# I Have a Problem with Elgato *and* Switch 2 Welcome to the troubleshooting adventures of the Switch 2 and my Elgato cards. Something with the Switch 2 video signal is screwy and I am a very bummed out guy just trying to record his gameplay. After a few troubleshooting sessions and sought advice, I have settled on a compromise. Let's dig in. [[Elgato has a Switch 2 Problem|Elgato still has a Switch 2 problem]] so they shoulder some of my grief here. So much so I am considering selling my 4K X and buying an [AVerMedia Live Game *Ultra* 2.1](https://www.avermedia.com/product-detail/GC553G2).[^1] I'd lose probably $50~ after fees if I sold online. Well outside my return window. Some pals with AVerMedia cards haven't had issues, so maybe the grass is greener. I digress. Back to the Switch 2 issues. It all seems to be tied to Nintendo's implementation of HDR. In short, when I turn off HDR, I can capture 4K60. If I turn on HDR, I am seemingly limited to 1080p60 and then that is still dependent on the mood my capture card is in. For a point of comparison for the table below, my PS5 Pro outputs a 4K60 HDR signal at YCBCR422 8b TM. | Resolution | HDR | Output | Capture? | | ---------- | --- | ----------- | -------- | | 4K | ✅ | RGB 10b 4L6 | ❌ | | 4K | ❌ | RGB 8b TM | ✅ | | 1080p | ✅ | RGB 10b TM | ✅ | You may wonder why 1440p is not in that handy little table and that would be because I still cannot get my Switch 2 to output 1440p. I haven't tried plugging straight into the TV, skipping the capture card altogether, but that kind of defeats the whole point of the capture card to begin with... Searching online did not really help me decipher the HDMI spec alphabet soup, so I asked chatGPT. It's answers make sense to me, but take it with whatever size grain of salt you'd like. It even made me this table, which I like a lot more than mine.[^2] | Signal Description | Resolution | Color Depth | Color Format | Signal Type | HDR | Notes | | --------------------- | ---------- | ----------- | ------------ | --------------- | --- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | **RGB 10b 4L6** | 4K60 | 10-bit | RGB | FRL (HDMI 2.1) | ✅ | Best signal, full uncompressed RGB HDR using Fixed Rate Link | | **RGB 8b TM** | 4K60 | 8-bit | RGB | TMDS (HDMI 2.0) | ❌ | SDR only, full color but not enough depth for HDR | | **RGB 10b TM** | 1080p | 10-bit | RGB | TMDS (HDMI 2.0) | ✅ | HDR possible at 1080p without bandwidth issues | | **YCbCr 4:2:2 8b TM** | 4K60 | 8-bit | YCbCr 4:2:2 | TMDS (HDMI 2.0) | ❌ | Bandwidth-efficient 4K60, but lower chroma quality, no HDR | FRL stands for [Fixed Rate Link](https://www.murideo.com/frl-data-rate-chart.html); 4L6 would therefore mean that the Switch 2 is outputting 4 lanes at 6 Gbps each. According to [official HDMI site](https://www.hdmi.org/spec/hdmi2_1), FRL is the replacement for TMDS, which stands for Transition-minimized differential signaling. Say that five times fast. I do find it funny that, based off this table, the Switch 2 is the console outputting the highest quality signal. What's frustrating is that these capture cards are supposed to be able to pass-thru and capture up to 4K60 with HDR. This has never been a problem with my PS4 Pro, PS5, PS5 Pro, and XSX. Not a single HDR compatible problem. Which signals to me that something is off with the Switch 2 selected flavor of the specification. I haven't been able to get a solid recording with any of my cards. So, unfortunately, I have opted to turn off HDR for the time being. It is more important to me to be able to capture reliably than to play in HDR. Most of the footage I am sharing to YouTube is in SDR, so this decision feels appropriate. That doesn't mean I am not bummed out. *Mario Kart Wold* looked so good with HDR. I'm not sure where the fault lies here. I suspect it is a mix between Nintendo and Elgato, probably more on the side of the Big N. I'll let you all know if I switch to AVerMedia because of all this. [^1]: Two mentions in [[Behind the Scenes of The Talk Show Live WWDC 2025|one day]]? I promise it is pure coincidence. [^2]: I noticed that chatGPT implied that my PS5 Pro was not outputting HDR, but my TV and console both say it is. Turns out I am not using 10-bit because of the Video Transfer setting toggled to -1. I believe I had to do that for video capture purposes with my 4K60S+. But now I am aware that I am not getting the full signal? This is [knowledge of fire](https://youtube.com/watch?v=eaW0tYpxyp0&t=52).