Voice Mode adds the voice as an MP3
PauseIts own key, one file without a gapA button
Replay bufferMemory or disk, 5 s to 30 min–

Streaming Center

  • The recording is set in the settings, on the Output tab. A + opens more details.
  • Profiles switch between a landscape and a portrait layout, the latter for viewers on phones.
  • It streams too, to several platforms at once.

qBlank

  • The encoder runs inside qBlank, through ffmpeg's libraries. With NVENC and AMF the frame goes from the GPU to the encoder without a copy.
  • A change of size or video standard during a recording starts a new file, seamlessly.
  • MKV stays playable after a crash.
  • The replay buffer and the recording share one encoder. Shift+F9 saves the last minutes as a clip.
  • Markers: Ctrl+Shift+F9 sets one, players show them as chapters.
The Recording tab: container MKV, frame rate and resolution same as source, the output folder with the free space as recording time, the larger buffer in memory, and under Screenshots the format PNG and the screenshot folder
Recording: container, rate, size, folder, splitting and buffer.
The Recording sources section of the Audio tab: the card audio, an input on the system default and the system sound, each with gain, tracks and level, and the button Add
Audio → Recording sources: each with gain, tracks and level.
The Replay tab: replay in the background on, length 60 seconds, storage in memory with at most 4 GB, the free memory, and what 60 seconds take
Replay: length, and memory or disk.

Screenshots and virtual camera

  • Streaming Center takes a still with a snapshot. The format is not stated.
  • qBlank saves PNG, JPEG, JPEG XR or AVIF, HDR as JPEG XR or AVIF. Ctrl+F10 copies to the clipboard.
  • Both have a virtual camera. qBlank's is a DirectShow source for 64-bit programs, HDR included. How Streaming Center's works is not stated.
The Virtual camera section: switched on, with OBS and Discord reading, each in its own format
Recording → Virtual camera: installed, on, and who is reading it.

Keys

qBlankStreaming Center
Keys to setEvery actionFive
Keys in a gameA second key under System-wide; no other program gets itNot stated
RecordF9One key for recording or streaming, one for recording on the source or SD card
Stream–A key
ScreenshotF10A key
VRR recording mode–A key
PausePause–
Save replayShift+F9–
  • A reset button restores Streaming Center's default keys. The manual does not name them.
  • qBlank's system-wide keys are unbound out of the box.
The Keys tab: each action with its shortcut and a System-wide column, where Start/stop recording has Alt+F9, Save replay as clip Alt+Shift+F9 and Screenshot Alt+F10
Keys: one key for the window, a second one system-wide.

Only in Streaming Center

  • Scenes with layers and picture-in-picture: cameras, images, text.
  • Streaming, to several platforms at once.
  • AVerMedia cameras and microphones, with their settings.
  • Filters for the microphone: noise, echo, gate, EQ, compressor and more.
  • RTX Video Super Resolution.
  • VRR recording mode, on three cards.
  • A portrait layout for viewers on phones.
  • The voice as an extra MP3.

Only in qBlank

  • Any capture card, not only AVerMedia's.
  • Composite filters and the console's native pixel grid.
  • Replay buffer in memory or on disk, up to 30 minutes, and markers.
  • Open source.