Elgato Stream Deck Solutions for Content Creators, Streamers, and Live Production

The way creators and production teams control their workflows has evolved dramatically—and Elgato Stream Deck has become one of the most powerful tools driving that change.

In this episode of Videoguys Live, James sits down in the studio with Chris Burgos from Elgato for a deep dive into the Elgato Stream Deck ecosystem, exploring how Stream Deck products are used across content creation, live streaming, broadcast, corporate AV, and houses of worship.

From compact desktop controllers to rack-mounted, PoE-powered solutions, Elgato now offers a Stream Deck for virtually every workflow.

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What Is Elgato Stream Deck?

Elgato Stream Deck was originally designed for streamers and YouTubers who needed an easier way to control live streams, manage chat, trigger graphics, and automate repetitive tasks. Instead of juggling keyboards, mice, and software menus, Stream Deck introduced a simple panel of customizable LCD buttons that could trigger single or multi-step actions with one press.

That creator-first mindset—powerful, flexible, and easy to use—has carried through as Stream Deck expanded into professional production environments.

Today, Stream Deck is used in:

• Live streaming studios
• Broadcast control rooms
• Corporate AV and boardrooms
• Houses of worship
• Live events and touring productions

Stream Deck MK.2: The Starting Point for Creators

The Stream Deck MK.2 is the modern evolution of the original Stream Deck and remains the entry point for many creators.

Key Features:

• 15 customizable LCD keys
• USB connection for plug-and-play setup
• Interchangeable faceplates for personalization
• Simple, intuitive Stream Deck software

The MK.2 is ideal for streamers, podcasters, and content creators who want to go beyond basic keyboard shortcuts. With support for multi-action buttons, creators can trigger scene changes, launch graphics, mute microphones, and control software—all with a single press.

Stream Deck XL: Power and Scale for Live Production

For more advanced workflows, Stream Deck XL offers significantly more control.

Why Choose Stream Deck XL?

• 32 programmable LCD keys
• Heavy-duty stand for desktop or production use
• USB-C connectivity
• Optional network enablement with Elgato Network Dock

The XL is widely used in live production environments, including:

• Broadcast studios
• Houses of worship
• Live events
• Multi-camera streaming setups

At Videoguys Live, a Stream Deck XL is used directly with a TriCaster TC1 Pro to trigger graphics, memes, camera inputs, and show elements in real time—demonstrating how Stream Deck can function as a powerful production control surface.

Stream Deck +: Dial-Based Control for Creative Workflows

The Stream Deck + introduces a new form factor built specifically for creative professionals.

Unique Features:

• 8 customizable LCD keys
• 4 multi-function dials
• Touch strip for changing dial modes
• Integrated desktop stand

Stream Deck + excels in applications like:

• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Photoshop
• Audio mixing and microphone control
• Timeline scrubbing and frame-by-frame editing

Editors love the tactile precision of the dials, especially for scrubbing timelines and making fine adjustments that are difficult with a mouse. The Plus can also control Elgato Prompter speed, making it a natural fit for on-camera creators.

Stream Deck Software & Elgato Marketplace

Every Stream Deck is powered by free Stream Deck software, designed to make complex workflows simple.

Key Software Benefits:

• Multi-action buttons
• Multiple profiles and pages
• Per-application layouts
• Easy drag-and-drop setup

The Elgato Marketplace expands Stream Deck’s capabilities even further with plugins, profiles, icons, and integrations for:

• OBS Studio
• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Zoom and Microsoft Teams
• PTZ cameras and switchers
• Social media platforms like TikTok

Marketplace integrations install seamlessly, opening directly in the Stream Deck software—no manual configuration or file management required.

Elgato Prompter XL: Professional Teleprompting Made Simple

Elgato’s move into professional workflows continues with the Prompter XL, a 15.6-inch Full HD teleprompter designed for creators, podcasters, and corporate presenters.

Prompter XL Highlights:

• Large 15.6" Full HD display
• Magnetic monitor mounting
• Single USB-C cable for power, video, and control
• Adjustable text opacity
• AI-powered voice tracking (on supported systems)

Prompter XL integrates seamlessly with Stream Deck, allowing creators to control scroll speed manually or automatically. It can even double as a standard monitor for Zoom or Teams meetings—helping presenters maintain proper eye contact on camera.

