I'm trying to record footage from my video game console (Wii, specifically), but I cannot figure out how to make it work in my current setup.

The problem I'm having, is that there are absolutely no available ports in the back of my TV. The only thing I have to work off of is a Splitter, which only allows one set of cables (YWR) per switch/button.

I have my Wii hooked up to the splitter on button 2, and have my DVD Recorder hooked up to the same splitter... But, the In and Out cables for said DVD Recorder pose the problem that, well, they have to hook up to the splitter, and can't be on the same button as the other cables (In or Out, whichever) for the DVDR, OR the Wii. I can't just plug them into the back of the TV, because, as said above, the lack of available ports.

Whilst doing this, I need to also figure out how to have the game be running, be being recorded, but not showing the output of the recording video, to prevent video delay (lag), from the processing video from the Wii to the DVD Recorder to the TV.

If it helps, the DVD Recorder I'm trying to use is a Philips 75/17.

I'm sorry if I'm not explaining well enough, or if the solution is incredibly simple, I've never done anything like this before, and I'm not good at figuring things out.

The simplest solution would require you to have your DVDR on when even just playing your Wii. It would have the downside of not being able to play your Wii and record something different on your DVDR. If that downside is OK with you here's what I would do and wouldn't require anything new in fact your could get rid of your switcher.

Take your Wii's output and feed that into your DVDRs line input. Then take your DVDRs line output and feed that into your TV. To watch DVDs just select line input on your TV and play your DVDs. To play or record Wii turn your DVDR on and select line input on your DVDR and also line input on your TV.
Not sure what you meant by "video delay (lag)" so maybe this setup wouldn't work for you.
Not sure how your record from your DVDR but most DVDRs have 2 line inputs so you could just use the other one from your STB if that' how you record or if you use the tuner just record from that.

I'm trying not to have such complications, the people I live with would go insane and complain about it a ton, probably dismantle the entire setup. It would probably work for me, but it wouldn't for them.

Also, what I mean about the video delay, is that I heard that you can't have the DVDR be the device displaying the Output signal on the TV whilst recording, because the output it displays it has to get from the thing it's recording from, go through the DVDR, and then display on the screen from the DVDR's output. The time it takes to travel makes the picture to be horridly late, and everything is happening before you actually see it.

I'm trying not to have such complications, the people I live with would go insane and complain about it a ton, probably dismantle the entire setup. It would probably work for me, but it wouldn't for them.


Maybe a second DVDR then, for your purposes, put in between the Wii and the switch. The other people don't have to mess with it and it won't affect anything if it's not recording. That's about the only thing I can think of to keep the status quo.

Either that, or replace the people you live with. ;)

I've never heard of a lag when recording a game to DVD. Maybe there is such a thing, but I always thought the signal got passed through without delay.

...I've never heard of a lag when recording a game to DVD. Maybe there is such a thing, but I always thought the signal got passed through without delay.

I know exactly what he's talking about. I hooked up my PS2 to a composite input on the front of my dad's AVR while I was visiting over Christmas. When I tried to play Guitar Hero at first, there was so much lag from the signal having to go through the AVR, then out to his plasma TV, I was missing notes like crazy. Luckily, Guitar Hero has a "calibrate lag" feature which compensates for this, but not all games do.

I think my lag was in the order of 100 - 150 milliseconds. That may not sound like much, but it definitely can make a video game unplayable. It probably depends on the equipment you have on how much lag gets generated as you try to pass the video signal through multiple components.

Ideally, you would use a set of Y splitter cables (kind of like this (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=663&seq=1&format=2), but you'd need 1F / 2M*) to take the video/audio out from the Wii sending one set to the DVDR and the other set to the push-button splitter. Only problem is, I'm not sure this would work unless you used some kind of (potentially expensive) powered / amplified box to do the splitting. It depends how much the signals degrade from splitting.

Then, you'd select the Wii on the push-button splitter -- the one you have already -- when you want to play games lag free and select the DVDR when you want to go back and review what you've recorded from the game.

