pc dv out

[Driber]

Is there software to stream video from a laptop using DV out?

What I want to achieve is to use a laptop (which has a firewire PCMCIA card plugged into it) to stream live videogame footage from the laptop and record it on a DVR with DV input.

[gll99]

Pretty sure this works in both directions but the input may have to be in dv format:

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/WinDV

[Driber]

WinDV won't work because it can only send an already recorded video to DV out

I need live streaming

[guns1inger]

Then you need either a very fast processor and something to encode and stream on the fly, or you need to pre-encode you video to DV. I don't know of any laptop that is fast enough to play a game, record the screen, convert it to DV and stream it in real time. I doubt a quad-core desktop could do all that.

[Driber]

indeed, encoding on the fly is not an option. I have already tried fraps and get very poor results, hence I'm trying to look for a way to record it directly onto my DVR, which would result in excellent quality

[edDV]

Is there software to stream video from a laptop using DV out?

Yes. The trick is to get your video into DV format. Conversion is very CPU intensive.

WinDV can stream a DV-AVI file out the Firewire port. Pro editors can play and convert the timeline to DV out the Firewire port if the CPU can keep up.

What I want to achieve is to use a laptop (which has a firewire PCMCIA card plugged into it) to stream video game footage from the laptop and record it on a DVR with DV input.

The CPU is unlikely to keep up with the game and both screen capture and conversion to DV on the fly.

Better to use the "TV Out" (S-Video) off the display chipset.

[guns1inger]

However, to send it out the DV on your laptop you have to convert it to DV, which means real-time encoding. Your other options include a VGA-s-video adapter (or VGA to component, if your DVR has one), or perhaps even straight s-video out, if your laptop has it.

[Driber]

Yes, I also already tried recording via video-out, and it gave me a better result than fraps, but because the analog connection introduces picture noise and blur, this was also not what I was hoping for.

But reading the replies here it is probably going to be my best bet.

Thanks.

[edDV]

You could go the VGA to scan converter route but quality may not be that much better.

For example
http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?cat%5Fid=3413&sku=40381

[JohnnyMalaria]

Also bear in mind that just because the DVR has DV-In, it doesn't mean you can send DV to it from Windows. The DVR has to be recognized by Windows as a valid DV device. It's easy to check on XP because it should show up in My Computer as a new device (like camcorders do).