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Hooking up Consoles to a laptop. Help please?

bradleyklaw

    • 44
    Posts
    10
    Years
    • Seen Aug 31, 2019
    So, I'm gonna be starting my freshman year of college soon. Since I'm going to be in an Army ROTC program, I won't be able to have a television. Having a TV in your dorm is a privledge exclusive to the seniors.

    However, a lot of people just use their computers to watch movies or play emulators. For me, I do not like the atmosphere or feel of emulators, it doesn't have the same feel as real console play.

    So, I need some help. Does anyone know any alternate ways on how to hook up my consoles onto my laptop to play them? I want to bring my Nintendo 64 and my Wii (the Wii mainly for gamecube games though). I might bring my xbox 360 but I'm not sure.

    There is one method I know of, and that is using a capture device such as an Easy Cap. I currently have an HD PVR at my disposal so I might test it out. But, I feel as if the capture card method might cause a big, noticeable delay in button response. Any feedback on that idea, let me know.

    Thanks guys [:
     
    Yeah I have one of those. It does record really nice quality and I had Sony Vegas for editing too.

    I do however remember an immense button lag between the TV and what happened on the computer screen. But the recording itself has no lag and runs really fine. No frame skips.

    Are there any ways to work around that you think? I have a new laptop for college, its a Dell Latitude e7440. Costed about 1,700$. So maybe that laptop is better, I'll try it out soon.
     
    Um, I actually think it works. The input is all you need to use. The output is just to let it show on a TV. So, you just need to put the AV cables into your HD PVR and then plug it into the computer with the USB. Kinda like an Easycap.

    At least this is with the HD PVR I have. I think its the first HD PVR. Not the second edition. It has access to normal non HD AV cable input too so I think it'll have access to nintendo 64

    I'm gonna try it out and I'll let you know if it works. If anyone has any other ideas, please feel free to suggest.
     
    UPDATE/BUMP: I actually successfuly did this on my college laptop. I tested out my Wii with its component cables and plugging it into the HD PVR. This is a brand new laptop, pretty fast.

    I could see and hear the video game on my screen just fine. I could also play in full screen. However, the button lag is immense. If it was a 1/4 second lag delay that MAY be slightly do-able. But the button lag was devastating.

    I went into training mode on melee and got out a timer. I would start the timer when i pressed the button, and i would stop the timer when the first sound comes up on the computer screen. On average, my times were very close to a full second

    A second is A LOT of delay. Too much for it to be playable. Is there anyway anyone knows of how to get the recording on the HD PVR to have less delay on its preview mode? Maybe if I chip down on its delay enough with different improvements, I can play on my computer. And no, I have no other programs up while I do this and I do NOT press the "record" button as that would cause more lag.

    But yeah, I am currently researching ideas on how to do this to make consoles play able on the computer with this devices. Any thoughts or ideas?

    EDIT: SECOND UPDATE:

    So after a lot of reasearch and trying different things, I found that it is impossible to pull this off with both versions of HD PVR. The HD PVR wasn't built to put real time video on a computer. It will always have a delay due to the fact that it compresses the video into a different file with better quality suited for the computer. That encoding usually causes a 2-3 second delay but interestingly my delay was only 1 second.

    So we are really back to square one. However, I did learn that with any video capturing device, I can see and play any game on my computer from my console. But, I just need to figure out the button lag issue. I am really wondering if there is any video capturing device that can convert the video uncompressed to the computer, just a completely RAW file. I don't know, but it looks like I have to give in on this, and especially give in on the HD PVR.
     
    Last edited:
    You could potentially just use a computer monitor if the no-TV rules are lenient enough to permit those. One could argue that being able to connect a second screen to a laptop (and only as a handy side bonus to use as a monitor for consoles) is a legitimate usecase, but that really depends on how strict the rules are.
     
    Blu·Ray said:
    You could potentially just use a computer monitor if the no-TV rules are lenient enough to permit those. One could argue that being able to connect a second screen to a laptop (and only as a handy side bonus to use as a monitor for consoles) is a legitimate usecase, but that really depends on how strict the rules are.
    Click to expand...

    That is a great idea, but actually the laptop I was issued is the only one I can use unfortunately. Connecting a second screen would probably count as a TV, especially for what I'm using it for. But I say "probably". I'm not sure how strict they are about that, but I'd imagine they won't allow it. Maybe? Who knows I might ask if this comes down to desperate measures. I need to ask them about their policies on tattoos anyway.
     
    bradleyklaw said:
    UPDATE/BUMP: I actually successfuly did this on my college laptop. I tested out my Wii with its component cables and plugging it into the HD PVR. This is a brand new laptop, pretty fast.

    I could see and hear the video game on my screen just fine. I could also play in full screen. However, the button lag is immense. If it was a 1/4 second lag delay that MAY be slightly do-able. But the button lag was devastating.

    I went into training mode on melee and got out a timer. I would start the timer when i pressed the button, and i would stop the timer when the first sound comes up on the computer screen. On average, my times were very close to a full second

    A second is A LOT of delay. Too much for it to be playable. Is there anyway anyone knows of how to get the recording on the HD PVR to have less delay on its preview mode? Maybe if I chip down on its delay enough with different improvements, I can play on my computer. And no, I have no other programs up while I do this and I do NOT press the "record" button as that would cause more lag.

    But yeah, I am currently researching ideas on how to do this to make consoles play able on the computer with this devices. Any thoughts or ideas?

    EDIT: SECOND UPDATE:

    So after a lot of reasearch and trying different things, I found that it is impossible to pull this off with both versions of HD PVR. The HD PVR wasn't built to put real time video on a computer. It will always have a delay due to the fact that it compresses the video into a different file with better quality suited for the computer. That encoding usually causes a 2-3 second delay but interestingly my delay was only 1 second.

    So we are really back to square one. However, I did learn that with any video capturing device, I can see and play any game on my computer from my console. But, I just need to figure out the button lag issue. I am really wondering if there is any video capturing device that can convert the video uncompressed to the computer, just a completely RAW file. I don't know, but it looks like I have to give in on this, and especially give in on the HD PVR.
    Click to expand...

    Maybe try a USB RCA adapter? Or a USB video capture device?

    Won't be HD, but it might not have as much lag.
     
    donavannj said:
    Maybe try a USB RCA adapter? Or a USB video capture device?

    Won't be HD, but it might not have as much lag.
    Click to expand...

    Yeah I was thinking maybe like an Easycap, but I can't find a good video that straight up says "hey you can play this from your laptop screen with no button lag or audio lag"

    But you'd think it'd work. Does anyone have an easycap that is willing to test it out and tell me if you can play on a laptop just fine? Or a video where the person shows theres no button lag on a laptop? Emphasis on laptop. Thanks for all the help guys

    EDIT: Easycap also shows bad button lag. But you mentioned RCA to USB converter. How well does that work?
     
    Last edited:
    bradleyklaw said:
    EDIT: Easycap also shows bad button lag. But you mentioned RCA to USB converter. How well does that work?
    Click to expand...

    No idea. Never used it myself. Just offered it up as as suggestion. My brother's used one before on his own laptop (though his was a Republic of Gamers laptop from ASUS) and not had any complaints, but I'm not sure there's no button lag.
     
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