Playing Video Games through capture cards on PC

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m1n054

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Is it possible to use a pci-e capture card like Live Gamer HD to play console games in your PC? Would they include the software to do so? i.e. display the video stream on your PC? Or would there be so much lag that you wouldn't be able to play the game correctly?

I have been looking out for the latency on the card but I can't find anything just a thread on OBS that says that its probably around ~10-20 ms lag which I'd guess it's fine.
 
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James Mason

James Mason

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Pretty sure it won't work because capture cards don't like, transmit inputs or anything, they only record video.

Why would you want to play the game on the console through your PC anyways, that doesn't really make any sense.

Lots of computer monitors have HDMI inputs so you can just hook up the console to the monitor.
 
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pm4

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If you mean Aver Live Gamer HD that one should feature pass-through on HDMI that mean input to capture card will go directly to it's output which can be connected to you PC monitor. So it should not lag. But you still wont "play" on your PC, you will be using just monitor. All processing and playing will be still in your console.
 
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m1n054

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I'm sorry I didn't meant that, I know that I won't be using the PC to run the game nor that any peripherals plugged into the PC will be available for the games I play on the console. I'm just wondering if the video/audio output can be displayed on the PC and if it doesn't have any major lag that it would affect my game play dramatically. I know that monitors nowadays have multiple HDMI sources but mines don't, my 2 monitors actually use DVI and VGA plus I'd like to have my PC environment while I still play my games. Not to mention I could potentially stream those games too, if I'd like to.
 
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pm4

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As I wrote Aver Live Gamer have pass-through that mean it should directly send input signal to output without any processing and with copy of that stream do what it should (mix with sound and record on hdd). So it should have no or very low lag on level of hdmi hardware switches or splitters so you should not see difference. If you get only vga/dvi on your pc, you will have to go with hdmi to dvi cable which means you lose sound from console, unless you got some external devices to play sounds connected to console.
 
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pm4

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No as capture card is meant extra pci-e card or external device which allow you to record ongoing gameplay on your pc or console and in many cases add ingame commentaries. You can either record with these cards or some offer also streaming capabilities.

One asked here Aver Live Gamer HD is PCI-E card which should have it's own cpu for processing which allows minimal drain of pc's cpu time meaning it should not effect performance of PC even during recording. Also this card feature input and output HDMI with direct pass through which mean that input signal from console for example is directly passed to output HDMI without (or with very minimal) lag and from there for example to monitor. This allow for example setup when console gameplay is put through PC with this card. It can be directly outputed for example to projector for view at place and also it may allow direct streaming.

For more info you can watch this video review which I hope explain all questions, Link
 
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m1n054

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The pass-through function doesn't just mirrors the HDMI input though? I know Liver Game HD has an HDMI input and output but i'm merely looking to use the HDMI input and then watch the footage of the game through a program in my PC. I'm not looking to plug the HDMI output unless I'd want to use my 2nd monitor to record/stream.

I know both OBS and Xsplit can preview the hdmi input source (happens at 6:10 in that video), I don't know if Live Gamer HD includes software to check on the hdmi input just like OBS or Xsplit. And in case it does or doesn't, does any of those programs add any substantial latency that it makes the game unplayable? I noticed on the video that it was pretty fast, but not entirely sure how fast it is.
 
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pm4

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Well I'm not sure what you want makes real sense. You can get some software like that xplit for example and display in it's preview windows input pf avermedia capture card, not sure if you need to record at the moment or having it plug in is enough. If there will be some lag it should be minor one. But I'm not sure if you will be able to display it for example on fullscreen or just in windows of that software.

if you would tell us your final goal maybe it would make some sense. Because what you want is to ignore benefit of passthru technology it makes sensen only if you want to edit live stream like adding webcam or some text, but can't imagine why would you want to do it if you want to play at same time.

Here you can see video setuping xsplit + aver media input from xbox. What is real input lag I do not know but I guess it wont be much. I still think unless you want to stream it somewhere it's better to use passthru with hdmi cable (if you do not have hdmi use hdmi-dvi cable). Link
 
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m1n054

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My final goal is as I said, I'd like to have a windowed video stream so I can benefit of my desktop environment. For any other application that I could be using simultaneously while playing games. Sacrificing a monitor space while playing games is just something I can't do.
 
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pm4

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Well something like that XSplit will do it still think it's not really sensible but as you wish :).
There may be some other softwares, but just software which would only display input from console windowed i doubt it. You will have many control panels around it which will further decrease usable screen size.
What about 2 monitor setup? One monitor game input from console and other your pc desktop?
 
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m1n054

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I know that OBS allow fullscreen and I can just alt tab between programs, i'm just wondering if the preview latency will screw up my game (anything below 70ms latency would work fine imo). I have 2 monitors and I use them all the time for everything. Browsing, Music, Chatting, Gaming.... Having a 3rd monitor to play games would be really nice though, that being said I would rather not invest into another monitor right now as I'm looking to replace my current 2 monitors. I'd rather start with the game capture card first, kill two birds with one stone (stream/record and play on same monitor without having to sacrifice pc desktop), it's also easier to manage audio this way as I wouldn't need to split the hdmi audio from every device and re route it to my sound system (managing volume is also a little bit more tricky).

Of course, if playing through the capture card without needing an extra monitor is not possible then I'd rather just buy the new monitor. The way I see it, it's $170 for just the capture card and probably around the same for a new monitor. If I can get the capture card and get similar functionality as buying the capture card and a monitor then I'd rather buy the capture card, otherwise just a new monitor I suppose. Then again I'd have to buy a new desktop if I were to buy a new monitor since mine is pretty small and can barely hold both monitors.
 
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pm4

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It is possible to some extent, you just want to use that card for something it was not meant for.
If you found software which allow you fullscreen you can try it. Not sure someone will give you definitive answer about input lag as it's really not how that card should be used so I guess noone was concerned about realtime performance not using passthru.
 
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m1n054

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Actually, people have tested out that latency before:

USB game captures latency comparisons: AVerMedia LGP (Live Gamer Portable), Elgato, Roxio, Hauppauge

Sadly, those are USB devices not PCI-E. I'd suspect you'd be reducing the lag considerably with a faster bus.

I don't know if I want to replace 1 monitor with another one that supports HDMI/DVI. It would feel too weird if I can't land similar settings on both monitors (i.e. contrast).
 
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