Dec 7, 2010 08:15 GMT  ·  By

If you're the type of person who loves watching HD TV programs but doesn't always have the time to actually sit in front of the TV when they're aired, then you'll be happy to find out that AVerMedia Technologies might have a solution for you, namely the DarkCrystal HD Capture Station.

The DarkCrystal HD Capture Station is a USB HD capture box with H.264 hardware encoder on the board, featuring quite an attractive design and plenty of useful features under the hood.

For example, the built-in hardware H.264 encoder can efficiently lower the CPU usage, and save it for other tasks, while the H.264 format can also preserve the best video quality in the most hard disk efficient way (up to 1080i recording resolution is supported).

It's also important to mention that the DarkCrystal HD Capture Station can also be useful for hardcore gamers who want to share their exploits with the world, allowing them to record in-game action and then share it on YouTube, in a very fast and easy manner.

The device is also quite easy to setup, since one will only need to connect it with their PC and set-top box or video game console, and they'll be able to easily record the HD contents with one click.

Moreover, if the user doesn't really have time to watch their favorite shows, the IR blaster cable and the accompanying AVerMedia Scheduler software can do scheduled recording for them.

Besides the comprehensive inputs (Component, Composite, S-Video, Audio), AVerMedia DarkCrystal HD Capture Station also packs HDMI and component outputs, the latter being particularly useful for connecting a game console to the TV, while in the same time recording in-game action.

No idea on the pricing and availability just yet, unfortunately, but we'll try to find out more on these topics and share the info with you as soon as possible.