Stream Deck Studio: Built for Broadcast and Enterprise AV

The Stream Deck Studio is Elgato’s most advanced control surface, designed specifically for broadcast, live events, and enterprise AV environments.

Stream Deck Studio Features:

• Rack-mountable 19" form factor
• 32 customizable LCD keys
• Power over Ethernet (PoE)
• Dual multi-function rotary encoders
• Front-mounted USB-C expansion port
• Built-in NFC reader for user profiles

Stream Deck Studio enables scalable, multi-operator workflows where different users can access their own configurations using NFC cards—perfect for:

• Broadcast facilities
• Corporate boardrooms
• Houses of worship with volunteer operators
• Touring and live event productions

With enterprise-grade reliability and IP-based connectivity, Stream Deck Studio bridges the gap between traditional broadcast control panels and modern software-defined production.

One Ecosystem, Endless Workflows

From the Stream Deck Mk.2 to the Stream Deck Studio, Elgato has built an ecosystem that scales from solo creators to enterprise production teams—without sacrificing ease of use.

As Chris Burgos explains, Elgato remains committed to both:

• The creator and streamer community
• The growing professional broadcast and AV market

Every Stream Deck shares the same DNA: intuitive control, deep customization, and powerful workflow automation.

Learn More About Elgato Stream Deck Solutions

To learn more about Elgato Stream Deck, Prompter XL, and professional production workflows, watch the full episode of Video Guys Live and explore how Stream Deck can simplify your setup.

📞 Have questions? Call Video Guys at 1-800-323-2325
📺 New episodes air every Tuesday at 3 PM Eastern

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Read the full Webinar Transcript below:

