How to play a console on a laptop (NTSC Only)

In this instructable I'll be showing you how to play a game console on any decent laptop with 1 free usb port. Im sorry but easy cap does not work with PAL only NTSC

You can do this with a tower but there is a more effective way to do it if you don't need to capture and ill be posting that instructable soon.

Also im going to post an instructable on how to do this with s- video because it gives you a better video quality.

video instructions

Demo

Please rate if you like this instructable. If there's something wrong or its not working leave a comment.

Step 1: My system

this is the tec specs of my laptop. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the better it is the better it will run. I have about 1/8 seconds of video lag. It is not enough to effect gamplay or be noticeable on its own but if you have your system running on a TV and computer you can sort of see a very slight lag.

Windows Version: Windows Vista Home Basic
manufacture: Dell
windows experience rating: 3.1
Processor: Intel(R) Pentuim(R) Dual CPU T2370 @ 1.72 GHz 1.73GHz
Memory(RAM): 3062 MB
System Type" 32-bit operating system

Comments

[youiswho]

I Have an easycap from a friend but he lost the install disc awhile ago where can i get new install files???

[kwn_lin]

juz wonderring but can easycap work with PAL now?? not  too sure..cuz i saw this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/EasyCAP-Audio-Video-Capture-Adapter/dp/B001BWU8US/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1272740855&sr=8-1

[1161858]

easy caps have a settings button on the studio software, you can switch between ntsc and pal

[NYPA]

Easycap Sucks. All I hear is FFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

[bugolf]

I used VLC Media player. but i had to enter a formatting code.

[MrCantThinkOfAName]

My laptop has a HDMI input on the side, so yeahh. This is good though, i just need a software for it, there wasnt any put on my computer, as far as i know

[jamiespark]

avi is sexi beast

[Chowmix12]

i see no difference between AVI and MPEG

[daiatlus79]

i have a gamebridge which is pretty much teh same thing.. it does the job.. got it for ten bucks still in the package on my local facebook flea market.. some sites i see selling it for a hundred bucks.. by the way any one else having issues with their gamebridge remote? cause mine dont work and if it did it would make my tv obsolete.  right now i use it to tivo some shows that i dont get to watch while i am at work

[punkhead58]

This setup works, but is very complicated, try this instead. It's much easier.

[ArthurCarvalho!]

My screen just stays black? HELP PLEASE

[Hycro]

I get the same problem from time to time when using my webcam to capture video, and I use Ulead Photo Explorer 8.0 SE Basic, since that's what came with my webcam..lol.

[abun1991]

"You can do this with a tower but there is a more effective way to do it if you don't need to capture and ill be posting that Instructable soon." When were you planning on posting that Instructable, if I may ask?

[hcaz-301]

can you email me the software please

[Hazy Chief]

Can you get this stuff in HD, for example like RGB component cords

[Numb-Nuts]

is there a way to disassemble an old laptop and use the screen as a dedicated unit for my 360?

[josh92176]

I have the same capture card and I think you could achieve a better frame rate and with no video compression (like you get with ulead video studio) with vlc. vlc is a free media player available here. Also you would get audio through vlc. Try it!

-josh

[Houdinipeter]

good idea. Then you wouldn't need splitters, a rca to 1/8 jack, or any rca extenders unless you really want them.

[sleeplate18]

i got all the cables and stuff set up properly.... installed Ulead Video Studio - tried following ur directions but its not working! what am i supposed to do with the properties tab? i keep on getting a "cannot capture" error message!

[tigraki]

I have already done that 2 months ago but the problem is that there is a big lag. You can see the movements of the control after 1 second.

[victorbacani]

I just bought this unit (Kworld TVbox 1920). I bought this in order to play my wii on my HP dv2000 special edition laptop. It came with a wii cable. I connected the wii cable to the unit, used an external speaker and plugged it to the unit, used its vga cable and plugged it in my laptops S-video and finally plugged the unit in outlet. All I got was the sound of the wii on the external speaker but no video on my laptop. Im guessing my laptop S-video is to send data out and not in. Im feeling sick to my stomach on buying this unit and not really researching thoroughly. Do you think I should just get an USB TV tuner like yours to replace this?

[victorbacani]

Hi somerockenguy, I followed your instructions and got to hook my wii to my laptop. Everything is working fine except that I had used Cyberlink Power director for my video capturing software and its preview screen does view full screen. I tried downloading Ulead VideoStudio v11 and all I could see on the video capture screen was my face looking back at me. This is since it used the webcam on my laptop as source. Looking back at your instructions I noticed that this version of Ulead does not have the Options Tab. I'm wondering if I have the right version, can you clarify?

[luching]

what game is that?

[sonyhacker95]

im using my gamecube to play on my laptop and the quality is pixely and the screen isnt full screen its like a little box inside the screen.and when i plugged my ps3 in to the easy cap the quality was bad and it was still a little box inside of the screen could you please tell me the settings you have so i may fix this?

[tomonto]

If my laptop has built in speakers, do I still need to split the rca jacks? (sorry for any apparent noobishness.... :\

[somerockenguy]

you still need speakers there is not audio monitoring in this capture software so you need external speakers. even if there was audio monitoring it would raise you chance of video lag.

[sonyhacker95]

im using my gamecube to play on my laptop and the quality is pixely and the screen isnt full screen its like a little box inside the screen.and when i plugged my ps3 in to the easy cap the quality was bad and it was still a little box inside of the screen could you please tell me the settings you have so i may fix this?

[recneps]

You should not need to split the audio if you are using the built in speakers.
The capture software should be able to route te sound over your sound card.
I do this all the time with my tv tuner card.
(You don't need a capture specific card, any tv tuner that accepts RCA/svideo input should do the job.)

Also, I've found the EasyCap on a reliable webstore I use. They're legit, if you're worried about using ebay and want an alternative. That, or any tv tuner card with RCA/svideo input options, as I said.

[tomonto]

Ok, thanks a lot, I do worry about things being legit so thanks for that too :)

[junits15]

you could skip the connectors and just use the headphones

[atk000]

Will this work for a PS3 on an HDM1-in only laptop?

[evanbetti]

is there any way you can just use the easy cap usb?

[Capt. Fat]

would this work for a Wii and a Compact presario laptop?

[somerockenguy]

wii yes but idk if it will work on that laptop i dont own it.

[brian2012]

hey, i saw this instructable and decided to buy this, i bought it, did all that u said, but when i use it every thing is very blurry, idk whats wrong, plz help!

[somerockenguy]

check your quality setting it automatically adjusts the quality based on your computers performance.

[calpul]

yay i got it to work i changed my xbox 360 display from pal 60 to pal 50. its now in colour but i cant play all my games coz some of them are pal 60. but ow well. just a question is there anyway i can make the easycap run on pal 60??

[somerockenguy]

not that i know of im not in the uk so i use ntsc even if i found some update that says it will make it work i would have no way of testing it because every thing i have is ntsc

[calpul]

is there anyway i can use pal with this anyway at all everytime i change the pal settings on the easycap i get a colour picture but its a frozen pic it just freezes. is there a update or soming that i can get to allow easycap to run in pal. anyway if easycap runs ntsc and pal why does the pal not work. why is there a setting for pal if it dont work??? if there is no way of doing it using easycap is there any other usb capture cards out there that are cheap, the same quality as easycap and will work with pal??? plz help me im a dumb &#@% when it comes to this stuff.

[calpul]

hi there thanks for showing me how to do this i have just bought All the stuff i need to make this work. im still waiting for easycap to arrive. got it of amazon.com for £15. bargin!!! just wondering is there a lag i mean a lag that will effect my game play.