N3X15
New Member
I realize this is a little tl;dr, but bear with me. Some of this is venting, but it describes my requirements, what I've managed to dredge up so far, and to steer people away from some of my mistakes.
Recently, I made the grave error of buying a Hauppauge HD PVR2 (Gaming edition) with the intent to stream some PS2 gameplay. After a nightmarish install process trying to get even the installer to run without croaking, I discovered that I, and apparently thousands of others, have delay problems, and the problem is not necessarily with the unit itself, but with trying to fit even SD video down the tiny pipe USB 2.0 presents. On top of this is the fact that Jim only plans to support Hauppauge devices in the rewritten OBS which appears to have stalled due to those pesky, but unavoidable, real life issues.
So, I'm packing this thing back into a box and getting it ready for RMA. However, I still would like to eventually be able to stream old games from my PS2, more modern consoles, and, assuming that moisture hasn't gotten to it, my Sega Genesis/SegaCD that's still packed away in the garage. So, bare minimum, I need composite/component video input support.
Hindsight is 20/20, and I've found that trying to stream even low-res video over a USB 2.0 interface is like trying to cram an elephant through a straw. While trying to stream even Crash Bandicoot (an old PSX game), I would eventually build up lag of over a minute, making commentary completely impossible. I know that it isn't my connection, as this would also occur while just keeping an eye on the Hauppauge Capture preview while playing through the monitor, with both xsplit and OBS closed. So, no USB, I should stick with PCIe.
Unfortunately, the world has moved on from old analog video transmission methods, so very few companies even offer systems capable of encoding analog video signals: Hauppauge, AverMedia, ElGato, and BlackMagic.
Hauppauge offers quite a line of both internal and external cards. Sadly for them, I already have a taste of what's to come. Their software is absolutely terrible, and this opinion has been derived on very recent driver and software updates (one came out yesterday, in fact). Installers frequently fail to run and refuse to find a device that is plugged in, even when that device's lights indicate a connection. You may have to start and stop Hauppauge capture just to get your computer to recognise the device, and even that is a crapshoot. Even xSplit fails to find the device half the time, and after yesterday's driver update, it couldn't find it whatsoever. So, I'll be back to Hauppauge after I find a ten foot pole that works over Amazon.
Next down the list is AverMedia, who are apparently in the middle of changing over to a new line of systems, as Amazon and Newegg list most of their devices out of stock. According to their clunky website, however, only a couple devices support component. One of them is over USB (I've already learned my lesson with that), and the other (C127) is quickly running low on stock on Amazon and doesn't support audio capture. However, the C127 is on my shortlist since it is compatible and within my budget.
BlackMagic was next. They are apparently top-of-the-line, supplying broadcast-quality equipment all over the world. Their Intensity Pro was intriguing, but apparently, I need to be very cautious when buying because there's no backsies with them. If I screw up, there is no return policy. Plus, there's apparently some problems with i7s, so I'm going to steer clear of this.
I'm still digging, but in short, I need a good PCIe capture card capable of streaming standard definition video and audio from device hooked up with composite or component video (and, hopefully, audio). I would also like to have something compatible with OBS, of course. My budget is fairly small for this market, around $200 maximum, although that's negotiable. My PC runs on Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and has an Intel Core i7 2600 at its disposal, plus 16GB of RAM and 2TB of storage (which I don't intend to use for recordings). I'm not going to need something with superb quality since I can only stream in SD due to connection problems. (Avoid Frontier Communications like the plague.) However, as always, something with lots of bang for the buck would be excellent.
Video capture and editing isn't my expertise. I am but a humble programmer who occasionally gets nagged by friends to stream myself getting mad at video games. Expert guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Recently, I made the grave error of buying a Hauppauge HD PVR2 (Gaming edition) with the intent to stream some PS2 gameplay. After a nightmarish install process trying to get even the installer to run without croaking, I discovered that I, and apparently thousands of others, have delay problems, and the problem is not necessarily with the unit itself, but with trying to fit even SD video down the tiny pipe USB 2.0 presents. On top of this is the fact that Jim only plans to support Hauppauge devices in the rewritten OBS which appears to have stalled due to those pesky, but unavoidable, real life issues.
So, I'm packing this thing back into a box and getting it ready for RMA. However, I still would like to eventually be able to stream old games from my PS2, more modern consoles, and, assuming that moisture hasn't gotten to it, my Sega Genesis/SegaCD that's still packed away in the garage. So, bare minimum, I need composite/component video input support.
Hindsight is 20/20, and I've found that trying to stream even low-res video over a USB 2.0 interface is like trying to cram an elephant through a straw. While trying to stream even Crash Bandicoot (an old PSX game), I would eventually build up lag of over a minute, making commentary completely impossible. I know that it isn't my connection, as this would also occur while just keeping an eye on the Hauppauge Capture preview while playing through the monitor, with both xsplit and OBS closed. So, no USB, I should stick with PCIe.
Unfortunately, the world has moved on from old analog video transmission methods, so very few companies even offer systems capable of encoding analog video signals: Hauppauge, AverMedia, ElGato, and BlackMagic.
Hauppauge offers quite a line of both internal and external cards. Sadly for them, I already have a taste of what's to come. Their software is absolutely terrible, and this opinion has been derived on very recent driver and software updates (one came out yesterday, in fact). Installers frequently fail to run and refuse to find a device that is plugged in, even when that device's lights indicate a connection. You may have to start and stop Hauppauge capture just to get your computer to recognise the device, and even that is a crapshoot. Even xSplit fails to find the device half the time, and after yesterday's driver update, it couldn't find it whatsoever. So, I'll be back to Hauppauge after I find a ten foot pole that works over Amazon.
Next down the list is AverMedia, who are apparently in the middle of changing over to a new line of systems, as Amazon and Newegg list most of their devices out of stock. According to their clunky website, however, only a couple devices support component. One of them is over USB (I've already learned my lesson with that), and the other (C127) is quickly running low on stock on Amazon and doesn't support audio capture. However, the C127 is on my shortlist since it is compatible and within my budget.
BlackMagic was next. They are apparently top-of-the-line, supplying broadcast-quality equipment all over the world. Their Intensity Pro was intriguing, but apparently, I need to be very cautious when buying because there's no backsies with them. If I screw up, there is no return policy. Plus, there's apparently some problems with i7s, so I'm going to steer clear of this.
I'm still digging, but in short, I need a good PCIe capture card capable of streaming standard definition video and audio from device hooked up with composite or component video (and, hopefully, audio). I would also like to have something compatible with OBS, of course. My budget is fairly small for this market, around $200 maximum, although that's negotiable. My PC runs on Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and has an Intel Core i7 2600 at its disposal, plus 16GB of RAM and 2TB of storage (which I don't intend to use for recordings). I'm not going to need something with superb quality since I can only stream in SD due to connection problems. (Avoid Frontier Communications like the plague.) However, as always, something with lots of bang for the buck would be excellent.
Video capture and editing isn't my expertise. I am but a humble programmer who occasionally gets nagged by friends to stream myself getting mad at video games. Expert guidance would be greatly appreciated.
