Capturing PS3 gameplay w/o a camera

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

I have my TV and laptop connected via PC extension cable (I think?). My friend was telling me that I can capture the TV image and save it to my laptop because of the way I have it set up. I didn't get details from him, but is that true? And if so, what program(s) do I need to get in order to capture the picture?

Thanks!

[Kaisha]

Laptops that sport a DVI/HDMI-in (or other means of input) are pretty rare, I'm assuming that 'PC extension cable' you got hooked up allows you to use your TV as a monitor?

You got the model number of your laptop handy? Would make it easier to see if it can by checking the manufacturers website to see what exactly the thing has built in.

[Fisban]

I would have to assume that you have your laptop connected to your computer via HDMI or DVI.

However I am not aware software that would allow you to record what is displaying on your TV unless it is actually playing off of your laptop...

However that being said there is a product that I know of that can capture and record called the Hauppauge HD PVR found here: http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

Record your high definition TV programs to your PC, using high quality H.264!

HD PVR
model 1212

HD PVR is the world’s first High-Definition video recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed recordings at resolutions up to 1080i. HD-PVR records component video (YCrCb) from cable TV and satellite set top boxes, with a built-in IR blaster to automatically change TV channels for scheduled recordings. Audio is recorded using AAC or Dolby Digital .

The recording format is AVCHD, which can be used to burn Blu-ray DVD disks. Two hours of HD recordings, recorded at 5 Mbits/sec, can be burnt onto a standard 4.7 GByte DVD-R or DVD-RW disk for playback on a Blu-ray DVD player.

Record your video game play
One of the popular uses for the HD PVR is for recording video gameplay. As said on GeekTonic:
"Now I think anyone watching me play videogames is a sure-fire way to put them to sleep – or at least laugh at my videogame performance. But I know there is a very large number of videogamers using the HD-PVR to record their video gameplay."

Create your own video library
The HD PVRs amazing recording quality allows personal archival of your favorite high definition TV programs from any component video HD set top box. The HD PVR also has standard definition composite and S-Video inputs so you can record your old home video tapes into an AVCHD format for creating Blu-ray DVD recordings.

Features
Built-in hardware H.264 high definition encoder, for high performance, high quality TV recordings
Component video input from most high definition cable TV and satellite TV receivers. Optical or stereo audio inputs.
Record high definition video at up to 1080i resolution, 720p or VGA/D1
Record at datarates from 1Mbs to 13.5Mbs, constant and Variable Bit Rate
Make Blu-ray format AVCHD recordings, so you can burn your TV recordings onto a standard DVD disk (up to 2 hours of video at 5MBits/sec) and playback on Blu-ray DVD players
Includes HD software video player, so you can playback recordings to your PC screen
Audio / Video component video loop through to allow HD recording and viewing at the same time
High Performance Noise Reduction Function
NTSC,PAL and SECAM Support
IR receiver for remote control
IR Blaster to change the TV channels in your set top box
Record formats
There are three H.264 formats you can choose when recording a video:

.TS, which is a generic 'transport stream' compatible with many digital media players
.M2TS, which is compatible with the Sony Playstation3
.MP4, which is compatible with the XBox360
The .TS and .M2TS files are AVCHD compatible, and can be used to burn Blu-ray compatible disk recordings. These files can be burned onto a standard DVD+R or DVD+RW disk for playback in a Blu-ray disk player using the included Arcsoft TME Disk Create application. Approximately 2 hours of HD TV recorded at 5Mbits/sec can be put onto a standard DVD+R or DVD+RW disk.

The included TME Media Converter program may also be used to convert the .TS file to other formats compatible for playback on an iPhone and Ipod.