Video in for Mac

influenzainfluenza
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I don't particularly care about receiving or recording TV on my Mac, but I want to be able to send video in to my monitor from, say, a game console or any other external device. I've already got sound going out to my stereo receiver no problem, just want the ability to use my monitor for other devices. Any suggestions?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    NOT eyeTV there is a 1-2 second lag so you wont be seeing what is happening in realtime...



    take a look at some of the other recorders listed in the thread you first posted in.... you are basically looking for a TV recorder, even if you arnt going to use it for TV..
  • Reply 2 of 14
    influenzainfluenza Posts: 146member
    From the research I've done, it appears that the non-USB version of the ATI Xclaim was discontinued. The Formac Studio DV/TV looks like my best choice so far, but before I drop that much money I want to really explore my options.



    Would I be correct to assume that I can't do what I want simply with a DV bridge? No one seems to advertise or review products with my particular goal in mind, so it's difficult for me to discern what will and won't do what I want.



    Thanks for the leads thus far.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Yeah I'd buy that Formac rig in a SECOND if it wasn't so expen$ive.
  • Reply 4 of 14
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    I doubt you're ever going to see ATI support that stuff on the mac anyway \



    Unfortunately, there do not seem to be many good solutions for this, and that is also why I wanted this to be in its own thread
  • Reply 5 of 14
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Hmmm. Works fine on my Beige3 G3.



    <Dodges angry punch>



    8)



    2 things:

    1st, even iMovie doesn?t give me a 1-2 second lag. I would use my digital camera to convert the VCR signal to DV and use the "Preview" window! If you don't have a digital camera, you can buy a DV bridge, but that is kinda expansive just to play a game.



    Second, for the price of some of those A/D converters, you could buy a 8500(AV?) and use that with a monitor-switcher thingymajig (You know, a device that connects a monitor to 2 computers and can select which computer signal to display.)
  • Reply 6 of 14
    gspottergspotter Posts: 342member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Influenza

    I want to be able to send video in to my monitor from, say, a game console or any other external device.



    A different solution might not to go through the computer but buy another (non-Apple) monitor. E.g. I have an Iiyama 4431D LCD monitor with Composite, S-Video, DVI and VGA inputs...
  • Reply 7 of 14
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Whoa! S-video and VGA? (YES! I know. Stupid. But I usually focus on other computer components) I don't think I ever looked at features in a monitor before. Can you do a picture-in-picture thing? I basically use whatever I can find cheap. I have a iiyama Vision Master Pro 450, and I like it.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    influenzainfluenza Posts: 146member
    Too bad those cost at least $100 more than even the Formac thingie, and aren't half as pretty as my Apple monitor. I just want to eliminate all superfluous hardware. Call it a dream. Maybe I'm just ahead of my time.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I'll just have to go to an apple store and take a digital picture of a Apple screen. Then, with a little photoshop work, I can print a new border for my monitor to make it look new again.

  • Reply 10 of 14
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    My brother uses his 8500AV (which he got for free... grar) to both record what's going on in the TV and also to turn his Mac's 17" monitor into a TV. He has a 27" (I think) TV but the 17" monitor is much nicer if just one person is watching.



    I wanted to do something like that with my iBook as well, I want to record what's on the TV onto my iBook. But I don't know how... I suppose the only way is one of those $300 Firewire-DV bridges. I've heard there are USB ones as well, very slow but also cheap... would that work? Not to actually watch TV, but just for recording?
  • Reply 11 of 14
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    USB 2 might and Firewire would work. I personally don't think USB 1 has enough bandwidth to record or display any quality video whatsoever.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    gspottergspotter Posts: 342member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca Rescigno

    I suppose the only way is one of those $300 Firewire-DV bridges. I've heard there are USB ones as well, very slow but also cheap... would that work? Not to actually watch TV, but just for recording?



    There is one big problem with the formac studio. AFAIK, the studio records in DV format (like iMovie input). That means ca. 12 GB per hour recording, that you would have afterwards have to recode (shrink). The biggest allowed continous filesize is 2GB. I don't know if the formac studio also saves the chunks seperately (like iMovie) to prevent that problem. So you would not only need an expensive add on (the formac studio), but probably also an additional hard drive...
  • Reply 13 of 14
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    I have a friend who plays xBox through a Formac unit. Seems to work OK.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    spookyspooky Posts: 504member
    Have you tried the Miglia Directors Cut Take 2? its a video transcoder like the Formac but we've been using it for a while now and it seems more robust and flexible than the formac. its also a little cheaper too!
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