m17 R2, Thunderbolt 3 Port used as Video In w/o capture card?

Question

I'm aware that the HDMI port on the Alienware M17 R2 is an output, and not an input or in/out port, however I'm unfamiliar with the exact capabilities of the Thunderbolt 3 port. I know that it can support display port and HDMI out, but I don't know how it's connected to the different components of this computer (ie. if it's directly connected to the display or not, which is most likely a no). For example, say I'd like to connect an Xbox with an HDMI to Thunderbolt 3 cable to this computer - would it be possible? And if not, would using something like OBS allow me to view such an input? Any ideas or info would be greatly appreciated. Looking for an interesting solution that doesn't include a capture card.

omarram90 · Answer

Did it work for you?

Sapphiros · Answer

Unfortunately not

jphughan · Answer

@Sapphiros  The USB-C/TB3 ports can be used as display outputs, but not inputs -- just as HDMI output ports on typical systems can be used as outputs, but not inputs.  The fact that a connector is wired to the GPU does not mean it can be used bidirectionally.  TB3 means the port is also exposing a PCI Express interface, but you need an external capture card to take advantage of that.  You can't just send a raw video signal into a TB3 port.

Bogdan Tudor · Answer

Hello, can i use at Allienware m17 R3 the Thunderbolt 3 with Sonnet's Echo Express SEIII and a Blackmagic Decklink card for inputs in vmix software?

Alienware

Was this post helpful?