As we previously said in XLoveWiki, there are several popular splitter software out there, there can be cases when using a splitter might be better than using the video device directly (it might help you save the day, improve quality, further adjust colors etc), but also is important to know few things about using a splitter software.
- If you have an older PC (single core) it is better not to use a splitter software in order to reduce CPU load and to be able to work with higher quality. If using a splitter software is a must, use one that doesn’t takes too many CPU resources, like Webcamsplitter, also don’t keep Webcamsplitter OutPut settings opened as it will use extra CPU, also color correction feature will use extra CPU etc.
- Many models are tempted to extra adjust the colors from the splitter software, normally if you have good lights and a good webcam (or other video device) you can do all required settings directly from the webcam driver software (or capture card driver settings). Keep in mind that adjusting colors from splitter will increase CPU load, the splitter will use more CPU. Also the higher the resolution and fps is, the more CPU is used by the splitter software. As long as you have a powerful PC, you can ignore these aspects, but don’t ignore it if you have a single or dual core CPU and you want to work in Higher Quality.
- Make sure you have same resolution in the splitter and video device driver. For some video devices, like camcorders connected via capture card, there are extra settings in the capture card driver to select the capture card resolution. Because it happends often that models forget about these, they only set the splitter to a higher resolution, but if the capture card deliver smaller resolution, the quality of your image in the splitter or online will look bad.
- If you have a powerful PC, but not so fast internet connection, capturing the webcam with the splitter in a higher resolution lets say 800×600, but broadcasting in 640×480 15fps 1000kbs will result in a better quality online. Doing this in reverse for ex.. capturing the webcam with the splitter in 320×240 and broadcasting in 640×480 etc.. it will result in poor image quality online. Attention: Not all splitter software are able to handle different input/output resolutions.
- It’s in your interest to test several of popular splitter software to see which is best for you in terms of quality and resources usage. On our latest tests – Webcamsplitter had best rankings, as it is light, easy to use, flexible in handling resolutions etc.. it shows the frame rates delivered by the webcam or video device etc. You can also buy Xlovesplitter from your Xlovecam model account. Xlovesplitter is a modified version of Webcamsplitter that comes with extra benefits/features.
- Splicamera is good but known to use a lot of CPU resources especially if you add extra color corrections, use high resolutions, apply various effects, if you keep it on screen vs keep it minimized etc
- Manycam was reported by several users (you can check on the internet) that is adding some noise to the image on higher resolutions, also was reported to cause delays and degradation of quality after some time being online with it. However if these were bugs, it might have been fixed, but is up to you to check out these aspects.
- SuperWebcam project was closed for over 2 years, not being updated to the latest technologies, it can cause problem, so if you are using this software, consider finding an alternative as soon as possible
- DvDriver can be also a very good splitter, however is rarely updated (last update was in 2010), and it is a known issue that the software output resolutions are not always detected properly, for example you get the image from webcam (or other video device) in 640×480, you also select the output resolution to 640×480, but DvDriver resolution will be detected as 320×240, cropping a part of the 640×480 resolution…Anyway if you plan to test this software you can use the trial version to check first if everything is fine with it before buying
- E2eSoft Vcam it has all required features to be used in video chat industry, it allows also transformation of different format (16:9 to 4:3 for example), custom resolutions and several other advanced options that can be useful in some situations. It has a trial version so you can download and test, before buying. Some options can be a bit tricky, but if you play more with the software, you’ll figure it out.
- Other known splitters: XloveSplitter, Xsplit, CamSplitter, CamZoomer, WebcamMax, YouCam, Magic Camera etc
- Keep in mind, installing many splitters software&drivers might cause system stability problems and blue screens in some situations, as many of these software share important windows system files.. so conflicts can occur. If you start having such problems, uninstall the splitter programs that you don’t use.