# using my laptop as a tv to play xbox



## martin9

hey
i am looking to use my laptop essentially as a television to play my xbox through. 

but i have no idea how i can do this.

does anyone have any advice?

many thanks


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## kalisun

Hmmm...you'll need some type of "In" video port on your laptop...

Unless your laptop has either a "video in" or S-Video connection, it might not be possible...


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## martin9

hmm
i have a port on the back of the laptop which has 7 holes (plus a small rectangular hole) and next to the port is a 'diagram' which is simple a small square with S in and an arrow :/

maybe this is useful?


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## mrbreeeeze00

Is there not a way to hook a digital video recorder to a PC or laptop, RCA to usb or something? If so could you not do the same with the xbox? My question is, what software would you use to display it? Could a media player be able to play it?


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## martin9

i don't know, i just want to use my laptop screen as a tv screen so i can play xbox without being at the TV :/

incidently, that port looks like this:


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## kalisun

mrbreeeeeze00:
It's not just the cable or software that needs to be able to connect to the computer, but there also needs to be a "device" inside the system that can "recieve and convert" images either analog or digital. Unless you have a "Multimedia" style laptop that does incomming and outgoing video its pretty hard to do what martin9 wants. 

martin9:
that is a S-Video connector, but it looks like its an "out" only, so it's only going from computer to tv. You'll also need another connection that can take it from the Xbox to the computer. 

Most laptops are set more for "projecting" out only, I don't know of a laptop that can be used for console games (then again people have modded just about any and everything, so who knows), needing the proper input connectors and ability to take the video from the console and display it on the laptop screen in realtime or streaming. Desktops can do it with a "video capture" type cards and even then, not sure how well the image would be for console gaming.


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## martin9

i think i have it sussed

i'm buying this:
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_usb.html

i plug my three leads (audio l/r and s-video) into that unit, and then plus the line-in into my laptop port and the usb cable into my laptop. then set the software to the right channel and it should work. thus meaning i don't need to use the s-video port on my laptop.

thanks for your help guys


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## Couriant

It looks like it would have an adaptor for your cable. 

Just out of curiosity, why would you want to do that? Your screen is what... 15"? For that price you can get a bigger tv 

Just noticed that at CompUSA they are selling them for $59.99 after $40 rebate.


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## martin9

lol how can i get a tv for $50 (the price on ebay)

but i want it because then i can play xbox when i am not near a tv (which is often)


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## Couriant

Since that price was a rebate... i was going from the normal price 

I see what you mean


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## MahaGamer

i have a FireWire DV converter i use for importing video and such. I also use it for live webcam over the internet. It has AV ports and a S-video. i believe it was only 50 bux or something but make sure you have a firewire port. it works very well for me.


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## Electronic

MARTIN9,

So did you buy it and didi it work?

I am trying to do the same thing. I would like to use my labtop as a terminal to play my xbox on. I go to colombia a lot and have to stay overnight in the airport, 15 hours in the airport sucks and this would be my solution since I always take 2 X BOXES to Colombia to be modified for cheap.

It would be great and easy to plug in a converter and have it work. I was looking at this one

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_hvr950.html

So what do you think?


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## techy689

Hey guys, I got a 360, and know exactly what you mean. But I doubt any of these ideas will work, so do not waste your money. There are several reasons. Firstly, the adapters you have been looking at are meant to be used to watch TV, such as digital recorded events, or other things. Even if you have a computer with a built in tuner hooking a gaming system up to your computer will not work. The reason is that there will be a 10 to 30 second lag time. So if you tell a character on your xbox to move right, it might not show up on your computer screen for 10-30 seconds. This will confuse you and give you a headache. As far as I can tell, there really is no way to hook up a gaming system to your laptop and play the way you are used to.


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## Electronic

TOO BAD... THERE MUST BE SOME SOLUTION. It is hard for me to imagine there is no way of just using the screen on a labtop like plugging in a tv

BUT I haven came across any way to do this.... maybe someone else knows
MAYBE there is another solution like a small portable tv, but I am everywhere with my labtop I thought it would just be convient.


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## Couriant

Electronic - I haven't personally have tried that, but in theory that device should work.


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## Electronic

I came across this on xbox.com

Using a Laptop as an Xbox Display

Generally, this is NOT possible. The video (S-Video, VGA) connections on laptops are OUTPUTS. They will not accept an in-bound signal. In order to get anything on the screen from an external source, you need a Video Input. It may be possible to connect an external Video Capture device to the laptop and use an composite or S-Video cable from the Xbox, but these connections are limited to 480i and the results may not be optimal in any case (i.e. - it may lag a bit, see below for more details).

So to do this you may need some external device... Im looking but don't quite understand what product could be uded to get a video input

ANY IDEAS?

http://forums.xbox.com/196109/ShowPost.aspx


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