Adaptec Gamebridge 1400 (play console games on your PC!) - Now $10 at Fry's - review!

[quote name='Wolfpup']Plug the system's audio directly into your sound card. That'll eliminate having to mess with the problem.[/QUOTE]

I would, but I'm using it on my laptop :whistle2:(.
 
I'd be surprised if your laptop didn't have a line-in. My Inspiron 8200 does, but that's not necessarily saying anything, seeing as it's a 4-year old laptop.

Still, I wish I could figure out why I can't get Dscaler to work right. 2:2 makes things smooth, but intermittent combing effects make it look horrible. If anyone has suggestions on other settings, or things that might interfere with this thing working, let me know.

Sarge out.
 
And just the included software isn't working for you? It works fine for me, aside from the very slight lag (which isn't from the software AFAIK).
 
[quote name='RoDrAs']Anyone...? I've emailed Frys twice and they don't reply.[/QUOTE]
I would recommend contacting Adaptec directly if you haven't tried that already.
 
I'd have to check again if there's an audio line in, I don't remember one there. I'd have to buy a stereo-mini adapter for it if there was. The included software does work, but doesn't support widescreen, which is why I'm using Dscaler.
 
[quote name='sam16']I would recommend contacting Adaptec directly if you haven't tried that already.[/quote]

I have looked in their site but you have to pay to contact them.
 
[quote name='RoDrAs']I have looked in their site but you have to pay to contact them.[/QUOTE]

Man, I should be Kyle Hyde from Hotel Dusk.

I looked though a few of the past pages cause I remembered that someone mentioned they needed the ISO as well. I finally came across a post where someone said that someone from Woot.com was kind enough to upload the ISO, but that was 4 months ago. I went to woot.com and went back a few months in posts and I came across the link:

http://www.firmwareupdate.us/Adaptec/GameBridgeTV ISO.zip

So.... um, there you go.
 
I really don't know... I would assume that it would, seeing as how the quick start guide for both models is the same, and the CD was packed inside of that. That's just an assumption though. If I were you, I'd just give it a try.
 
Oops, just looked at my 1400 installation CD and it says "1400". If the drivers I linked to don't work, let me know and I'll rip the ISO. I'd need a place to upload it to though.
 
guys, anyone know why i am unable to get any audio? I have a SBLive 5.1 sound card and i can only get video with the gamebridge. Do i have to change the default sound source or something like install a codec? I made sure nothing was muted as well, and i can get sound through the headset if i play any other file.

Setup is like so:

Gamebridge to USB 2.0
Composite connection to Gamecube
Using software that came on cd with the 1400 (Intervideo).
Nothing else changed, just the vanilla intervideo install.
 
You might want to install CCCP (Combined Community Codec Pack). I uninstalled my codecs and installed this and it fixed my audio lag problem. Problem might not be in the codecs, but its a start.
 
I don't have a lag problem, its that i have no audio whatsoever. Not even a little. Is this how the lag problem is like though? Maybe i am mixing the two. Right now, i have the k-lite mega codec pack installed.

edit: just tried Dscaler, and it outputs audio just fine. So, it has to be a software problem of some kind with intervideo.

edit 2: Strange, after using Dscaler, i tried Intervideo again, and this time i got audio! Whatever, as long as it works.

Other people looking for the cd, here is the iso for the cd that came with the 1400:

DivShare File - 1400BRIDGE.ISO , MD5sum: 3a1c6f0d50825cec7aba45a915a6f2b4
 
Mine just came in the mail, and it works great. My only problem is that the screenshots seem to capture at a widescreen resolution, so I have to resize everything. Might have something to do with my having a widescreen monitor. Also, is there a way to make it save in a format other than bitmap?

Aside from that, it's great.
 
[quote name='Gamerguy']Mine just came in the mail, and it works great. My only problem is that the screenshots seem to capture at a widescreen resolution, so I have to resize everything. Might have something to do with my having a widescreen monitor. Also, is there a way to make it save in a format other than bitmap?

Aside from that, it's great.[/QUOTE]

If it's saving in bitmap, there are all kinds of easy way to convert that to a compressed format like JPEG. If you've got Office, it's photo editor should do it. Paint might even, I'm not sure. Then open source stuff like Gimp would (and I"m sure there are simpler programs out there that would handle the conversion too).
 
[quote name='sk545']guys, anyone know why i am unable to get any audio? I have a SBLive 5.1 sound card and i can only get video with the gamebridge. Do i have to change the default sound source or something like install a codec? I made sure nothing was muted as well, and i can get sound through the headset if i play any other file.

