Trying to connect my EVERCADE EXP to my big TV ain't simples...
Spoiler Alert! As you can see from the above picture I actually managed to get my Evercade EXP Retro Gaming Console connected to my TV, BUT it wasn't straight forward. Plus, I also wanted to work out how I captured game play video footage from the EXP as well!
The EXP does come with a HDMI output, which led me to believe that it was as easy as pie plug and play. Nope! Silly me, when has anything been that straight forward? 😂
Even More Cables!
Just when I though that I must have just about every type of video cable and adapter going I find I need yet another (seriously I have draws full in the attic).
It turns out that the EXP doesn't have a standard HDMI port, it has a mini-HDMI port!
But, to top this, it's picky about what mini-HDMI to standard HDMI cable you stick into it, as I found out when I tried out the only mini-HDMI cable that I did have. I had to do some Googling and searching around online Evercade Groups to find out which cables are known to work and then track those down on Amazon...
 |
| Above: The UGREEN Mini HDMI to HDMI Adapter Cable 4K@60Hz Mini HDMI Female to Standard HDMI Male Converter. |
That done (and just a days wait as luckily I'm a Prime member) I duly opened my parcel and connected up the cables and plugged them into the EXP and my TV... It worked!
Unfortunately, this then led me to my next issue....
Recording From a Console, How?
I've been kinda spoilt as a PC gamer as every brand of video card I've had comes bundled with some sort of video capture software. SHadowplay on the NVIDEA cards I've had has mad the whole process of recording or streaming gameplay a breeze. So much so, in fact, as I don't even consider the capturing process as a thing you have to take any trouble about these days.... Er, wrong!
Enter my first experience of capturing gameplay from a console...Bollocks.
To be fair, it ain't hard, rather it's just another rather minor annoyance and it mean I have to go back to AMAZON again! 😠
SO...I (read a few posts and reviews and) tracked down a cheap HDMI capture card...
 |
| Above: A 'generic' HDI Video Capture Card (it comes under several different names, but they are all the same). > LINK HERE < |
This has to be plugged in between the EXP, attached to your PC/laptop and then connected to an output monitor (the big TV in my case)! Shazbat! 😐
BUT...Of course things didn't work first time! Dear no, there had to be a period of fiddling about with my capture software's settings (Cyberlink Screen Recorder 4) before sound and picture signals were recording properly.
Eventually though - and with a heart felt cheer - everything tested OK and I was able to see the Evercade's screen duplicated on my laptop's screen...
A word of warning! Just so you know, this process (or rather the Evercade) turns OFF the EXP's screen as the console registers that you are trying to display the gameplay on a second screen! So don't thing you can just plug the EXP into your laptop and play and record using your Evercade as normal - you MUST have a passthrough to a second monitor screen!
That said, and much to my surprise, this cheap gadget works! (Despite the foreboding that 'made in China' brings)... And I soon had my very first short test recording in the bag...
 |
| Above: Clip of my play of '10 YARDS FIGHT' from the IREM Vol. 1 cart. |
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Well, what a faff, but everything worked out in the end. I should have known that anything I do is fraught with obstacles and in typical fashion they are usually small annoying ones of this type!
That said, I was very pleased with the results.
I can now sit back on the sofa and play my favourite retro game title in the big TV, effectively making Evercade's EXP handheld twice the value as it then becomes a normal console as well.
Additionally, I can now record some gameplay, which is fun and also provides me with another source of content for my channels. I am already planning a series of videos about which games on the various Evercade cartridges I like best.
The capture gubbings is a wee bit messy and I'll want to get some cable extensions so I can hide the capture card away somewhere a little more convenient. But for now, it works and that's enough for me.
Yay!
Post a Comment