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Screen capture from a analog VGA port is more difficult than capturing a screen with a HDMI port. Never the less, it is possible to capture analog VGA from retro computers from the 1980s up to the late 1990s. Analog VGA came out in 1987 with the release of the IBM PS/2 computer. Analog VGA is still used today, and most computers still have VGA ports to this day. Despite its popularity and wide scale use, capturing video from a analog VGA screen is not that simple.
There are a few things you will need, like a VGA to HDMI adapter, so this device converts a analog signal to a digital signal. The VGA to HDMI adapter has a 3.5mm stereo port where you can plug in a male to male 3.5mm stereo cable to record the audio. It also has a microUSB port for the powering it up, you can simply use one of your ports on your source computer to power it up without a power adapter. You also need a VGA screen splitter, so you can send one signal to the video capture USB device and another signal to the VGA monitor. Depending on the type of video you want to make, using a screen capture program may not be suitable. For game play, a screen capture software has too much latency. On the other hand, for a instructional video a screen capture software may be okay.
VGA to HDMI Adapter
VGA Splitter
Another thing you will need is a HDMI video capture device. You can use an inexpensive one like I did, or you can buy a more expensive one, like a Elgato Game Capture HD. The cheaper video capture devices has more latency, and the video capture quality isn’t as good. The more expensive video capture devices results in better video quality, and better frame rates.
HDMI Capture Device
The setup is very easy, it is shown on the diagram below. You need to hook up the USB video capture card to the computer you want to record to, and you plug in the HDMI portion of the video capture device to the VGA to HDMI adapter. Then, you connect the VGA splitter male connector to your source computer the computer you are recording from. Now, you have two female VGA ports, you connect one to your monitor, and the other to your VGA to HDMI adapter.
The last thing you need to do is download and install the OBS Studio software. You can get it here OBS Studio
After you start the software, go to add or click on the plus symbol. Select “video capture”, “create/select source”, type in a name, and click ok. Under device select a “USB video”, you should see a screen with an image if you set it up correctly and turned on the source computer. You can get sound output if you go to the video capture device, click on the three vertical dots, and go to advanced audio properties. There you can and select audio monitoring on, and turn on monitor and output. I have videos on how to do this below if you are interested.
[Links to Items]
♦ VGA Splitter
• Link
♦ HDMI Video Capture Card
• Link
♦ FOINNEX VGA to HDMI Adapter Converter with Audio
• Link