Getting a VGA-to-USB video converter to work in OBS (record screen from vintage PC)

[twolazy]

hauppauge colossus 2 and a vga to component transcoder (with audio so it syncs). Will get WAY better image quality.

 

[bladamson]

Keep in mind that OBS Studio--at least for me--has always been incredibly finicky when connecting to some video inputs. When I first started using OBS a couple years ago for making Zoom calls more fun, this was incredibly frustrating, as there was every reason it should have been seeing the video input, but it wasn't. Then I rebooted and it worked. So when this happens to you, restart the modern computer running OBS, and the video input should show up without any problem after that. Except that you often have to reboot every time you open OBS, to see that same video input.

It took me a couple of tries to find a cheap USB-HDMI capture device that is both (1) well supported in Linux/OBS and (2) legitimately captures 60fps at 1080p. I ended up with the Elekliv E60, and I am happy with it despite having to plug and unplug the USB cable every now and then when it gets confused and needs reset. Whether or not it will work with this VGA-HDMI converter I do not know. Assuming that the adapter upscales to a relatively standard resolution I would think it would be fine (the E60 supports 640x480, 720x480, 720x576, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x720, 1280x1024, 600x1200, 1920x1080). But if it's passing the low resolutions straight through, then I dunno.

I guess I'll find out soon enough, heh. I am mainly interested in using it to plug a VGA KVM into an HDMI monitor, though.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

Assuming that the adapter upscales to a relatively standard resolution I would think it would be fine (the E60 supports 640x480, 720x480, 720x576, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x720, 1280x1024, 600x1200, 1920x1080). But if it's passing the low resolutions straight through, then I dunno.

So far as I’m aware those inexpensive VGA to HDMI dongles don’t upscale, they just pass through the video framing as-is. (I couldn’t find a complete datasheet for the chip in the one that was linked, but there was a function diagram that suggests that this describes it as well.) I think the main factor in whether ”DOS” VGA modes will work is thus mostly dependent on the receiver of the converted signal. TVs often don’t support the full set of legacy VESA modes, while computer monitors… may or may not.

(life is complicated by the fact that sometime in the early-mid 2000’s PC video cards started probing DCC info and using monitor-apropos timing for BIOS splashes, etc, so it mattered less if the monitor supported legacy VESA timings. So most of the time it’s not really a requirement that modern monitors have them, especially on their digital ports.)

That it’s apparently working back to back with a USB HDMI capture device is fascinating, because I would have naively assumed that the capture device would be limited to TV-centric modes. One thing, since it was mentioned it was flaky capturing when switching modes: when you’re capturing a 320x200 or 640x350 mode, is the video being recorded at 70hz?

 

[Timo W.]

hauppauge colossus 2 and a vga to component transcoder (with audio so it syncs). Will get WAY better image quality.

It's not an issue to get much higher quality if you are ready to spend 200 bucks or even more. Also, that is a PCI Express card. This whole thread is about using external USB devices and staying cheap...

 

[twolazy]

Ive seen those cards run under 50 bucks, and a transcoder is 40ish... so under 100 and get the resolution and refresh needed for a nice stream...

 

[IndyJones1023]

I'm glad I found this forum! I'm a vintage gamer myself (Ataris mostly).

Anyway, I stream vinyl with a vintage video game slant. I have a web cam on me, one on my turntable, and one on my vintage gear in the background. But since I only have one turntable, I play a record, then an MP3 from my old Asus EEE netbook. Those are my 2 audio sources fed into a mixer. You can see my layout in the image (attached). All is well and good. But what I'd like to do is add another video source - the VGA output from my netbook so I can stream the Winamp window, as well. I don't think the solution in this thread is what I need, though.

tl;dr

How can I convert from a VGA output to USB male so a modern computer will recognize the signal as video (or a webcam source, so to speak)?

 

[Schill]

You may have luck with a VGA-to-USB adapter as in the first post in this thread. Alternately, I suggest looking into an Elgato Cam Link or similar as a video / webcam source. Those take HDMI input, so you'd also need a VGA-to-HDMI adapter that supports the resolution and refresh rate of your Asus EEE's VGA out. Presuming you're using OBS studio, the Elgato would be another source you can add and then position in your layout there.

I think prior discussion in this thread may be of interest to you, regarding adapters and resolutions etc.

 

[sqpat]

I'm glad I found this forum! I'm a vintage gamer myself (Ataris mostly).

Anyway, I stream vinyl with a vintage video game slant. I have a web cam on me, one on my turntable, and one on my vintage gear in the background. But since I only have one turntable, I play a record, then an MP3 from my old Asus EEE netbook. Those are my 2 audio sources fed into a mixer. You can see my layout in the image (attached). All is well and good. But what I'd like to do is add another video source - the VGA output from my netbook so I can stream the Winamp window, as well. I don't think the solution in this thread is what I need, though.

tl;dr

How can I convert from a VGA output to USB male so a modern computer will recognize the signal as video (or a webcam source, so to speak)?

These video capture devices are commonly called “capture cards”. In my case, I use a device called an OSSC to convert the vga to hdmi and then an hdmi capture card which is more common. There might be ones that go straight from vga to usb, the problem is the vga analog signal needs to get converted to digital somewhere in this chain.

An OSSC is around $100 USD and hdmi capture devices range from $40 to a lot more, to give you an idea. Maybe someone has a different solution as an ossc feels a little bit overkill for just vga capture.

 

[IndyJones1023]

I lucked out on the cheap side and these two items worked!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GZ159FJ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Amazon.com

 

[cjs]

Here’s a good video I found in that explains a lot. For starters, VGA is the only computer video format that is analog (unless you count RCA composite video). MDA (monochrome), CGA, EGA, DVI, and HDMI are all digital.

Not quite. You can do analogue over DVI as well, so long as your cable has that cross-shaped set of large pins at one edge of the connector.

Very unlikely. It's an USB 2.0 device. These are limited to 500 mA. It can not get more and not require more.

Well, so the spec says. But it's very rare for any USB port to supply less than 1000 mA (or even 1.5 A), and I would not be surprised at all if a lot of devices that need more than 500 mA simply draw it anyway.

The easiest way to check this is simply to use one of those little in-line USB power monitors that will tell you the current voltage and amperage passing through it. If your voltage is sagging much below 5 V, that's an indication that the device is drawing too much for that port.

 

[cjs]

Ah, the other thing I forgot to mention. For devices like the one mentioned at the start of this thread, that emulate a monitor of any kind, you can fairly easily check the modes it accepts using Linux, so long as you have an output of that type on your computer. Just plug it in and run the xrandr program, and it will query all attached displays and print their modes.

There's probably something similar under Windows, too. But if you don't have that, and don't normally run Linux, you can run one of the "portable" Linux installs from a USB stick, which won't touch your internal drives at all.