Pick plugview to play: it finds the card and its sound, picks the smoothest mode, and opens when you plug the card in.
Pick QuickTime to record what the card shows, with nothing to install.
A capture card serves one app at a time on a Mac: quit one before opening the other.
Seeing the card in QuickTime
- Open QuickTime Player and choose File › New Movie Recording.
- In the menu next to the record button, choose the card as the camera and as the microphone.
- Raise the volume slider in the window to hear the card.
In plugview, opening the app does all three, and also picks the video mode and keeps the display awake.
Side by side
plugviewQuickTime Player
Made forPlaying a console or cameraRecording movies and the screen
To see the cardYes: Open the appWith setup: New Movie Recording, pick camera and microphone
Video modeYes: Smoothest mode, frame rate lockedWith setup: Quality setting only
Opens when the card is plugged inYes: From the menu barNo: No
Measure latencyYes:
plugview --measureNo: NoRecordingNo: No, screenshots with SYes: Yes
PriceFree, open sourceFree, part of macOS
Latency
Both use the macOS camera system. plugview adds what matters for games: the card's native uncompressed format, a locked frame rate (on our test card, delivery went from 20 to 60 fps where macOS had reset it), and 128-frame buffers for the card's sound. See the published measurements.
We have not measured QuickTime, so we make no claim about its delay.
$ plugview --measure Video UGREEN 25773 · 1920×1080 · 4:2:2 delivered 60.0 fps capture → app median 19.1 ms Audio buffer 128 frames capture → app median 4.3 ms