Hello everybody. Thank you for joining us for another episode of Video Guys Live. It is Tuesday. It is about 3 o'clock Eastern. Uh today we are really excited to be joined in studio by Chris Bergos from Elgato, no longer at Vizrt. Uh Chris, how are you doing today? >> Uh I'm doing really well and we have a lot of cool things we're going to be going over, but thank you for having me in studio. It's uh always a unique experience to be working with and talking with people about what Elgato is doing, especially in the world of Stream Deck. >> Absolutely. So Chris, why don't you tell us a little bit about Elgato because this is a first time that we're talking about Elgato on video guys. >> Yeah. So, uh, Elgato's origins really come out of the streamer and YouTuber space. Um, these people were looking for a way to better control their live events, control their chat, add some graphics. So the stream deck was this really easy to deploy desktop ccentric panel of buttons just an ability to hit some keys and just control some stuff that you might traditionally do in your streaming making it less difficult to admin moderate or in some instances just add a little flare to it. So that's where we sort of started that creator built but also really intuitive to use ideology and that grew into this entire line. Um, >> yeah, >> you know, we have products that are, uh, able to be used in racks. We recently, uh, released a module, so if anyone wants to make a custom build, uh, for a desktop table, uh, the Stream Deck Plus and some of the Stream Decks we're going to go over, the whole core ideology was always that they can all function easily and they all can be very powerful. So, despite whatever form factor they may be in, they all have that same DNA. >> Oh, 100%. and we've been using them throughout not just our studio but in our office and they are super easy to configure and like you said very powerful and you know just shaving as uh Brian said earlier shaving minutes off of workloads. So that is fantastic. So let's let's go one at a time and start about start with the Stream Deck Mark 2. >> The Mark 2 for me is the standard bearer. It was our first stream deck. It's a re a revision on it. says it's the Mark 2, but that same functionality with a little bit of updates to it. And it's really core 15 customizable keys, simple USB connection. We have these interchangeable face plates for people who want to really add a little bit of flare, personality to their setups, and easy to use software. And again, this is sort of like where the streamer started to get these multiple command setups. I want to be able to do something more sophisticated than what I might be able to with a mouse and keyboard. So the Mark I is the starter for Stream Deck >> 100%. And we will get into some of those software features at uh towards the end of the show. >> Yeah. >> So if we are starting with the Stream Deck Mark II, what's the next step up? >> So the XL is the powerhouse. We see these a lot in productions. We see these a lot in people who are using really sophisticated setups. I had an XL before joining Elgato on my computer setup because I wanted to be able to interact with all kinds of things. But at 32 keys, you have a lot more actions at your fingertips. Still using that USBC connection. Something that isn't promoted here, but I do want to talk about the base. The XL sits on is actually a little bit more unique because of its size. You can fit in a different product called the network dock. And now you can network enable your XL. So that's a little cool piece that we don't talk about. But again, premium build with this heavy duty stand. And then same easy to use software. And we look at this again, especially in live events, guys. Doing live events, uh, houses of worship. You want something that's got all your buttons available, controlling multiple things, XL is your choice. >> You're talking about live events, and we do this live show every Tuesday at 3:00 Eastern. So, thanks for watching. And actually over at our Tririccaster TC1 Pro, we have a Stream Deck XL and Adam is able to change uh various things. Pull up our memes, pull up comps, uh switch inputs, be able to pull up our graphics. All of this is being run off of the Stream Deck XL. >> It's such a powerful tool to have and I think the beauty of it is you get those extra buttons. Again, it's it's for the power users, but it's just so cool to say, "Hey, I have a custom button. does like six things for me and I have the icon set and it's all ready to go. >> Perfect. And next up would be the Stream Deck Plus. >> So very different DNA on the Stream Deck Plus. So we looked at some of our people who are in the more creative space. So think of like your video editors, people using Photoshop and we took a different approach. So we have less keys here with only eight keys, but we have these four dials that can do multiple functions. Right above those dials is a touch strip that you can actually swipe through and change what those dials are doing. It's got the built-in stand so ready to stand up for your desktop. And same software, but something unique it does in this sort of world is the prompters. You can actually control the prompter speed with the Stream Deck Plus. And I think I we see a lot of people using the plus in way more different ways than we see our traditional production guys, but it's so intuitive that they get right behind it and they're doing something that they really needed to. And then one last little feature here is uh in the image itself is showing control over microphones and headsets. So you're sort of, you know, where your thoughts go is the limitation. Like how much can you do? Well, there's a lot that you can customize. >> Oh, 100%. And just because we were talking about how we use our Stream Deck XL, we actually have a Stream Deck Plus in our editing room and we have the Adobe Premiere plugin. And my favorite feature on that is being able to use those knobs to scrub through the timeline and be able to go frame by frame. You know, when I'm using the mouse, sometimes I I skip three or four frames on accident. So being able to, you know, really go fine-tune with those knobs and not even have to think about it. It becomes second nature at the end of the day. >> You're going to notice a lot and and different people are going to notice that once they start to use their stream deck, it just becomes an extension of making their life a little bit easier. And that's what I've always preached when I'm getting behind it. It's