* - UPDATE: Actually, there is this (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040107&p_id=2879&seq=1&format=2) (RCA Female to 2 RCA Male), but if you get a little adapter like that, you'd be better off trying to find one that's RCA Female to 2 RCA Female. Otherwise you'd ALSO have to buy a set of RCA gender changers to run cables from the adapters to the DVDR and your current splitter. Again, no promises on how much the signal might degrade without some type of amplified box, though. I, personally, would want my game console connected via component vs. composite to the TV, but it looks like you are just using composite (maybe you're happy with that). If you throw a component output from your Wii into the mix, now you're talking about a very, very complicated and/or expensive set up.

After much swearing, I've rigged something up that (semi) works. It's like what someone already said (hooking it to the DVD recorder). But now, because it's going off the DVDR's composite ports, the game delays now.

There exists a dual-composite set, right? Meaning 2 of each color on one cable. This would fix that, I believe (I think another poster already said this one).

I know exactly what he's talking about. I hooked up my PS2 to a composite input on the front of my dad's AVR while I was visiting over Christmas. When I tried to play Guitar Hero at first, there was so much lag from the signal having to go through the AVR, then out to his plasma TV, I was missing notes like crazy.

If by AVR you mean DVR, and it is always recording (like a Tivo), then that's the reason for the delay.. Nothing is really 'live'.. it's always being played back off of the hard drive.

If by AVR you mean DVR, and it is always recording (like a Tivo), then that's the reason for the delay.. Nothing is really 'live'.. it's always being played back off of the hard drive.

Nope. By AVR, I meant audio video receiver. I'm not sure exactly what model it is, but he just bought it less than a year ago and it was at least $600, so I know it's a pretty good one with HDMI inputs and outputs, etc. I haven't gotten into AVR's much yet. My 50" HDTV is hooked up to a rather cheapo HTIB (sorry...that's home theater in a box). In the other room, I've got a 32" CRT hooked up to a MGA (Mitsubishi) receiver circa 1990 that just won't die no matter how much I abuse it.

I'm still wondering about the cables, as I can't find any online.

What I'm talking about is a set of composite cables, but it has another set of composite cables tied into it, so it's in a Y shape.

Or, maybe someone can explain the best method to wire my Wii to send signals to both the DVD Recorder, AND the Splitter (and thus the TV)? So that way, it can be recording, but I can switch the Splitter button over to the Wii, so that I won't have the processing delay that the DVD Recorder causes.

Solutions?

I'm still wondering about the cables, as I can't find any online.

What I'm talking about is a set of composite cables, but it has another set of composite cables tied into it, so it's in a Y shape.

Or, maybe someone can explain the best method to wire my Wii to send signals to both the DVD Recorder, AND the Splitter (and thus the TV)? So that way, it can be recording, but I can switch the Splitter button over to the Wii, so that I won't have the processing delay that the DVD Recorder causes.

Solutions?

I haven't seen the 1 set of 3 RCA cables that splits into 2 sets of 3 RCA cables on the other side. Sorry.

I do have a quick update that may be of some interest to you, however. I hooked up my PS2 to the L2 (Front inputs) on my Magnavox H2160MW9. I used composite video, which I don't particularly care for -- especially once you get used to component / progressive scan. Or maybe its just because my HDTV doesn't do well with low quality signals. Anyway, from the recorder, I was using HDMI out to the TV.

I popped in Guitar Hero II and left calibrate lag OFF (0 ms offset). To my surprise my test song, Carry On Wayward Son, was TOTALLY playable. Remember, when I tried to play on my dad's TV, I had to use about a 100 ms offset calibration or I'd miss notes like crazy from the lag.

So what can we learn from this? I'm convinced that a Magnavox H2160MW9 is not introducing significant lag to the system. I can't be sure your Philips 75/17 isn't the culprit, but you may have something else in there producing it. Another thing I noticed was in the on screen directions from within the game. In the calibrate lag screen, it says some HDTV's introduce a small amount of video lag that may need corrected. In other words, it wasn't necessarily my dad's Audio Video receiver causing the lag I saw...it could have been the same way if I had the PS2 hooked up directly to his plasma. I didn't try that, but it would prove whether it was the TV causing it or not.

