Should I Use A Capture Card For Game Streaming Or Two Computers
The quick answer here is no, a capture card is not essential, but thats far from a universal answer.
On the PC side, a capture card is used to do what it sounds like: record and save video and audio footage. You can do this to save and transfer your gameplay to another PC, or to keep it for later editing. Like microphones, there are multiple capture card options, but the most frequently recommended is the Elgato HD60 Pro. Also like the mic, this is not a cheap purchase, so dont assume straightaway that youll need one.
Note: Calling a capture card a “card” in the modern context is a bit of a holdover term, as most of them these days are a small external box . Whatever the form it takes, it connects between the streaming and the gameplay machines via HDMI. We’ve reviewed a couple.
Can You Stream From A Gaming Laptop
The modern gaming experience caters much more to streaming than it ever has before. From games that better integrate with streaming services, to hardware that is more capable of handling encoding and gaming at higher resolutions at the same time, setting up your ideal game streaming platform is more than possible at home.
You dont even need a high-end gaming PC to do it. If you have a reasonable gaming laptop, then you can stream games while you play too. You just need to make sure that its up to spec, and that you have all the right software in order.
How Can I Listen To Siriusxm On My Computer
I subscribe to SiriusXM radio in my car and am wondering if theres a way I can also listen to it on my computer, either at home or in the office. Is that even possible?
Im a big fan of SiriusXM but I have to admit that the companys pricing strategy and subscriber plans are a bit confusing. As of a while ago, they announced that all subscriptions would include online streaming, so theoretically your car XM subscription should allow you to have an online streaming subscription too. Maybe. Then again, when you go to sign up online, it might tell you that you need to upgrade, so Im not entirely sure what will happen!
Lets hope for the best, however, and hope that your in-vehicle subscription also entitles you to listen to their streaming service online. Then I can show you how I use the online service, which I probably listen to more than XM in the car, particularly nowadays.
To start, go to the SiriusXM site from your computer. Thats at www.siriusxm.com. On the top right you should see manage my account or login or similar. Click on that and youll see the main customer menu:
Once youre set up, log in to the SiriusXM.com site and youll see a big cheery home screen like this:
The strip along the bottom is based on my favorites and well get back to those momentarily! For now, lets focus on the top menu:
Next up, Mad World from Tears For Fears. A much better song in my opinion!
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Streaming From Windows Or Macos
Streaming games from your PC or Mac is trickier than streaming from an Xbox One or PS4, as most systems dont come with any sort of built-in software to get you started. There are subscription-based products like XSplit if you want control over every aspect of your broadcast, but if youre just learning the basics of streaming, we recommend downloading Open Broadcaster Software . The software is completely free, usable with both Windows and MacOS, and endorsed by Twitch. If youre just wanting to get started streaming with the least amount of setup, then the Twitch Studio app is another great choice. However, this application is still in beta and is only available on Windows.
For the purpose of this guide, well be focusing on how to stream to Twitch from Windows and MacOS using OBS, as it offers an easy way to stream without a bunch of extra fluff.
Monitor Keyboard And Mouse
These are purely functional and dont need to be anything special. If you dont have a backup laying around, you can save some money with a refurbished monitor and a keyboard mouse combo.
If you dont have a spare PC handy and dont feel like building one, there are still ways to save on a second streaming setup without spending the
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What You Need To Stream With Two Pcs
There isnt one exact way to set up your ideal streaming solution, so well be going over a variety of hardware configurations here. Depending on your specific streaming needs and hardware, your setup process might look slightly different, though the fundamentals should be roughly the same.
1. Hardware
Whether you decide to repurpose an older machine or purchase an entirely new one for the job, make sure you have a mouse, keyboard, and monitor for both.
A good rule of thumb is to think of one PC as your gaming computer, and the other as your streaming machine. For your primary gaming PC, youll want to make sure you have at least the minimum CPU and GPU specs to play the games you want. When selecting your streaming PC, keep in mind that your CPU does most of the work encoding video for your stream.
If you’re considering buying a machine strictly to handle encoding video for your stream, Intel has partnered up with a few manufacturers to offer personal streaming computers optimized for streaming out of the box.
2. Software
Once youve assembled your hardware, including your gaming PC and streaming PC, youll need to start rounding up software including streaming software. For first-timers, Open Broadcaster Software * is easy to navigate, and equipped with what you need to help facilitate a two-computer stream setup.
3. Accessories
Capture Card
Headphones
Some streamers prefer to use a 3.5mm cable splitter to achieve this same effect.