Setup is like so:

Gamebridge to USB 2.0
Composite connection to Gamecube
Using software that came on cd with the 1400 (Intervideo).
Nothing else changed, just the vanilla intervideo install.[/QUOTE]

Just a few suggestions:
1) Check for new Soundcard drivers
2) Go to: Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio (tab) and Voice (tab)--look and see if the GameBridge install process altered any of the input / output devices, as the GameBridge adds itself to some of these pull-down menus.

....I have the same soundcard as you, and my GameBridge works like a charm; but I also hate it when I install new devices and Windows XP changes things in the "Sounds and Audio Devices" menu. Grrrr...
 
for those that got the 1410, how is its TV tuner? What kind of antenna do you have to connect to it?
 
Wow... I remember seeing this and it didn't look like something that would work well or was too good to be true. I was heading for an $80 portable DVD player w/ video in but screw that now. lol Thanks.
 
Do you need a great computer to run this or anything? I only have a mid-range laptop (I believe AMD 2000+, 384 MB RAM, cheap video card).

And I basically need absolute perfect running speed. When you're playing Ikaruga or ESPGaluda, you can't have any jitters at all.
 
[quote name='xghostsniperx']Do you need a great computer to run this or anything? I only have a mid-range laptop (I believe AMD 2000+, 384 MB RAM, cheap video card). [/quote]

What kind of CPU is that? Athlon XP? 64? A Sempron of some sort? If it's the former, it would be slower than mine, latter I'm not sure.

I've run it on an ancient Pentium 4 2.4Ghz/533Mhz 512MB, Geforce 4, and it runs as well on that as anything.
 
Can anyone help me with a problem I seem to be having with DScaler? Whenever I try to stop recording, the whole program freezes and won't work properly again without a system restart. The avi it makes seems to be corrupted, I guess because it never really ended it or something. I've tried selecting "stop video" before I stop recording, but the same thing happens.

If anyone can help at all with this, I'd be really appreciative.
 
Is there any thing I can do to improve the video quality (not the recorded one)? It's not bad, but it looks much better on the TV (I know that this probably can't achieve TV quality, but I think it's possible to improve).
 
[quote name='RoDrAs']Is there any thing I can do to improve the video quality (not the recorded one)? It's not bad, but it looks much better on the TV (I know that this probably can't achieve TV quality, but I think it's possible to improve).[/QUOTE]

Are you using S-Video? That's the big thing you can do to improve quality.
 
Not really. Some people say programs like DScaler can make stuff look better, but I couldn't get anything to look better than the included program (which is super easy to use).
 
True, Wolfpup, but while the included program worked fine the first two times I tried it, ever since then it's gotten a terrible skipping problem when recording video. After a few seconds of recording the audio and video skip ahead about a half second. It keeps doing this repeatedly and I'm not sure why, tha'ts why I tried to find an alternate program, like DScaler, which seems to work great, but crashes when I stop recording. Grrrr!
 
[quote name='Toad64']True, Wolfpup, but while the included program worked fine the first two times I tried it, ever since then it's gotten a terrible skipping problem when recording video. After a few seconds of recording the audio and video skip ahead about a half second. It keeps doing this repeatedly ....[/QUOTE]
I have the exact same problem, but I never figured out how to fix it. If anyone has any advice, please let us know.
 
Hi, everyone. New CAG member here. Some great stuff on this forum. :applause:

I am interested in this product, as my second TV just died, and the wife is lamenting the possibility of me using "her" TV to play "those games."

I have tried running my PS2's composite video into my PC (via both the VIVO capability on my nVidia 7800GT and the video-in on my ATI HDTV Wonder) and watching it in either VideoLAN or Media Player Classic, but it always looks so dark, it's unplayable. I theorized that it's because the signal is interlaced, so every other line is black, making the picture look very dark. Maybe this isn't right....?

Should I try running an S-Video signal into my PC before trying the Gamebridge? Might that fix my problem?

I confess I haven't read this whole thread, but the review in the OP is interesting. It seems like the reviewer was in a similar situation to mine, and that he found the Gamebridge to be far superior to any other video-in option on his PC. Is that an accurate statement?


Thanks,

Votey
 
[quote name='Votey']Hi, everyone. New CAG member here. Some great stuff on this forum. :applause:

I am interested in this product, as my second TV just died, and the wife is lamenting the possibility of me using "her" TV to play "those games."

I have tried running my PS2's composite video into my PC (via both the VIVO capability on my nVidia 7800GT and the video-in on my ATI HDTV Wonder) and watching it in either VideoLAN or Media Player Classic, but it always looks so dark, it's unplayable. I theorized that it's because the signal is interlaced, so every other line is black, making the picture look very dark. Maybe this isn't right....?

Should I try running an S-Video signal into my PC before trying the Gamebridge? Might that fix my problem?

I confess I haven't read this whole thread, but the review in the OP is interesting. It seems like the reviewer was in a similar situation to mine, and that he found the Gamebridge to be far superior to any other video-in option on his PC. Is that an accurate statement?