I think you need to run some tests like this to isolate which piece of equipment is causing the lag. Unhook everything from the back of your TV (just for this testing) and start out by hooking the Wii directly into the TV. If no lag is seen, add the splitter. If you still don't see lag from video travelling from the Wii to the splitter and through to the TV, then add the Philips recorder to the mix. If the lag is generated going from the Wii to the Philips, out to the splitter, then into the TV, you've proven (without a doubt) that the Philips is the problem. Until you do this, I don't see the need to try to hunt down this composite splitter cable you speak of.

I don't even have to test it, I'm 100% sure it's the DVDR causing the lag. My TV is an old 4:3 bubble-shape screen, and it sucks, but it doesn't cause lag. I'm sure of it.

With the Wii hooked to the Splitter, and the Splitter hooked to the TV, it works fine, no lag.

However, with the Wii hooked to the DVDR, and the DVDR hooked to the Splitter, and the Splitter hooked to the TV, lag ensues. The problem is, I'm seeing the output from the Wii on the Output from the DVDR, and it's not displaying it the moment the Wii sends it out, because it has to process it.

I can remedy this problem if I can split the cables off so that the Wii gets wired to the DVDR and the splitter at the same time, so that way, it can record, but I can just press a different switch in and play without the lag. But I need some kind of cable to do this, and whatever the cable is, I can't find it.

I can remedy this problem if I can split the cables off so that the Wii gets wired to the DVDR and the splitter at the same time, so that way, it can record, but I can just press a different switch in and play without the lag. But I need some kind of cable to do this, and whatever the cable is, I can't find it.
How about a Monoprice RCA splitter (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040107&p_id=326&seq=1&format=2), like this one:

Product ID: 326
RCA Video Audio SPLITTER Adapter (RCA Female to 2 RCA Female)

Buy 3 of them and connect each RCA cable out to a splitter, with 2 RCA out from each splitter?

You might check with your local Radio Shack for the RCA Y video cable you need. I have bought at least two sets like that in the past from them. They still show the audio piggyback cables online, but I didn't see the piggyback video cables. That cable does make it a little cleaner set of connections, but as others said, you can do the same thing with three RCA Y adapters. Make sure you get the version that has one male RCA that splits to two female ends that you can then plug two regular set of RCA cables into. If you cannot find that, you'd need to buy yet another six adapters that are the RCA barrel connecters, with both ends female. I have bought numerous of these over the years, and all of those connectors get pricey.

I think Radio Shack marketed the y cables as input cables, not output, though. I believe they have some self-selecting sensor that switches to the most recently powered on device (?) So maybe the Y adapter would be better.

I finally found the cable I was thinking of here :http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049648
It is called "Rear-Panel Audio/Video/S-Video Extend-A-Jack
I am not sure if this would do what you want. Handy though.

If your DVD-R has Hard drive/HDD, it probably is caching the last few seconds before they are displayed. Every one I have had does that. If you have both cable & dish boxes, both of which cache, and antenna in to TV, or even analog cable in to TV, you can tell that each one has a different cache rate if you switch rapidly between them. I've noticed this when watching TV in a different room and hearing the TV from another too, sounds like a echo.

Another thing that will irritate gamers is the slow refresh rate on some TVs and monitors. Video cards on computers can also cause a lag, for computer gamers. I expect the various inputs on a TV could also have different refresh rates, S-Video, component, HDMI, RCA, antenna, PC input could each have slightly different results.

I do understand about your need to not have such a complex setup as to cause other TV users to have trouble. I really liked the video selector box that I used to use that had lighted number that showed which input was selected. But it didn't have any HDMI inputs.

Wouldn't three of the Female to 2 Female ports work fine?

How I'm thinking of doing it, is to have each of the three Female to 2 Female have a different plug from the Wii's composite cables, and have another two sets of composite cables, one split between the three adaptors and running to the DVD Recorder, and one split between the three adaptors and running to the Splitter, so I can just switch the button on the Splitter while it's recording, and not have any lag.

This will work, right?

Wouldn't three of the Female to 2 Female ports work fine?

How I'm thinking of doing it, is to have each of the three Female to 2 Female have a different plug from the Wii's composite cables, and have another two sets of composite cables, one split between the three adaptors and running to the DVD Recorder, and one split between the three adaptors and running to the Splitter, so I can just switch the button on the Splitter while it's recording, and not have any lag.

This will work, right?

