Capture card black screen troubleshooting

First: turn off HDCP on the console

Turn off HDCP before anything else: it is the copy protection that makes a console send a picture your TV shows and a capture card cannot record, so OBS stays black while everything looks connected. On a PS5, open Settings, System, HDMI and turn off Enable HDCP; on a PS4, Settings, System, Enable HDCP. Restart the game after changing it.

Video apps such as Netflix or Disney+ stay protected on every console and stay black in OBS whatever you change; that is by design, not a fault. Games on Xbox and Nintendo Switch reach a capture card without this step.

Black only in OBS, or on the TV too?

If your TV or monitor is fed from the card’s HDMI output and it is black too, the picture never reaches the card. Check the direction: the console’s HDMI goes into the card’s HDMI in, and the card’s HDMI out goes to the TV. Then try one known-good cable at a time, and make sure the card is connected to the computer, since some cards need its USB for power. The console setup draws the whole path.

If the TV shows the game and only OBS is black, the HDMI side works: the cause is the mode, the link to the computer or OBS. Carry on below in that order.

Send a mode the card can capture

Many cards pass a mode through to your TV that they cannot send to the computer: 4K at 120 Hz, HDR or VRR are the usual ones. Set the console to 1080p or 4K at 60 Hz with HDR off and check OBS again. When the picture appears, turn the extra settings back on one at a time; the one that brings the black back is the one your card does not capture. Each card’s profile here lists its capture and passthrough modes separately.

Check the link to the computer

Plug a USB card straight into a port on the computer, not a hub or a front-panel extension, and use the cable that came with it. A 4K card needs the USB speed its maker lists: on a slower port it either drops its larger modes or shows nothing. Check that the computer sees the card at all: Device Manager on Windows, System Information under USB on a Mac.

An internal card such as the Elgato 4K Pro needs a Windows desktop with a free PCIe slot that gives it the lanes it asks for; it will not appear on a Mac.

Check OBS

Close every other app that might be using the card, including its maker’s own capture software: only one program can hold a capture device at a time on Windows, and the second one gets a black picture. Then, in OBS, open the Video Capture Device source, pick the card by its exact name and press Deactivate, then Activate. If it is still black, set Resolution/FPS Type to Device Default, or remove the source and add a new one. The full OBS setup is in how to set up a capture card in OBS.

Prove it with a recording

Record a minute locally in OBS with the game moving and play the file back. A picture in the recording means the capture path works; if the stream still looks wrong, the problem is after OBS, and OBS’s network, rendering and encoding counters say where. Picture fine but no game sound? See capture card has no sound in OBS.

Questions

Why does my Switch work but my PS5 does not? The PS5 sends HDCP by default and the Switch does not send it with games. Turn off Enable HDCP on the PS5, as in the first step.

Does turning off HDCP affect my games? Games play the same. Streaming apps on the console may refuse to play until you turn it back on.

Is a black screen a sign the card is broken? Rarely. Work through the steps in order with one change at a time; a card that passes the picture to your TV is receiving the signal.

Equipment for these connections

Start with the kind of gear you’re missing, and read its full profile before adding it to your setup.

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