Recording video from game consoles?

[wacco]

Hi there.
I am looking for an affordable way to record footage from game consoles like Playstation 2 and Dreamcast. These consoles use Red/White/Yellow output. I believe that is called composite? I'm not very experienced :sly: .

Allright, I've figured I can use a PCI capture card to do this. However, i have some questions I would be happy to get answers for.

1 - Is it possible to play with full-screen/big size on the PC-monitor while recording? Without lag?

2 - What kind of affordable card can do this? My store has Happauge and Pinnacle cards. Many different ones.

3 - What software can I use?

4 - If it is not possible to play on the PC-monitor without lag, is there any other way I can do this? I mean, recording from videogame consoles?

[jggimi]

...These consoles use Red/White/Yellow output. I believe that is called composite?The yellow RCA connector is for composite video. The red and white RCA connectors are for stereo audio.I'm not very experienced :sly: .Everyone has to start from the same place -- the beginning....Is it possible to play with full-screen/big size on the PC-monitor while recording? Without lag?Unfortunately, the answer is, "It depends." It depends on your capture hardware, capture software, your PC hardware, and any softare settings you select for capture and display. That stated, your objective is to see the image while capturing, and for that, some experimentation with your hardware, available drivers, and capture software will have to be made....My store has Happauge and Pinnacle cards. Many different ones.The brand is less important than the underlying technologies on the card. The least expensive cards all leave encoding to your capture software. The more expensive cards encode in hardware. Since you have a local store, perhaps they will let you return a card and replace it with another, if it doesn't meet your needs?...What software can I use?See our FAQ (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=32575) and Guide (http://www.doom9.org/capture/start.html).is there any other way I can do this? I mean, recording from videogame consoles?VCR/Camcorder, DVD recorder, cable box with DVR... etc.

[wacco]

Thank you for very good answers.

I've been looking at This card (http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/pages/products/data_pvr350.html), do you think I would be able to get good results with it? I don't need a definite answer, but maybe you think it's likely I could do what I want with that card? I dont need absolute full-screen, just playable without being too small.

My hardware is:

AMD 3000+
1,5 gb ram
I'm running Windows XP pro

[jggimi]

The card you're looking at is the Hauppauge PVR-350, which has hardware mpeg2 encoding. Since you want to use your CPU for other things (like displaying video), this is probably a good thing. However, you will likely be dependant upon Hauppauge software and drivers for both capture and display.

Searching this forum for that model should likely elicit many reviews for you.

[olyteddy]

Hardware encoders aren't necessarily the best choice for Game consoles, as most have some delay from Video input to Display. That said, Hauppauge does use a very high quality encoder chip.

[Boulder]

I would rather get a PVR-250. The only difference is that the decoding when using the TV-out connector is hardware accelerated on the PVR-350. Otherwise there are no differences (except that 350 probably costs more :p)

[Awatef]

Hmm... I don't see the necessity of buying a card with built-in encoder here.
I have a desktop PC w/ Celeron D 2,4GHz, 512MB and a PCTV Rave card (which is the cheapest among the Pinnacle cards).
I can watch full-screen in DScaler, enable MoComp2 deinterlacing, Sharpening & Temporal Noise Reducation, and record at the same time losslessly in YUY2 with less then 40% CPU load (Pixel Width is on 480, which is totally sufficient for Composite input).

If a 2,4GHz Celeron manages this fine, what do you think a 3000+ Athlon would do? ;)

[UofC]

If a 2,4GHz Celeron manages this fine, what do you think a 3000+ Athlon would do? ;)

An AMD 64 Althlon 3200+ is about the same as a P4 3.2 GHz or was it 3.6?

I have one and it does the job well. Note, that I have done this kind of setup but do encoding all the time. All under ATI all in one wonder cards which use software encoding.

If you can over clock it, then the CPU just fly’s.