Microphone
Webcam
Microphone Condenser Or Dynamic
The microphone is the first port of call when it comes to building a relationship between the viewer and the streamer. Before you reach for the first available microphone, you should ask yourself the following question: condenser or dynamic? Both have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Dynamic mics are popular with musicians since they are more robust and less susceptible to feedback. In dynamic mics you rarely find anything more than a moving coil and a protective basket, which makes them incredibly resilient. However, they are best suited for stage performances or recordings. If you want to conquer Twitch with your singing talent, you are probably best served with such a recording device ????
Condenser mics on the other hand are known for finer sound structures and are therefore suited for having conversations. If you are going to be talking a lot, a good condenser microphone is the way to go. However, unlike the dynamic version, you will need a phantom power supply to connect the mic to your computer. You will also need an amplifier with an XLR port in between, which you can connect to your laptop via USB. You can get the Razer Seiren X, which is solid and also very cheap. If want to stretch out a little further, you will find that the ASUS Strix Magnus is a powerful alternative that you can work with for a long time.
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How To Stream Games To A Second Pc Without A Capture Card
Want to stream games but don’t have a capture card? Well, you don’t actually need one. Just follow these steps.
Game streaming is all the rage these days. Whether you’re playing a highly charged first-person shooter or a laid-back driving simulator, someone’s going to be interested in watching you do it.
However, streaming and playing on the same PC can be taxing on system resources. So if you have an old PC lying around, why not use it to stream your game instead?
And don’t worry about getting a capture card because there’s a way around it. Here’s how you can stream your games with your old PC for free.
Ways To Stream Video Games From Pc To Tv
There are several ways to stream video games from your PC to your TV. Here’s everything you need to know to get started!
Do you want to play your favorite PC games on your main TV? With that huge library of games, using a Windows, macOS, or Linux computer like a quasi-games console makes sense. Especially given that the controllers for your favorite games consoles are compatible with desktop operating systems.
But there’s often a problem: your PC is in one room, and your TV is in another. Running a long HDMI cable between the rooms is impractical. The answer is to stream games from your computer to your TV across your home network.
Use these methods to stream PC games to TV.
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The Benefits Of Streaming From Cyberlink Powerdvd
The most significant benefit of using PowerDVD is that it can play formats that casting devices dont support. Audio and video files you can play with PowerDVD include:
- 3D
- DSD
- AVCHD
With hardware-acceleration, you also have support for UHD 4k video resolution. Audio formats the software supports include DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD.
You can also enhance audio and video quality with PowerDVDs TrueTheater menu. This feature allows you to optimize various content aspects, including color, contrast, dialogue, and bass boost.
Possibly A Capture Card
Capture cards are something worth considering if youre looking to stream console gaming or if you want to record your gameplay, footage, and audio to transfer to another PC or to edit it together later.
There are plenty of excellent USB capture cards which are actually little USB devices, but theyre far from necessary if youre just looking to live stream while you play or do all your editing on the same gaming laptop you play on.
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How To View Roku On Computer
The trend of cord-cutting and turning to streaming services is on the constant rise. Streaming platforms such as Roku and Chromecast are rapidly replacing regular cable TV.
With on-demand content and a database thats constantly growing, you may see much more of Roku and similar platforms featured on household TVs.
However, a new question arises when you try to use the same platform on a computer? How to watch Roku on another device besides your TV? Is it possible? Well, technically it is and this article will explain how.
How To Stream Playstation 4 Games On Pc Without A Capture Card
It’s fairly easy to start streaming your PS4 gameplay to several platforms with Restream even if you don’t have a capture card. To do this you’ll need to capture Remote Play client on your computer, and stream it with any software, like OBS. It will allow you to add overlays to your stream, and also to stream to Restream to send your video to several platforms at once.
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Stream From Pc To Tv By Installing Plex Software On Your Pc
Pros: Plex software organizes media on a PC or NAS, making it a media server accessible to any device on your network.Cons: Quality of stream is subject to wireless network performance.
Setup overview: Install Plex software on the computer that contains the files you wish to stream. The software setup wizard helps organize media files on the server, and you install the mobile application on devices where you want to view the contenthere is where a Wi-Fi-enabled smart TV is useful, but there are workarounds if you dont have one. Keep reading.
Screen shot of Plex apps front end
Limitations: For non-smart televisions to network with a Plex server, any media streamer will do the trick Roku 3, Roku 4, Chromecast, Apple TV, current gaming consolesall of them have Plex support. These devices connect to the TV via HDMI, and a router via wired Ethernet.
