PadMonitor: HDMI Monitor

Turn your iPad into a sharp, low-latency monitor for anything with an HDMI output — game consoles, cameras, computers, set-top boxes — using a USB-C capture card. Then flip on the thing no other capture app has: a live AI COMMENTATOR. A caster watches your gameplay and reacts out loud in real time — pick from eight personas, from over-the-top esports Hype to a lovingly brutal Roast to a nature-documentary narrator where YOU are the wildlife. Everyone gets a free trial, no purchase needed. Plug a UVC capture card into your iPad's USB-C port, connect your HDMI source, and PadMonitor shows it full screen with audio, recording, and tools no other capture app brings together. THE AI CASTER • Eight personas: Hype, Roast, Coach, Nature Documentary, Retro, Film Night, Focus Coach — or write your own. • Premium on-device neural voice (free download), or any installed Apple voice. • Broadcast-style ducking: the game dips only while the caster is actually talking. • Honest and private: one downscaled snapshot every 30 seconds is analysed, only while you have it switched on. Nothing is stored. WHY PADMONITOR • Honest setup — a built-in checker tells you exactly what you need and warns you when a passive adapter won't work, before you waste time. • Beautiful, fast image — a modern Metal + 120 Hz ProMotion pipeline. Sharp and responsive. • Sound that just works — audio passthrough that locks to your capture card so AirPods can't hijack it mid-session. • Built-in troubleshooter — green screen, no signal, black borders, no sound: each one explained in plain language. FOR GAMERS • Retro filters: CRT, scanlines, and sharp pixel scaling for that authentic console look. • Low-latency render path and a live diagnostics readout (capture rate, refresh, latency). • Record clips with synced audio. FOR CREATORS • Pro monitoring: focus peaking, false-colour exposure, and zebras. • Fit / fill / stretch, rotation, mirror, and independent overscan crop — framed your way, never distorted. • Clean, full-quality recording (not a screen grab that captures the app's own buttons). WHAT YOU NEED • A USB-C iPad (iPad Pro, iPad Air, or iPad mini 6/7) on iPadOS 26 or later. • An active USB-C UVC capture card (e.g. an MS2130-based card or Elgato Game Capture Neo). A passive USB-C-to-HDMI adapter will NOT work. • Note: copy-protected sources (HDCP — Apple TV apps, streaming services) cannot be captured by any capture card and will show a black screen. PRICING PadMonitor is free and fully usable as a monitor. A single one-time PadMonitor Pro unlock adds recording, retro filters, pro scopes, overscan crop — and the AI Commentator with 15 free minutes every day (everyone gets a 5-minute trial). Optional Commentary Hours packs cover marathon sessions. No subscription, ever — and never a paywall over a live signal.