like, yes, I have my full knowledge and capability to do this stuff, but having more buttons easy. Also, if I need to like take a vacation, I have all the buttons here. Here's everything you need to know. This will get you 99% of the way there and that's all I care about. >> That's great. And we mentioned earlier at the top of the show that there is some software involved to be able to get these things up and running, right? >> Yes. So, Stream Deck software is free. Uh it's got a really simple to use UI. The goal is to allow for multiple actions on a single button press and we have a growing marketplace with all kinds of uh deep integrations. you talked about using it with Adobe, you know, um on our marketplace, you can probably find a plugin for free for just about anything. Um some of the software switchers out there have some some PTZ manufacturers, some devices, some uh meeting applications. It's really unique the kinds of things you can do. Social media apps you want to get out to Tik Tok, there's an application to use your Stream Deck to work with Tik Tok. So, I I very much say if you're going to get into Stream Deck, visit the marketplace, look at some stuff, and you'll be like, man, I could control that. And then start to sort of look and say, well, you know what? I'm doing something on a Zoom meeting pretty consistently, but I also need to update this file while I'm working. Uh maybe I'm controlling my camera specifically. Now I can use that stream deck to do all those things and I'm not like in the middle of the meeting like okay I gotta hit the share button and oh I have to share my second screen or like I have to do this window. Stream deck give you a single button to just make that all happen >> and because you have the ability to customize these things. You have not only multiple pages but you can say oh I only need these three features from Adobe and these five from teams and these three from you know the tririccaster or whatever. You can have just the buttons that you need from various programs on one page or you can have multiple pages and one page be set for a certain program. >> The other thing I'm going to notice and I think the video will play here is it's super easy to use the marketplace. You're going to find the app you want. You'll click get and it actually just pops open the Stream Deck software. So there's no sort of guessing. There's no understanding, hey, where did this install or do I have to go through this different file? the integrations are really tight and I do love that for people who are approaching stream deck and saying well is it for me if there's something on the marketplace it's for you because it's just going to make your life a little bit easier and we typically talk about production setups but I do think there's opportunities beyond that where you know its origins were not in a traditional production and there's just so much you can do with it. >> No absolutely. Next thing that I want to talk about is this thing uh over my left shoulder here and that is the Prompter XL which is shipping now. As you can see we have one here. Um can you tell us a little bit about the Prompter XL? >> Prompter XL is part of our new ideology because we're working with more professional setups. We know that there are things like podcasts, there are things like corporate events where someone needs to be able to read something particularly right. Maybe it's an ad read. Maybe there's something new that's happening at the uh infrastructure level. Maybe we have a new process we're going through. Well, the Prompter XL is at 15.6 inches. It's got that nice big full HD display. It's also got something that's a little interesting in that that monitor that gets reflected. It's actually magnetic. So, setup for this thing is painless. You put it together, pop the monitor on, and off of one USBC cable, you get power, you get image, and that control. So despite it looking like something that would cost significantly more, it's giving you a lot of what we do at Elgato, simplicity, ease of use, and that price point puts it in a really specific environment to say, man, maybe prompter wasn't something the thing I thought of before, but now I can get one and start to leverage it in any kind of setup I want to do. >> 100%. And just again, because we are using the products that we now carry, um, you know, a lot of these shows are live, but we do our product spotlights. We try to do one a month. Uh those are more scripted and this thing is already saving me time and effort. And on our next product spotlight, I will be looking right at the camera, not slightly to the left of the camera. >> It's so slick to use it. And one thing that is kind of really special with this, and this kind of goes to Elgato at a greater level, if you have a very powerful PC, you can enable AI voicing. So as you're talking, it will scroll to just follow along with you. You could also, like I said, use a stream deck plus and change the scroll as you want to. Uh, you can even mess with the opacity, which sometimes people will say, well, why would I do that? You can use the prompter to actually act as just another monitor. And so, we see people using this in meetings where they're actually have the teams or Zoom meeting up. So, they're maintaining that ey line like you would do in the read. And so, a lot of flexibility. And I think again, you put it in the right hands, you start to see like, oh man, there's all these cool things that you can do. >> 100%. And then the last thing that we want to talk about is one of the newer uh products to the Elgato line and that is the Stream Deck Studio. Can you tell us a little bit about the Stream Deck Studio? >> So we noticed that a lot of productions were using Stream Decks. Um and naturally we went back and said, well, we designed the Stream Decks for streamers. We probably want to go back and redesign our product for or make a new product for these broadcasters, these live events. And so the Stream Deck Studio is that sort of product that covers that. It's easy to set up. It's got the responsiveness you need and it's got that enterprisegrade reliability. And one of the pre-shows we were actually as you guys were operating the switcher, it was just popping along with you guys that you could then hit the buttons on the stream deck studio and then control the switcher. It's it's just super easy to leverage. So you know, uh let's just you know, we talked about some of the stuff where it's versatility. It's also IP first. So it's PoE. Yep. >> So