USB Capture Device on 720p or better?

Hello!

I have some time reading on different forums and haven't found updated info about capture devices so i open this thread.

I am looking for an USB capture device because on my college room i can't have a TV so i want use my laptop screen to watch TV or play with my console. My laptop is an HP DV6 6b47dx with HDMI-VGA output but not IN.

I have look on ebay and amazon and every capture device on the range of 20~100$ doesn't take advantage of USB 3.0 and the higger capture resolution it toke is 480p. The most popular devices seems to be EzCap and Dazzle; both promises the same thing, however, the price range is very different so i wonder which will be the best. Also, which one have the best image?

Finally, device up to 100$ promises the same so i guess those will be a waste of money. I will appreciate any help; thanks in advance.

 

Hi. It may be useful to know what you are planning to capture. Are you talking about something to to effectively turn your laptop screen into a TV for console gaming or something to take an input from a TV Aerial/Cable feed or something to capture video from a camcorder?

To watch TV you will need a TV tuner card, not just a capture card.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I already have the TV turner; it out the TV signal on a RCA cable.

The most important part is the console hahahaha, so yes, i want something effective to turn my laptop screen into a TV. I own a PS3. If the TV signal is going to be a problem forgive it since i don't watch so much TV; my priority is to connect the PS3 to my laptop and convert the 1366*768 screen into my gaming screen.

 

I don't think you'll find anything that will work. The problem will be that the computer will naturally introduce a lag time. This isn't so critical in watching TV, but if you try to play a game then you'll be pressing buttons after they need to be pressed.

 

Personally, I'd just look around for an inexpensive 17"-20" 720p flat screen TV. You may be able to find one at Walmart or Best Buy in the $150 range.

 

@cabbiinc, how much lag time are we talking about? On the YouTube videos i watch the response time seems to be acceptable.

@gman863, well, i am not from the US. I thought bought an small screen too, but the cheaper/smaller screen on my country is like 700 USD$ (Yes, 700 American Dollars). For sure i can bought it cheaper on Amazon/Ebay/Walmart/etc, but the shipment to my country will add hundreds of $ because of the weight.

Government value 1 USD$ = 4.3 Bs (However, i can only use PER YEAR 400$ at that price)
On the black market 1 USD$ = 25 Bs (Bs is my national currency)

So, that's why i didn't bought a screen; besides, it must be small (15"/17") if i want it on my college room. At the end of the day i will not take care if the image is on 480p. I will be happy with the cheapest but working solution.

 

There's this thing http://store.hauppauge.com/hardware2.asp?product=hdpvr2_ge
It's $200 USD and it only records. It doesn't actually let you play the game through the computer. The reason why is because the video has to go through too much of your computer for it to be used as a monitor. It's different when your computer is the game console. If you read the description it will say that the device itself won't slow down your computer, but that's because it has enough memory to feed the video to your computer at a slower rate than if you were to try to watch it on your computer screen.

If you want to know just how much lag, take your laptop someplace that has a tv. Tune the laptop and tv to the same channel and see for yourself. It's not a huge lag (for my computer, yours may be different) but it would kill the gaming experience.

How about finding a computer monitor? I don't know if that would be any less expensive for you. But if you can find one with an HDMI input you'd be set. If not finding an HDMI to DVI adapter is pretty inexpensive.

 

@cabbiinc thanks for the answer. Everybody is telling that a capture device will be so much problematic so i start looking for the cheapest TV/Monitor and found this one at 79 EUR (Like 102 USD$, 450 Bs):
Samsung Syncmaster S19B150N LED Monitor 18.5 on Amazon.it

It only have VGA input so i am not sure what to bought: A PS3-VGA cable, an HDMI->DVI->Vga adaptors or an EzCap152. What do you think?

 

I would go with a PS3-VGA cable. Keep it as simple as you can get. Keep in mind that this is just video, you'll still need to run audio some how.

 

The remaining doubt is that this monitor support at least 720p, which is HD, but i am not sure if the PS3-VGA cable will bring me 480p or 720p.

I can connect my laptop via VGA to my home TV (Sony Bravia from 2012) and it outputs into 1366*768; games looks pretty good; will the PS3 do the same thing and take advantage of that 720p monitor, or i will need a component cable+VGA adapter in order to use 720p?

About the sound, it depends on what cable i bought. Thanks for notice it.

 

Ok, forgive me because i go back, but now i watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg7avMpHfz4

And there's looks like no lag at all. What do you think?

 

The product he used in that video was a knockoff of http://www.ezcap.tv/ You're welcome to try it, and it would be half the cost of a TV.