How *NOT* to setup your PC and PS3 together
•
15 Apr 2012, 17:54
•
Journals
After years of indecision I finally gave in a brought a PS3. Having little space I wanted to use my PC screen + headphones for the vision & sound output of the console whilst still being able to use my PC. Here's how I did it, though don't do it this way if you can!
HDMI Switcher
I brought a cheap HDMI switcher from LIDL for £12. This allows me to switch the input into my screen from the PS3 to PC and back at the switch of a button.
Sound through HDMI
The PS3 sound output is through the HDMI connection into the screen. Unfortunately my PC doesn't have the same option :( otherwise this whole process would be 100000x easier!
Sound output from the screen
My LG screen has an 3.5mm audio output on the back. I use this to take the sound from the PS3 through a longish cable to a very basic mixer with the audio output of the PC.
Mixer
The mixer is basic as heck. Infact its not even a real mixer its a combination of composite connections (see picture) which I found around the house. The PS3 headset I brought only had these composite connections and using Line-In on the PC meant a mono output only (plus the PC would need to be on all the time).
USB Microphone
The headset thankfully worked equally well on the PC as the PS3 meaning that I can share the microphone between the two devices quite happily. Even seems to be reasonably good quality considering the price...
Usage
Turn on one or the other device, making sure USB input is connected to the right device. Set HDMI switcher and enjoy.
I can have music from my PC in the background whilst I play the PS3 (though at a low volume). I can't have the PS3 as a background for the PC though if I want to use the screen as a PC display.
TODO
*reverse USB hub* i.e. one input, 2 outputs so that USB keyboards and headset can be shared between the two devices without having to manually switch all the time.
Previous setup
- Manually move HDMI and USB cables around
- different head sets for each device (plus no mic for PS3)
- different keyboards for each device
HDMI Switcher
I brought a cheap HDMI switcher from LIDL for £12. This allows me to switch the input into my screen from the PS3 to PC and back at the switch of a button.
Sound through HDMI
The PS3 sound output is through the HDMI connection into the screen. Unfortunately my PC doesn't have the same option :( otherwise this whole process would be 100000x easier!
Sound output from the screen
My LG screen has an 3.5mm audio output on the back. I use this to take the sound from the PS3 through a longish cable to a very basic mixer with the audio output of the PC.
Mixer
The mixer is basic as heck. Infact its not even a real mixer its a combination of composite connections (see picture) which I found around the house. The PS3 headset I brought only had these composite connections and using Line-In on the PC meant a mono output only (plus the PC would need to be on all the time).
USB Microphone
The headset thankfully worked equally well on the PC as the PS3 meaning that I can share the microphone between the two devices quite happily. Even seems to be reasonably good quality considering the price...
Usage
Turn on one or the other device, making sure USB input is connected to the right device. Set HDMI switcher and enjoy.
I can have music from my PC in the background whilst I play the PS3 (though at a low volume). I can't have the PS3 as a background for the PC though if I want to use the screen as a PC display.
TODO
*reverse USB hub* i.e. one input, 2 outputs so that USB keyboards and headset can be shared between the two devices without having to manually switch all the time.
Previous setup
- Manually move HDMI and USB cables around
- different head sets for each device (plus no mic for PS3)
- different keyboards for each device
edit... I remember trying to record my PS3 footage using a capture device. Sooo annoying and so not worth the effort. I was 1 of the few that got it to work as it should, require a lot of fucking around and even had to cut some cables and join into 2 so I could display on 2 displays @ same resolution.
Now I just use PS3 once every month for MW3 :).
PS COME IRC
http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=ps2+av+cable+with+phono+output&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1163&bih=822&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15264258090572925404&sa=X&ei=-wCLT_DlMMmC8gOBrND3CQ&ved=0CFYQ8wIwAA