set up for this is a breeze. I mean over here on our setup in front of us, one cable. >> One cable. That's it. >> Uh we can streamline the workflows a little bit differently than what we do on the XL's and the MK is. But I think the coolest part is how scalable this guy is. >> I can get a bunch of Stream Deck studios operating different elements of my environment, have them at different stations and all contributing to this greater production. Or I could have them doing really unique things like I could have one behind the corporate boardroom, punch in a couple of things, change what's on the displays, reset the pretz cameras. So there's a lot of cool things that I think studio starts to enable. And because it's rack mountable, things get a little bit interesting. I do think people who are looking at it from broadcasting, looking at it from a live events or corporate AV space, this is actually the stream deck that may be powering their productions. >> Absolutely. As you can see, we have one here and we're going to be continuing to play with that as well. >> So, rack mount form factor, beautiful setup, easy to get in there. The 19inch rack mount, >> 32 keys, so customization. Uh, in this instance, we're showcasing uh something more like a router panel might look like. So, again, starting to think differently from where we're coming from in our origins. These two dual multi-function encoders are very specific to expanding workloads. Y >> so first and foremost you can dial them in swift go up and uh back and forward. You can do something like setting up multiple profiles or so a given stream deck studio you can go through and say hey I'm going for my morning show to my afternoon show. Twist the knob afternoon show is ready. You can actually push the buttons in to get access to different layers. So, if I wanted to, let's just say have PTZ cameras one to two and then push in have three and four, do something like that. Um, and it's interesting how much you can tweak. >> There's a whole color range on just the dial. So, just, you know, we give you that really deep level of customization. This one's probably going to be a little weird, but it's actually one of the cool reasons that when I joined Elgato, I was like, "Yeah, this is different." So, we have an NFC reader on the studio. And you might be thinking, well, Chris, why do I need NFC reader? If you're thinking about a larger scale organization or something where we're going to have multiple setups and maybe have different operators, well, my engineer could go in, tap the Stream Deck Studio with his NFC card, open up his configuration, make his changes. Okay, now we're ready for the next operator, tap the NFC card again, and now that's locked, and the operator can't interfere with anyone else's show. Alternatively, it could have different people at different positions tap into the studio and gain access. Let's just say I'm at a live event, right? I have an engineering station. Maybe I have a TD using one. Maybe my lighting director might be incorporating one because they maybe want to trigger different setups of the lighting. Or maybe someone in the back at the processor doing the LED work. All of these guys could have their positions, tap in, and now they're ready to go. And I didn't have to pre-program a bunch. I sent the the studios to different locations and everyone's ready to go. It's uh it's interesting because our designers were like why don't they do more of this and I think the idea is from our professional spaces is well we just teach the guys not to do that but now you get access to a whole different group of operators at different skill levels. >> No absolutely the the first thing that comes to my mind is specifically like a house of worship. You know you mentioned your engineers come in and then you don't want your volunteers to accidentally change something. So being able to lock out certain functionality I think is is is great. There the there are other products that do uh similar things with like PTZ controllers so you can't accidentally change the exposure but you can still move the camera. >> And the beautiful part of what we do with Stream Deck is that you can control all that stuff. >> And so you could pop in and tag like you said or maybe I tag for the easy profile. >> Hey, I'm not in. We're going to give them the four buttons and the stream button. >> Yep. Last but not least, we talk about expanding and interacting with different elements. It has a USBC port right on the front of it, which if you have any of the other stream decks, you could actually plug in, get power, and now be able to run that stream deck as well as part of your setup. So, you know, we're even thinking about people who are coming from our traditional space. Well, how would they want to incorporate it? I still love my stream deck. Still love my XL. Cool. I can also get the studio and sort of interact with it. >> That's great. Well, Chris, thank you so much for coming on to the show. As you can tell, there is a lot of great things that you can do with the stream decks, and there really is a stream deck for every kind of workflow out there. Uh, Chris, as always, whenever we have a guest on our show, especially when it's Chris Bergos, I mean, come on. Um, we like to give them the final word. Is there anything that you'd like to say to our viewers? Stream Deck and Elgato are in a unique space where we're going to be doing more than ever before. And I think it's important that we state this very firmly. We are making commitments to the professional market and still sticking with our streamer core. So you're going to be seeing a lot of different products coming at us coming from us that you might say, "Oh, cool. I'll need this or I might have thought about that." And just remember that ease of functionality out of the box is always going to be with us. So, I hope that sort of instills that I or you will be looking at the next stream deck that's coming out or getting involved with something we currently have. >> All right, Chris, thank you so much for joining us today. Um, if you haven't already, please like and subscribe to Video Guys or follow us on Facebook and we'll see you next Tuesday at 3 o'clock Eastern. Thanks. >> Video Guys is available Monday through Friday. Give us a call at 1-8003232325. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay connected with all of our updates. And you can like us on Facebook. Keep an eye out for our live videos and don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.