I know laptops don’t have HDMI In ports but I was thinking I can buy an Elgato USB adapter or some HDMI capture card to act as a monitor with OBS.

I’ve seen videos of ppl recording gameplay using the capture card but is it possible to extend my laptop display as well with the adapter?

Right now I’m using the Windows wireless display feature and it works well but there’s still a bit too much latency and it times out whenever I alt+tab windows so I’d prefer a wired solution.

  • @scutiger
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    12 years ago

    It’s technically possible, but there’s significant latency when using a capture card. I’m talking like 2-3 seconds. It’s a real struggle to use a mouse with that kind of latency.

    • @coolfissionOP
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      22 years ago

      Update: I bought the Elgato Cam Link 4k because I also needed it for recording my old VHS tapes and honestly it’s not that bad as you say. I’m able to confirm that I can extend the display and use it as a second monitor with OBS. I just use the “Video Capture Device” setting and set the input to the Cam Link 4k and change the display to 1080p 60hz from Windows Setting.

      The delay is only a couple of milliseconds so it’s perfectly acceptable for office work. It’s well worth it for me for the portability since now I can just take my two laptops and use my personal laptop for other purposes. And I was able to get the adapter for only $80 so it’s not that expensive.

    • @coolfissionOP
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      12 years ago

      Oh didn’t realize it would be that much latency. In that case I’ll just stick with my current “projecting to this PC” method where it’s a couple milliseconds of latency.

      I thought it’d be less latency with the adapter since it’s wired but I guess it needs to process the video which adds the latency.