Pro tip: You actually do not need additional software to stream from PC to TVWindows, OSX and Linux operating systems have built-in DLNA server features. Since DLNA is a dated standard, not every kind of media file will be recognized by the server. Plex is capable of transcoding on the fly to accommodate streaming these otherwise unsupported file formats.
Plex alternatives: There is PlayOn for Roku TiVo users have TiVo Desktop Software for PC. If you have another favorite Plex alternative, call it out in the comments.
Or Even A Secondary Pc
Alternatively, or as well as changing to a gaming desktop, you could utilize a secondary PC for the streaming portion of your game streaming setup. That leaves your gaming desktop or laptop to solely focus on the game, while the second PC focuses on the streaming.
Along with that second machine, youll need a capture card to grab the footage from the gaming PC, and youll likely want a second display and keyboard and mouse so that you can easily adjust its settings. However, all of that can make this an expensive way to stream your games.
That said, if you have a reasonable gaming laptop already, you could use that as the streaming device, and upgrade to a gaming desktop. That way you get the best of both worlds. You retain your gaming laptop for encoding your gaming footage and can take full advantage of a modern gaming PC to play the latest and greatest games.
Need a recommendation on a PC for gaming, streaming, or something else? Give Chillblast a call. Our team of expert system builders will help talk you through everything you need to know about building your dream setup.
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How To Stream On Twitch From A Pc Mac Playstation 4 Or Xbox One
Have your favorite Twitch gamers inspired you to start a channel of your own? Playing popular games online is a great way to make friends and interact with people who have similar interests, but the tricky part is setting it up for the first time.
Unfortunately, streaming on Twitch can require a little bit of effort, and youll need to make sure you have all the right software and equipment before you begin. In this guide, well walk you through how to stream on a PS4, a Windows PC, Xbox One, and how to stream on Nintendo Switch.
How To Set Up A Dual
Streaming PC games to Twitch, YouTube, or any of the other popular services out there is a pretty intensive process. It’s a lot of strain to put on a single PC, playing a game while also encoding your stream and uploading that to the internet. If you have a particularly beastly rig, say with one of the newer AMD or Intel Extreme processors or an NVIDIA RTX graphics card, you can probably get away with it, but in most cases, serious PC streamers are using a secondary machine. Here’s how to set up a two-PC stream the easy way.
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Have A Spare Pc Start Streaming
Even a fairly old computer can still be used for streaming. For example, a 4th-generation Intel Core i7 can still let you stream your screen. And instead of spending extra on a video capture card, you can instead use NDI Tools to connect your devices.
So if you have a spare PC lying around, put it to good use and start your own game stream. Who knows? Maybe you’re the next Twitch star.
Connecting The Two Pcs
Connecting your two computers should only take a minute, though its important to connect everything in the right order.
1. If youre using an external card like the Elgato* HD60 S, plug an HDMI cable from your gaming PC into the in connection of your capture card. Then, connect the capture card to your streaming PC via USB.
2. If youre using an internal capture card, install it in your streaming PC by following the manufacturer-provided instructions. Then, connect your graphics card via HDMI from your gaming computer to the HDMI port labeled in on the capture card installed on the stream machine.
Once all the cables are plugged in, head to your gaming computer. On the Windows desktop, right-click select Display settings. From here, make sure that the HDMI cable connected between your gaming PC and your streaming machines capture card is a duplicated display from your primary gaming monitor. If its an external card, ensure the appropriate drivers are installed.
Connecting the two machines in this way ensures that any potential limitations of the capture card don’t interfere with the capabilities of your gaming monitor, especially if it runs at a higher resolution or refresh rate. Before you head to your stream machine, leave the gaming computer running on something in motion, like a video or animated game menu. The movement will help you determine whether the video is synced up when you connect the two machines.
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How To Wirelessly Stream Your Android Screen On Linux
If you want to wirelessly mirror your Android screen on Linux, you can do it by using this method. To implement this, we would be using the app called Screen Cast.
This app is pretty much easy to use. Make sure you use the same network for Android and your system for streaming the Android screen wirelessly.
Step 1:
Download and install the Screen Cast Android app. After you install it, open the app. Once the app is launched, click the Start button, which you will see on the screen.
Step 2:
On the confirmation screen, click Start Now. Now, type the URL that is displayed on the screen in any browser. Once you input the URL, the screencasting will start.
Step 3:
Congrats! Now everything that is on the Android would be displayed on the Linux screen too. You dont have to change the image quality, and you can also protect the connection with a password.