Thanks,

Votey[/QUOTE]

I would try s-video in if you have that first-you'll need it for the Gamebridge anyway. Get a SONY one of course...

Also, if you have an Nvidia card, you can separately change the gamma and contrast for video overlays, and may be able to get it looking correct if you play with that setting while running the video in a window.

In theory, a video in on your graphics card should work a lot better, as there wouldn't have to be lag like there is for USB devices.
 
[quote name='Wolfpup']I would try s-video in if you have that first-you'll need it for the Gamebridge anyway. Get a SONY one of course...

Also, if you have an Nvidia card, you can separately change the gamma and contrast for video overlays, and may be able to get it looking correct if you play with that setting while running the video in a window.

In theory, a video in on your graphics card should work a lot better, as there wouldn't have to be lag like there is for USB devices.[/quote]

Okay, thank you for the reply and advice.

I also thought I could try running the composite signal into an RF Modulator, then coaxial into my TV tuner, and tuning to channel 3 on my PC. That would be cheapest, since I have all those things already.

If that looks like ass (likely), then I'll buy an S-Video cable (you really think brand makes a difference?) and try inputting that into the VIVO.
 
[quote name='Toad64']Can anyone help me with a problem I seem to be having with DScaler? Whenever I try to stop recording, the whole program freezes and won't work properly again without a system restart. The avi it makes seems to be corrupted, I guess because it never really ended it or something. I've tried selecting "stop video" before I stop recording, but the same thing happens.

If anyone can help at all with this, I'd be really appreciative.[/quote]

I had that same problem. I don't have the program on this computer right now, but I fixed mine by changing the audio recording option. I can't remember which menu it was in, but it's the same config menu that has all the recording options. Trying playing around with the audio options in there.
 
Whenever I try to edit the videos in Windows Movie Maker, it crashes. Are there any work arounds for this? Or does anyone have any other programs they can recommend that will be able to edit these videos?
 
[quote name='PapiChullo']Whenever I try to edit the videos in Windows Movie Maker, it crashes. Are there any work arounds for this? Or does anyone have any other programs they can recommend that will be able to edit these videos?[/quote]

I had the same problem. And the videos I got out of Adobe Premiere were jittery =/
 
[quote name='Votey']Hi, everyone. New CAG member here. Some great stuff on this forum. :applause:

I am interested in this product, as my second TV just died, and the wife is lamenting the possibility of me using "her" TV to play "those games."

I have tried running my PS2's composite video into my PC (via both the VIVO capability on my nVidia 7800GT and the video-in on my ATI HDTV Wonder) and watching it in either VideoLAN or Media Player Classic, but it always looks so dark, it's unplayable. I theorized that it's because the signal is interlaced, so every other line is black, making the picture look very dark. Maybe this isn't right....?

Should I try running an S-Video signal into my PC before trying the Gamebridge? Might that fix my problem?

I confess I haven't read this whole thread, but the review in the OP is interesting. It seems like the reviewer was in a similar situation to mine, and that he found the Gamebridge to be far superior to any other video-in option on his PC. Is that an accurate statement?


Thanks,

Votey[/quote]

That would have component-in right (Blue/Green/Red)? Then get PS2 component cables, not SVideo. Should cost the same.
 
[quote name='Firestorm']That would have component-in right (Blue/Green/Red)? Then get PS2 component cables, not SVideo. Should cost the same.[/quote]
No, nothing I mentioned in my post has component-in, as far as I know. To the best of my knowledge, component-in is not possible on a PC yet, and the Gamebridge only offers composite and S-Video, which I already have on my video card and TV tuner card.
 
for s-video cables, I don't know if brand makes a difference or not. However, you may be able to save a few bucks if you have someplace around that sells used stuff - not only because you can get the cable used, but because it's the same cable as for the PS1. Might be cheaper if they have it in with the PS1 stuff. PSX. Whatever.

I have this on a couple of P4/3.0 or so machines, runs fine. Runs on a laptop with a centrino, too, that's a lot slower and has fairly standard laptop video.
I had massive slowdown for a while, until I removed...uh...crap. Video codec thing, ffdshow? Kind of wrangles codecs in its own way, rather than being a codec itself. Anyway...

As to lag in straight-in-to-video card VS this thing - if there was noticable lag with this thing, it would be unplayable and we'd have said something.

Quality is not as good as into a good TV, but it's decent and playable.
 
This method works best for me (stolen from the Penny-Arcade forums):

[quote name='Mntorankusu'] I am using Media Player Classic, with ffdshow set to "decode" raw UYVY video (which is what the gamebridge's output is), with the Kernel Bob deinterlace filter for 60fps games and Kernel Deinterlace for 30fps games. Also, make sure to check the field order swap box.[/quote]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top