For 2 bucks, plus shipping, it's worth a shot. Use the link in wajo's post above and order from monoprice. When you get them and everything works right, you can come back here and post a thank you. ;)

It'll be the best 2 bucks you ever spent.

...Only problem is, I'm not sure this would work unless you used some kind of (potentially expensive) powered / amplified box to do the splitting. It depends how much the signals degrade from splitting...

lol wut - I just found this recent thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1118386) where a guy is trying to split his video signal to two sources. You may want to read it and post questions there because it looks like you will suffer some signal loss with Y adapters.

If you get somethinglike this (http://www.amazon.com/9-8-S-av-Cable-Nintendo-Wii-DS/dp/B000P6L9UY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1234458418&sr=1-1), however, it looks like you can hook up one device to the S-Video output and the other device to composite video output and it will work okay as long as you still get 2 Y adapters for the L/R audio outputs.

I had already ordered the adapters someone linked to (the ones from Monoprice), and I'm having a problem with them already...

The Wii's signal, being split two ways, makes the signal that goes to the Splitter (and thus the TV) to have lower brightness. If I disconnect the plug that's going to the DVD Recorder, it brightens back up. On the DVD Recorder end, it shows up the right brightness...

Any workaround for this?

Okay, so the lag issue is solved now, I assume? Any problems with the audio or does it sound fine being split (both the TV sound and the DVD recorder sound)?

At first, it sounded like the video signal needed amplified (lower brightness to TV unless video to DVDR is disconnected), but I don't understand why the DVDR's video has correct brightness while both are hooked up.

Maybe someone else will chime in while I think about this some more.

Yes, the lag issue is solved, no problems there as far as I can see.

However, I just noticed, occasionally, when I plug in the DVD Recorders Yellow video cable, it's sometimes WAY too bright on its end, and has to be replugged to fix the brightness.

This doesn't work for fixing the other signal being too dark.

I tried switching places between the Wii's cables and the DVD Recorder's cables on the splitter, no luck.
I tried swapping composite cables around, no luck.
I tried switching the ports the video cables go into on the Y Female to 2 Female adapter, no luck.

My TV is very old, and is VERY dark, so I HAVE to have it set to maximum brightness, or it'll be way too dark.

I've found over the years that the yellow or composite video output cannot be just split with a Y cable. If you do you'll see what you did, that is reduced brightness. The only way around this is to either use a video amplifier(one input and two or more outputs) or if your Wii had say both a S-video out plus a composite output. Devices that have two outputs can feed two sources but again just splitting the composite with a Y cable won't work.
I've never ran into your lag issue but I can see how this could happen. For normal video use this wouldn't be a issue but in your case, gaming, it would be a bid deal.
Instead of the simple Y cable I think you'd need something like Steeltownguy mentioned in post #16. I couldn't find that Monoprice sold a simple composite video amplifier/splitter. They sold other amplified splitters but no composite ones.

So, there's no way to fix the current setup without buying something else, then?

If so, that's really lame.

Looks like I'm gonna have to play with a darkened screen if I'm recording...

lol wut - I just found this recent thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1118386) where a guy is trying to split his video signal to two sources. You may want to read it and post questions there because it looks like you will suffer some signal loss with Y adapters.

If you get somethinglike this (http://www.amazon.com/9-8-S-av-Cable-Nintendo-Wii-DS/dp/B000P6L9UY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1234458418&sr=1-1), however, it looks like you can hook up one device to the S-Video output and the other device to composite video output and it will work okay as long as you still get 2 Y adapters for the L/R audio outputs.

Well, that is up to you, of course. jjeff is a veteran and he seems to agree that what you need is that Mad Catz cable in the link above. I couldn't find it anywhere cheaper than $8.99 (plus shipping, unless you order $25 worth of stuff). So far, I think the advice we've given you has only wasted $0.68 on one more Y adapter than you actually needed.

Looks like I'm gonna have to play with a darkened screen if I'm recording...

Note your recording may also be darkened. You should check the playback of your DVDs. When you split a composite video signal it's weaker to both devices(roughly half the signal). It's possible that your DVDRs AGC (automatic gain control) may compensate for the lower signal but you should really check your recordings for quality before making too many.