Hardware encoder question

[msmuit]

I want to do a live broadcast. My source will be a video switcher that has USB out connected to my laptop. Obviously there is a load on the laptop cpu to do the encoding.

If I were to buy a hardware encoder such as Blackmagic h264 pro would there be a much lighter load placed on the laptop cpu?

I am assuming that the blackmagic box would be doing the encoding instead of the laptop.

Thanks!