Question / Help Recording games from iPad: how to get rid of lag?

[Boris]

Hi!

I typically use OBS for PC games, but there are some games I want to play that are iOS only, so I'm trying to solve the puzzle of how to record gameplay from an iPad.

I downloaded a program called Mirroring 360 and used the AirPlay feature to mirror what's on the iPad on my laptop screen. From there, I can record with OBS. This is all great, but there's a noticeable amount of lag. The games I'm playing are board games, so it's not like there's a ton of processing power needed. I'll record with lag if I have to, but it'd be nice for the pieces on the screen to move around smoothly.

To that end: is there a better way to connect an iPad to a PC? My understanding is that AirPlay uses a wireless network rather than the USB cord, which might be the cause of the lag. Is there another application that uses the USB connection directly? Is there a better application than Mirroring 360? And lastly, if I'm asking these questions in the wrong place, I aplogize -- what would be a better place to ask them?

Thank you for your help!

 

[Harold]

You're going to have to explain what you mean by "lag"

 

[Boris]

Hi Harold! I'm sorry I wasn't clear in my original post. When the iPad is mirrored on my laptop, even before I start OBS, there's a lag of 1-3 seconds before the actions I perform on my iPad are shown on my PC. The movement of a piece from one area of the screen to another is shown in several jerky jumps rather than one smooth motion.

 

[Harold]

The delay is caused by the encoding and decoding of the picture.

The stuttering is likely caused by either trying to set the picture quality too high in the screen mirroring or by problems with the wifi.

Hard line connections would work better. You might need to use a hdmi-out adapter for your ipad and a GOOD capture card on the pc.

 

[Boris]

Thank you so much for your insight, Harold!