How do I use my laptop as a screen for a playstation?

November 7, 2005 8:23 PM

What would it take to hook up my playstation 2 to my powerbook?

We only have one TV in the house, so there's no way for me to play playstation without pissing off the rest of the family. I'd love to just use my laptop screen to play games on. How do I do it?

posted by BuddhaInABucket to computers & internet (14 comments total)

I own a TV-tuner box that has composite (red-yellow-white) cables. I haven't tried it with a PS2 or anything else but it should work, I guess... maybe with a good bit of a lag though. FWIW, it's a Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe... haven't actually got it to work yet though...
posted by SuperNova at 8:32 PM on November 7, 2005

This should do the trick.
posted by zerokey at 8:35 PM on November 7, 2005

Try using a TV Tuner. Since you're using a laptop, you'll want to get an external tuner, rather than a card.

Make sure the tuner can take component video input. (Component video is the three colored plugs that connect from the game system to the TV.)

I don't know which is best, but there's your starting point.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:41 PM on November 7, 2005

BTW, SuperNova is correct, composite video is what you need, not component.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:44 PM on November 7, 2005

Note: I haven't actually tried the MyTV2Go, but there is no reason why this wouldn't work as it is just acting as a video in.

I do see that it's USB1.1. You'll get better performance out of a USB2 one (if your Powerbook has USB2).

Check here for ones that have osx drivers
posted by zerokey at 8:45 PM on November 7, 2005

If I'm not mistaken, you're looking at >$100 for an external TV tuner that might give you sub-optimal performance. How about buying a cheap TV?
posted by Rock Steady at 8:58 PM on November 7, 2005

I have used the ADS Pyro AV Link video->firewire box to get PS2 video on to my (1GHz, USB 1.1) powerbook. Make sure you buy a device that supports S-Video, the quality will be much better than with composite, and the cost should not be much higher. Avoid USB based devices.

The included software was useless, but I found some freeware on version tracker that would take firewire video input and splat it onto the screen.
posted by b1tr0t at 8:59 PM on November 7, 2005

One of the advantages of buying a video->firewire box to go along with your PowerBook and PSTwo (the newer smaller one) is that you can carry them along with your laptop and play video games as you travel. Otherwise, a small TV might be a better solution.
posted by b1tr0t at 9:00 PM on November 7, 2005

Isn't one of the problems with using these devices for video games the lag?
posted by maledictory at 9:24 PM on November 7, 2005

The ADS Pyro FW device I used was fast enough to get through GTA:SA and most of the latest Metal Gear game. I have since plugged my PSTwo into the A/V interface on a Sony A690, a Dell 2405 FPW (monitor with S-Video in) and a Sony LCD projection TV. I don't notice any difference in latency among the devices.
posted by b1tr0t at 10:34 PM on November 7, 2005

The lag can come into play when using a program like mythtv to display the video game. Some of these tv programs actually lag several seconds behind on purpose for rewinding and pausing functions.

If you just use the simple viewing program that comes with whichever tv card you get, you'll be fine.
posted by meta87 at 11:30 PM on November 7, 2005

Not exactly a direct answer, I know, but you might want to consider purchasing a TV. I've been shopping around lately to replace our 20+ year old set, and you can defnitely get something for under ~$100 if you're not too picky.
posted by roue at 6:10 AM on November 8, 2005

Is it a fast laptop? Maybe you'd be better off with a PS2 emulator. (I dunno what the state of the art in emulation is there, though.)
posted by mendel at 9:28 AM on November 8, 2005

Maybe you'd be better off with a PS2 emulator. (I dunno what the state of the art in emulation is there, though.)

My friend, who seems to know about such things, has told me there's not any good ones out there. He says emulator technology lags far behind with the newest consoles. I would love to be proven wrong, though... Anything to play NCAA 06 without having to buy a PS2.
posted by SuperNova at 10:02 AM on November 8, 2005