Laptop HDMI-IN help needed

[Saulkar]

Hello dar Eshcapist. I have an HDMI port on my laptop that allows me to plug my 360 into it so that I can play it off of its screen. Should be easy in theory but this is where things go bad, the software I am using called GAMEMATE that came with the laptop (A Malibal Veda X8100) is very buggy and does not always even recognise that the 360 is plugged in, sound stops playing, or the frame rate does not go above 15FPS. Is there any other software I can use for my HDMI-IN port that is less buggy and more reliable? On the other hand are HDMI-IN ports locked to a specific software in the first place?

I tend to really need a lot of help with very specific topics that I would better off be asking in dedicated forums on other sites but I do not want to have to create a new account on numerous websites when the Escapist offers such a broad spectrum of people in various professions.

 

[viranimus]

I might be wrong, but you might be looking at your HDMI port backwards. From what ive seen the HDMI port on laptops and netbooks are more ideally used for connecting to a larger monitor to transfer your small display to a larger screen.

Beyond that... If it were me, I would go so far as to open task manager, shut down any processes related to gamemate then try to locate if you can see a connection under devices and printers.

That is as much as I can offer off the top of my head.

EDIT: in trying to find out more about this gamemate software the only thing I could locate is an itallian website refering to a voice to text capture program that translates verbal commands into text driven commands for use in games. Also, many mentions that indicate that typically the HDMI port on laptops are generally outputs and the suggestion that if your wanting to hook something in you would either Need a tuner card with HDMI in which would provide the software, or utilization of Svideo or composite cables to accomplish it.

However your post does indicate to a degree that you have to some extent been able to use it as an in port. So honestly how to do it is beyond me. Sorry I couldnt come up with anything better.

 

[Saulkar]

I might be wrong, but you might be looking at your HDMI port backwards. From what ive seen the HDMI port on laptops and netbooks are more ideally used for connecting to a larger monitor to transfer your small display to a larger screen.

Beyond that... If it were me, I would go so far as to open task manager, shut down any processes related to gamemate then try to locate if you can see a connection under devices and printers.

That is as much as I can offer off the top of my head.

EDIT: in trying to find out more about this gamemate software the only thing I could locate is an itallian website refering to a voice to text capture program that translates verbal commands into text driven commands for use in games. Also, many mentions that indicate that typically the HDMI port on laptops are generally outputs and the suggestion that if your wanting to hook something in you would either Need a tuner card with HDMI in which would provide the software, or utilization of Svideo or composite cables to accomplish it.

However your post does indicate to a degree that you have to some extent been able to use it as an in port. So honestly how to do it is beyond me. Sorry I couldnt come up with anything better.

Thanx for trying, it is indeed labled and advertised as an HDMI-IN port and is comfirmed in the manual, it works but I feel the capture software is faulty. The manufacturers have yet to get back to me about this.

Edit: At 18.4 inches 1920x1080, my laptop screen is not small. ;P

 

[viranimus]

Well its worth a shot. Also you might be able to locate some alternative capture software. Looking through open source files on www.sourceforge.net can sometimes help. There certainly can be a way to accomplish it.

One such way would require two extra compnents A USB tuner card for input and a HDMI to Coax switch. Hook the 360 to the switch via HDMI then hook the switch to the USB tuner card via coax. It would work, but your looking at extra wires and somewhere along the lines more power plugs (most likely at the Switch) Doing it in that manner would work better than what your doing, but its an added expense of about 15$ for a USB tuner card and about the same for a HDMI to Coax switch.

 

[MadBlueWinnie]

I tired the same thing a while back since i didnt have a TV in my new apartment. Sure enough it was NOT a HDMI-IN but a HDMI-OUT port. Fail said I.
However if you are sure that it is HDMI-IN, then my suggestion is to spend a bit of cash and get a proper video capturing software that allows you to view the footage while recording or not. Your laptop also needs to have alot of RAM, and your graphics card must be top of the line if you wish to process the video at a good framerate.

I just bought a cheap TV in the end.

 

[Saulkar]

I tired the same thing a while back since i didnt have a TV in my new apartment. Sure enough it was NOT a HDMI-IN but a HDMI-OUT port. Fail said I.
However if you are sure that it is HDMI-IN, then my suggestion is to spend a bit of cash and get a proper video capturing software that allows you to view the footage while recording or not. Your laptop also needs to have alot of RAM, and your graphics card must be top of the line if you wish to process the video at a good framerate.

I just bought a cheap TV in the end.

I-7 820 @ 1.7ghz Turbo to 3.06ghz
8 gigs of DDR3 ram at 1333mhz
2 Geforce 285m in SLI
3x640 gigabyte hardrives at 7600rpm.
Yeah my laptop can handle it.

I just do not know any good capture software that works with laptops.

 

[Saulkar]

Well its worth a shot. Also you might be able to locate some alternative capture software. Looking through open source files on www.sourceforge.net can sometimes help. There certainly can be a way to accomplish it.

One such way would require two extra compnents A USB tuner card for input and a HDMI to Coax switch. Hook the 360 to the switch via HDMI then hook the switch to the USB tuner card via coax. It would work, but your looking at extra wires and somewhere along the lines more power plugs (most likely at the Switch) Doing it in that manner would work better than what your doing, but its an added expense of about 15$ for a USB tuner card and about the same for a HDMI to Coax switch.

Sounds like it might work, I will run it past some tech guys at my school and see what they think.

 

[Baby Tea]

I just checked, and VLC let's you open video from a capture device.
Try VLC. You should have it anyways, it being the best video playback software ever.
It plays every format you could throw at it, it's low-drag, and it's free.

 

[Saulkar]

I just checked, and VLC let's you open video from a capture device.
Try VLC. You should have it anyways, it being the best video playback software ever.
It plays every format you could throw at it, it's low-drag, and it's free.

I will give it a try, if it works I will give you a chocolate cookie, if it fails and my computer blows up I will give you no cookie. Bwahahaha!