Comparison of image quality
Well, I'm not a streamer, but I need clean content for the release in my Green Room. While the Elgato transmits this data more or less in real time, the Amazon Grabber allows itself a clearly visible delay. This obviously results from the MPEG encoding, which acts similarly to a webcam but suffers from the apparently slow processing. In addition, there is no real access to the video console for any settings. First, let's look at the final result, where the video has already been rendered and the entire green background has had to give way for the underlay. And that's where you notice any coding or transmission errors!
In still images, the sharpness of the cheap grabber is excellent, with slower movements still acceptable. But when it gets hectic, you see a kind of interlace effect, where the Amazon grabber doesn't seem to get behind. This is really noticeable and it is the safe death of any Chroma key or non-red key action, because it is no longer possible to create a transparent background here. With the Elgato HD60 S, this effect occurs little or no.
Out of the Box, the Elgato HD60 S also offers the crisper image. The first image shows the Grabber from Amazon, which also provides a somewhat fluffy picture. Here, then, it must be later with approx. 5 percent contrast. Also, the gamma value is not correct, because there is no real black. In general, the color space of the Amazon-Grabber seems somewhat limited and I suspect that there is a clever reduction of the location resolution in the chrominance, so that simply a little less bandwidth in the transmission is available. This, however, takes revenge later in direct comparison.
With the Elgato-Grabber, the image is much more contrast-rich and it can also be corrected in the device itself, which would not have to be done manually later in the editing program. To save the Honor of the Amazon device, however, it is also important to note that the MPEG stream arrives cleanly until the above errors and there are no visible artifacts. But you have to correct contrast, tonal value and possibly even the black balance, because the original preset is quite lousy.
Latency and stability
Real-time transmission is only possible with the HD60 S, which of course brings clear advantages to a streamer. With the already mentioned trick, I measure with the audio signal for the entire signal path with the Elgato ca. 17 milliseconds to the video stream or recorded video file, which is a pretty good value. The Amazon-Grabber is almost a second slower, which is not bothered with the video recording in principle, but is extremely noticeable in direct comparison. Getting a direct mixing of additional audio signals in sync is almost hopeless.
However, the Elgato HD60 S weakens somewhat in stability when the signal path is not optimal. With a good but 10 meter long HDMI cable, the connection breaks sporadically or at least errors become visible, which does not occur with the Amazon device. If you don't bother with the limits of the price-grabper, you're even better off with longer cables. My wireless HDMI bridge of Gigabyte, which I have been using for years, does not run on the Elgato, but on the Amazon device.
And otherwise? The external voltage distance of the analog input of the HD60 S is good, although not excellent. In terms of power consumption, the Elgato HD 60 S wins with 1.3 vs. 2.7 watts, which means that it absorbs slightly less than half of the electrical power. However, both devices can even be operated very securely on the same USB hub when it comes to power consumption. The required bandwidth of the Amazon grabber is well below 15 Mbps, so it works with the shared streaming. However, USB 3.1 is mandatory for such a combination.
Elgato Game Capture HD 60 S (1GC109901004)
Summary and conclusion
In direct comparison and practical use in my small video studio, the Amazon grabber for the second overhead camera is the better choice, because I can achieve a secure connection with the long cable. But the cheaper graveer is nothing for the frontal recording of what is later processed with a transparent background, because one must not move too fast, because otherwise the edges of the moving objects will fray clearly visibly.
However, whether the purchase price from approx. 160 Euro street price for the Elgato HD60 S, you have to make up for it with yourself. However, if you calculate the time you lose with the tedious post-processing of the Amazon device, because the more elaborate and additional masking of the frayed areas really takes time to create and encode, then the question is quickly answered. Simple minds will also be happy with the software bundle from Elgato, the slightly better oriented noble streamer takes OBS anyway.
Conclusion? The Elgato HD60 S does exactly what it is supposed to do quite well. But it only likes very stable input signals, you have to plan that. Normally, however, there are no problems in practice with the usual cable lengths of 2 meters or less. And what is my real criticism? The homepage should offer a manual as an electronic download individually and in the immediately visible area and should not withhold the information about the somewhat corked signal path with a PS4. Streamers with USB headset and PS4 can hardly do anything with the Elgato HD60 S. That, at least, is what we have to describe. The rest then fits again.
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