Video capture hardware for streaming. What would be best?

TetraNitroCubane

Recently I've been looking to stream gameplay from an original XBox (OXBox, lol) over the internet, in order to share some obscure games with friends. Webcasting isn't so much my issue, but I'm running into a bit of confusion when it comes to what hardware I'll need to pipe the XBox output into my computer to begin with. I gather I'll need a TV Tuner of some kind, but most of the options I've seen on Amazon or NewEgg seem to be specifically designed for creating DVDs from VHS, and I'm a bit concerned about the fact that the framerates listed are as low as 24.

Essentially what I'd like is anything that would allow me to see realtime output from my XBox on my monitor. I'm working with an OS X laptop, so USB or firewire connectivity is pretty much my only option. I can hook up the XBox over VGA, Component, or Composite cables. I'm not terribly concerned about recording the output or making videos - I'm more interested in just having the output from the game visible on the desktop in a way that it can be streamed.

If anyone could provide any recommendations as to what hardware would be best to accomplish this, I'd be greatly appreciative! Thanks very much in advance.

Fantasma

Stop by www.videohelp.com and hit the forums.

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There are also plenty of articles from various fighting game communities, since they stream console games all the time.

You could try browsing articles like these and see how much is applicable or how much you want to get into it. This is for hd streaming with modern consoles, so I'm sure you'd have to tone it down.

http://8wayrun.com/threads/critical-edge-building-your-own-stream-part-1.9350/
http://8wayrun.com/threads/critical-edge-building-your-own-stream-part-2.9416/
http://8wayrun.com/threads/critical-edge-building-your-own-stream-part-3.9490/

Note: Pretty much every single console stream setup involves 2 monitors. Any capture hardware and software will give you laggy video on the pc monitor where the streaming and recording is done, so the actual playing is done on a dedicated monitor via a splitter of some sort.

TetraNitroCubane

Wow. I thought it would be a pretty simple matter to just get composite input into a window on the desktop, since I can stream my desktop pretty efficiently. But that's a hell of a lot of expensive equipment and pain right there. I doubt I'll be able to make any of this work.

Oh well. Thanks for the help, guys. This saved me some money and effort.

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You can do it for way cheaper if you're not concerned with streaming and recording and casting in hd, and since it's xbox that shouldn't be a big concern.

All you really need is a capture device, proper splitters, and a second monitor or tv to play on. If you want to narrate your streams then you can probably get away with some headset mic.

You should be able to get a capture card for under $200, cables for whatever, and if you have a tv already then you can just set it up near your pc. At least that's how it should work in theory. There are a lot of people who just record console gameplay with similar and relatively inexpensive setups.

The most popular capture device right now is probably the Hauppauge HD-PVR, which you can get for between $150 and $250. Most hd capture devices will be in that range. There used to be a bunch of non-hd capture devices that were way cheaper, but most of them had limited production runs and are nearly impossible to find.