Video Capture Input for G4 Macs?

[indigo_k]

Hey gang!
Here's what I'm trying to accomplish: I've got a retro gaming handheld that has miniHDMI out so you can plug it into a tv and use it as a game console. I'd like to also be able to plug it into the iMac G4 I've got next to my bed and use that screen to play the games on. I'm trying to figure out the best way to accomplish that.
I'm imagining a miniHDMI to USB video capture device, and then some software solution to either use the iMac just as a monitor, or to take the video capture and just go full-screen with it.
Any tips or suggestions?

 

[phunguss]

I am not sure you will find a USB or FireWire device that was made to capture HDMI. Most things in that era were Composite (yellow) or coax (tv antenna or cable tuner). I have a USB based EyeTV Hybrid that is USB, but only takes coax. The PPC 8500 had AV inputs but at a very limited resolution. Best thing I can think of is to utilize an old camcorder... I know i have used a SONY MiniDV camcorder that had composite input to convert to FireWire into iMovie to capture old VHS tapes.

 

[indigo_k]

Yeah, okay - so I'll probably be looking for a series of adapters to get true video capture: MiniHDMI -> HDMI -> ?? -> ?? -> FireWire

But is there a way I can just tap directly into the screen of this iMac and use it as an external monitor? The handheld runs Linux, so there might possibly be a way to share the screen over wifi.

 

[phunguss]

I see some HDMI capture to USB2.0 on Amazon, but nothing to FireWire... Does your G4 have a 2.0 USB or just the 1.1/1.0?

 

[indigo_k]

It's a G4 800MHz so I think it's just the USB 1.1 and FireWire 400:

iMac G4/800 (Flat Panel) Specs (iMac Flat Panel, M8535LL/A*, PowerMac4,2, M6498, 1873): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the iMac G4/800 (Flat Panel). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

 

[phunguss]

But is there a way I can just tap directly into the screen of this iMac and use it as an external monitor? The handheld runs Linux, so there might possibly be a way to share the screen over wifi.

Maybe VNC or Remote Desktop? Depends on what you can install/share from your linux device. What version of MacOS are you running on the G4? Leopard has screen sharing in core services.

 

[phunguss]

https://linuxconfig.org/share-your-desktop-screen-with-vnc-on-linux

Screen sharing from Tiger - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

 

[indigo_k]

Right now I have it dual booting into OS 9.2.2 and OS X Tiger. I'd be happy to downgrade the X side to Leopard, I think it'd run better on this hardware anyway.

I'll have to do some research and find out what options there are for sharing the screen from the Linux side. Ideally it'd just be running in the background, and probably would be a USB-C interface there.

 

[davewongillies]

Screen sharing would introduce too much lag for this to be remotely enjoyable to play on

 

[davewongillies]

But is there a way I can just tap directly into the screen of this iMac and use it as an external monitor? The handheld runs Linux, so there might possibly be a way to share the screen over wifi.

 

[indigo_k]

Ha! I came across this exact video earlier today when I was trying to find a solution. Unfortunately my iMac works perfectly and I don't want to sacrifice it in order to use it *only* as a monitor, I was just hoping there was a way to have it just switch over to 'monitor mode' when I wanted it to.
While watching that video though I did wonder if it'd be possible to add an HDMI bypass to the internal monitor cable, like just splicing an HDMI port onto the back of the machine (or running the cable out of the unused DisplayPort opening), and maybe adding a physical switch to select between the two different incoming video signals. Probably more of a hack than I want to do on a perfectly functional iMac G4.

 

[S. Pupp]

I have a C&E HDMI to S-video and composite device from Amazon (this specific one is no longer available). Connect this to a Canopus ADVC-100 Firewire D/A converter or Firewire camcorder’s analog input (as mentioned above) and connect to Firewire. Use something like Strata Videoshop v4 in full screen mode to display the video from Firewire source.