hdmi

I recently purchased an AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus to help record screens on devices I test at my desk.

It's claim to fame is being able to record to a microSD card standalone (at resolutions up to 1080p60), without having a separate computer attached.

For my 4K cameras, I typically use an Atomos Ninja V, since it can record in full 4K resolution, but that thing is $700—the Live Gamer Portable is $120, and runs a lot cooler (and quieter).

I don't enjoy dealing with microSD cards, but it's more convenient than having to use OBS or some other recording software on my main computer just to capture the HDMI output of another device. Especially since I can't pass through the HD or 4K signal through my little Elgato USB capture card (they do make a few models that do this, but I digress).

Anyway, what brings me to this post is the fact I spent way too long trying to figure out the magical microSD card format required to be able to record on the device.

I often like exploring what's possible on a Raspberry Pi (or other low-end hardware). One area I haven't explored much is GPU performance. I typically run my Pi's headless, and have only dabbled in embedded machine vision with Pi cameras, so most of my experience is on the programming / software side.

But seeing Apple's 120 Hz 'ProMotion', and ever-higher refresh rates in the enthusiast gaming realm (we may hit 480 Hz soon!), I wanted to see how a tiny Raspberry Pi could perform in this realm.

The Pi's VideoCore GPU can output 1080p at refresh rates up to 120 Hz—at least there's a setting for it. But I'd never tried it. The hardest I pushed a Pi was 4K at 60 Hz for my Pi 4 a Day challenge, and that didn't go as well as I'd hoped.

I recently found a discount code through SlickDeals for $10 off the Elecrow 5" HDMI Touchscreen display for the Raspberry Pi. Since the Raspberry Pi was introduced, I've wanted to try out one of these mini screens (touchscreen or no), but they've always been prohibitively expensive (usually $60+).

This screen hit the right price (even regular price is $40, which is near my 'okay for experimentation' range), and I picked it up, not knowing what to expect. I've had mixed experiences with Pi accessories from Amazon, and had never tried a product from Elecrow.