Question about input to a laptop HDMI port (vs output to external monitor)

Factual Questions
1

Hello!

I bought a Game Stick Lite which is a HDMI dongle that makes your monitor into an arcade machine and emulator heaven :stuck_out_tongue:

Now, its ok to put it into the monitor, and select HDMI source to display it on the screen. But id really like to use it on my Laptop! For practical reasons.

Now, The laptop HDMI port is for output onto an external monitor as i understand it. But im wondering, does it go both ways? Id like to input something (game stick lite) onto my Laptop monitor. Does the HDMI port go both ways? Or is it simply impossible to use my Game Stick Lite on my laptop?

Any thoughts on this? Solutions?

Regards, Loggins.

(ETA: My laptop only have one HDMI port)

2

You are out of luck with the built in hardware as the HDMI output on the laptop is one way, but you can add something like this:

3

Thanks for your answer! Though that converter seems a bit pricey :frowning: Guess its a no go then…

4

It’s usually called a “capture card” if want to search for one. There are certainly much cheaper ones.

That review recommends a budget $50 one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09D8VYLY7

Or you can even find one at $30:

https://www.amazon.com/DIGITNOW-Converter-Recording-Streaming-Broadcasting/dp/B097DBWKFT

5

The things i read about capture cards, is that they (at least cheap ones) give a certain delay, which is in the miliseconds, but that would probably make it difficult to play an arcade game trough it. Which requires tight and responsive controls.

But that delay is likely not a problem for capturing video, must be said.

6

And no doubt the delay on the cheaper capture cards is going to be worse.

You can buy a 20" monitor with an HDMI input for under $100, but I guess you just can’t carry it around with you.

7

Ah yes, but i already have a two monitor setup on my PC. 28 inchers, one 4k and one 1080p. My wish is really to play on my laptop

8

The simpler solution is to just run the stuff natively from your laptop and have it display to its own screen. Your laptop is almost certainly far more powerful than that Game Stick dongle. For example, you’ll find many similar games created and released for free by enthusiasts in the homebrew scene as part of RetroArch on Steam.

9

Here is a copy of my laptop specs

Garanti (måneder) 24
Produkttype Bærbar PC
Operativsystem Windows 10 Home
EAN 4719072567590

Prosessor / Chipset|CPU|Intel Core i7 (8. generasjon) 8750H|
| — | — |
|Antall kjerner|6 kjerner|
|64-bits databehandling|Ja|
|Chipset|Mobile Intel HM370|

Minne|RAM|16 GB|
| — | — |
|Maks støttet RAM|32 GB|
|Teknologi|DDR4 SDRAM|
|Nominell hastighet|2666 MHz|
|Produktformfaktor|SO DIMM 260-pin|
|Antall spor|2|

Lager|Hovedlagring|256 GB SSD M.2 PCIe - NVM Express (NVMe)|
| — | — |
|Sekundært lager|1 TB HDD SATA / 5400 rpm|

Skjerm|Type|17.3"|
| — | — |
|LCD-bakgrunnsbelysningsteknologi|LED-bakgrunnsbelysning|
|Oppløsning|1920 x 1080 (Full HD)|
|V-synkhastighet ved maks. oppløs.|120 Hz|
|Bredskjerm|Ja|
|Egenskaper|Antirefleks, MSI Matrix Display, MSI True Color Technology 2.0, 3 ms-responshastighet|

Lyd & Video|Grafikkprosessor|NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070|
| — | — |
|Videominne|8 GB GDDR5 SDRAM|
|Kamera|Ja - 720p|
|Bilderate|30 bilder pr. sekund|
|Lyd|Fire høyttalere, underbasshøyttaler, mikrofon|
|Lydfunksjoner|Dynaudio Premium Sound Technology, ESS SABRE HiFi audio DAC-teknologi, Nahimic VR-lydteknologi, Nahimic 3-lydteknologi|

Inngang|Type|Tastatur, touchpad|
| — | — |
|Tastaturbakgrunnsbelysning|Ja (RGB)|
|Egenskaper|SteelSeries Engine 3, SteelSeries Full Color|

Kommunikasjoner|Trådløs|802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0|
| — | — |
|Nettverksgrensesnitt|Gigabit Ethernet|
|Ethernet-kontroller|Killer Ethernet E2500|
|Egenskaper|Killer DoubleShot Pro Technology, Smart Teaming, Killer Shield|

Batteri|Teknologi|3-cellers|
| — | — |
|Kapasitet|51 Wh|

AC-adapter Utgang 180 watt

Koblinger & Utvidelse Grensesnitt Mikrofoninngang
Hodetelefons/SPDIF-kombojakk
USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 (supports Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort Alt Mode)
2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1
USB 3.1 Gen 2
USB 2.0
LAN
HDMI
Mini DisplayPort
Minnekortleser Ja (SD-kort, SDHC-kort, SDXC-kort)

Diverse|Farge|Svart|
| — | — |
|Egenskaper|MSI SHIFT Technology, Cooler Boost Trinity technology|
|Tilleggsutstyr inkludert|Strømadapter|

Størrelser og vekt|Dimensjoner (BxDxH)|41.18 cm x 28.49 cm x 1.96 cm|
| — | — |

It is far heavier than i thought, so not really very portable.
|Vekt|2.43 kg|

  • Its got 3 bloody fans, so it makes noise. I think the gfx card is 1070 mobile version i persume
10

Yeah, that laptop is wildly faster than the Game Stick. I assumed you had an old office laptop rather than a semi-recent gaming laptop.

You don’t need to spend money on a way to connect your Game Stick to the laptop; you need to just run it from the laptop. You might might even find yourself using the HDMI output from the laptop instead of the Game Stick for TVs 'n such. RetroArch delivered through Steam is a good place to start with that.

11

Thank you for your suggestions. I am very, very familiar with emus. I got a MAME cabinet. But i want to do this easy. and with the dongle i got for my birthday

12

You can do it with the dongle, or you can do it easy. Pick one!

13

Can you elaborate?

14

You have two easy solutions already - plug the dongle into a monitor, or run the games on your laptop. You can either adopt one of those straightforward solutions, or keep trying find a convoluted solution that runs the games on the dongle and uses your laptop screen.

15

want to bring it with me, on laptop

16

I’m not following your logic here. What’s the difference between playing the games on an emulator embedded in the dongle and running probably exactly the same game code on an emulator on your PC? Assuming you built and/or configured your MAME cabinet yourself rather than buying it ready to go, you’re 95% of the way to playing on your laptop.

17

Im really intrigued by the easy solution of the Game Stick (which i already have, comes with a controller) So i dont have lots of time to set up another mame system. Just for ease of use for my part, for those who wondered why i dont set up a mame. Im too old and tired to start messing about on my PC im afraid… Even though i loved to do so in my earlier years.