Question / Help Startech Quad dedicated usb ports + 4 hdmi to usb OR Magewell Quad hdmi

Babouc

New Member
I would like to stream conferences to Facebook. No games, no recording. The computer will be only dedicated for this purpose.

PC tower
Windows 10 64 bits
OBS 64 bits
i7 - 7700 - 3.6 ghz
GT 1030
16 gig ram
SSD drive

I need 4 hdmi inputs
(2) camcorder
(1) laptop for power point presentations, etc.
(1) spare for other hdmi inputs (web cam, etc.)

Maximum bandwidth available to internet 4Mbits.

-----------------

After research on the internet, I came up with 2 options (better options?)

First one is the :
(1) pci Magewell Pro Capture Quad HDMI Video Capture Card = 899$
https://www.amazon.com/Magewell-Cap...o+capture+quad+hdmi&psc=1&smid=A1FQSCXPFHDT7S
TOTAL = 899$

The second one :
(1) pci card USB 3.0 ports with four independent channels - startech = 80$
https://www.amazon.com/Express-SuperSpeed-Adapter-Dedicated-Channels/dp/B00HJZEA2S

(4) USB Video Capture Card - HDMI Capture Card - startech (82$ x 4) = 328$
https://www.amazon.com/USB-Video-Ca...541693234&sr=8-1&keywords=StarTech+USB2HDCAPM
TOTAL : 408$

about 500$ difference.

Is one really better than the other one?

Thanks,
Andy
 

Babouc

New Member
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1247779-REG/blackmagic_design_bdlkduo2_decklink_duo_2.html
plus 4x https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...nvcmic_hs_micro_converter_hdmi_to.html?sts=pi is another option for capture card that may work.

Can't guarantee that 4 usb capture cards will play nice together, whereas the magewell and blackmagic multi-input cards are specifically designed for what you're doing.

It seems that if you use a separate usb hub for each hdmi-usb there is no problem. The problem appears when multiple hdmi-usb are on the same usb hub.
 

Banyarola

Active Member
Good news. So you're using multiple startech hdmi-usb and they're all available separately in OBS?

Thanks,
Andy

Yes, they all show but it's controlling them separately is the problem if they are the same make and model..Two c920's don't play well together because they use the same driver..I ended up getting a Microsoft life cam to use alongside the C920.. I understand the C922 can be used together because it uses a different driver then the C920...It gets confusing..

The card I showed you has 4 USB ports, independent of one another.. There is no bandwidth problem with it.
 

Babouc

New Member
Yes, they all show but it's controlling them separately is the problem if they are the same make and model..Two c920's don't play well together because they use the same driver..I ended up getting a Microsoft life cam to use alongside the C920.. I understand the C922 can be used together because it uses a different driver then the C920...It gets confusing..

The card I showed you has 4 USB ports, independent of one another.. There is no bandwidth problem with it.

Sharing the same driver is not something that all hdmi-usb or usb cam can do. I'm doing some research on this. Which hdmi-usb card can handle it. The easy solution is to use different brand.

I found this concerning multiple logitech web cam and OBS:

Multi-camera Streaming with Logitech Webcams: A How-to Guide
https://blog.logitech.com/2018/01/03/multi-camera-streaming-with-logitech-webcams-a-how-to-guide/

Andy
 

Banyarola

Active Member
I saw the same video and that does work..
One problem is you can't tell one cam from another and it's hit and miss using them..
The only problem is you lose a lot of your cam control using the video driver...And you can control them separately because the UVC driver handles more then one cam at a time... Matter of fact, Logitech is no longer updating their software because they want to use the UVC driver exclusively..

I don't use more then one cam, rarely I will use two...
You just have to experiment and a side benefit is that you'll increase your cuss word vocabulary faster then any other way..LOL
 

Babouc

New Member
Well, I must say that my vocabulary has returned to a primal stage for the last month trying to get exactly what I want with OBS. Windows drivers doesn't help at all.

Once you get all the proper drivers and parameters, OBS is working fine. But between these two steps...

Andy
 

Babouc

New Member
Here is the answer from Startech concerning using multiple captures hdmi-usb card on the same computer:

startech USB2HDCAPM (USB 2.0 Capture Device for HDMI Video - Compact External Capture Card - 1080p)

I wanted to confirm to you that you can only use one capture device per computer, not 2 or more at the same time since the software will only detect one of them.

Andy
 

Banyarola

Active Member
We both know that..That's why two different make cameras work or you can un-install the software and use the UVC driver..That video shows you how to do it...
 

Babouc

New Member
I just received the startech usb bord. I connected a Avermedia GL310 hdmi-usb, a Logitech C920 and C310 web cam without any problem. I have access to two independent configurations for the Logitech webcams from OBS. Picture in picture with both Logitech webcams works perfectly.

I contacted Elgato about their hdmi-usb and they have the same issue as Startech. You can only use one. Picture in picture won't work. I'm waiting for the answer from Avermedia.

I'm just trying to figure out what is working or not.

Andy
 
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