2015/07/05

Skydigital Supercast T3 2.0 HDMI Review


 The new capture device has released by skydigital in South Korea in May 2015 which can both record and live-streaming. While I didn't concerned about buying this company's products becaused of tons of bugs in past products I bought, fortunately my one of friend bought this product and I also looking for this one focusing to interesting feature, standalone live streaming, and I provided information by him. It may be insufficient review because of  I don't have this product, I'll introduce Skydigital T3 as exactly. I acknowledged to MBG provided about sample data and to PRETTY MAZE provided about some technical comment.

Specification

Input Resolution : 240p, 480i, 480p, 720p60, 1080i60, 1080p60
Recording Resolution : 480p30(if source is 240p or 480i), 480p60, 720p60, 1080p30(if source is 1080p60)
Streaming Resolution : 480p30, 720p30, 720p60 (Sorry for wrong information)
Bitrate : Maximum 20Mbps
Container : TS, MP4
Hardware encoder : Sigma Design PL330
Codec : H.264 High Profile 4.0, AAC-LC 128kbps ABR
Color : BT.601 YUV 420, 16-235 level
Mode : PC-live streaming/recording  mode, Standalone recording mode, Standalone live streaming mode
Directshow capable : No (Cannot be use on directshow-software)
Bypass Output : Only HDMI
- bypass HDMI-to-HDMI or automatically transcording Component-to-HDMI

 The key features are that it can be live-stream by itself, live-streaming by standalone mode. You can both record and live-stream simultaniously by Supercast T3, no longer needed PC. Obiously such portable device can live-stream to such major streaming site, ustream, twitch, youtube or custom CDN server, as standalone is only have professional devices that are over $600. The price of T3 is just ~$170 in Korea, you can found this feature in below list.

- Cerevo Liveshell Pro ~$600
- Matrox Monarch ~$1000
- Epiphan VGADVI broadcaster ~$1600

 These are for professional, not for consumer, too expansive for capturethe games to share everyone.
The disadvantage is only one thing that T3 has limited streaming resolution, up to 720p60 720p30 while the professionals are up to 1080p30. I think this problem is just never mind, affortable as price.

 Another feature is that it can be record/stream retro 240p resolution. Yes repeat, really 240p capable. I checked the recorded playstation 1 game "Raystorm" on playstation 2 via component output, can be mornitoring to play the game via HDMI, forced transcoded from component to HDMI output. You can check detail of this point in below resolution table.

 As I mentioned above, this is hardware encoding type device, it means not capable for open broadcaster software. Actually you can capture in OBS by screen capture that is not the point. Maybe skydigital would not be produce directshow driver like avermedia LGP stream engine.


Spec. Table
Supercast T3 : Skydigital Supercast T3
Capture U2.0 : Skydigital Capture U2.0
Live Gamer Portable : Avermedia Live Gamer Portable C985

Supercast T3Capture U2.0Live Gamer Portable
TypeStandalone
USB 2.0
Standalone
USB 2.0
Standalone
USB 2.0
Chroma Sampling YUV422 YUV422 YUV422
x64 Compatibility
Minimum Resolution
Chrominance
Component 240p 480i 480i
Maximum Resolution
Chrominance
Component 1080i 1080p60 1080p60
Minimum Resolution
RGB
HDMI 480p 480p 480p
Maximum Resolution
RGB
HDMI 1080p60 1080p60 1080p60
Maximum Resolution
Record
1080p30 1080p60 1080i
Composite ×
(component Y input)
× ×
S-video × × ×
Component
DSUB × × ×
DVI (HDMI) (HDMI) (HDMI)
HDMI
HDCP Strip × × ×
Audio channel support 2ch 2ch 2ch
RCA input
SPDIF input × × ×
HDMI audio input
Compression type HW HW SW/HW
Pass Through HDMI ○
Component □
Transcording Component to HDMI × ×
Standalone RTMP
Live Streaming
480p30
480p60
720p30 720p60
× ×
Simultanious
Record/Streaming
Standalone ○
PC-mode ○
- -



Input resolution (NOT meaning RECORD)
Note that this result is not meaning acceptable entirely both RGB and Chroma color.

Supercast T3 Capture U2.0 Live Gamer Portable
240p/288p Transcoded as 480p30 Unknown
480i/576i Transcoded as 480p30

480p/576p


720p


1080i@60f/50f


1080p@24f Unknown Unknown Unknown
1080p@30f


1080p@60f/50f Recorded 1080p30
Recorded 1080p30
640x400@56Hz

640x480@60Hz Recognized as 480p60 Unknown
720x480@60Hz


800x600@60Hz Unknown
1024x768@60Hz Unknown
1280x720@60Hz


1280x768@60Hz Unknown
1280x1024@60Hz Unknown
1360x768@60Hz Recognized as 1080p30 Unknown
1440x900@60Hz Unknown
1680x1050@60Hz Unknown Unknown
1920x1080@60Hz Recorded 1080p30 Recorded 1080p30 


- The 240p or 480i component input will be forced transcoded to 480p30, unable to processing bob 2x deinterlacing filter.

- Forced deinterlaced 480i to 480p30 (based on odd-frame)

- 640x480 60Hz : Recognized as 720x480p60 however, the horizon resolution has been compressed as 540x480. Blank has 90px each in left and right, while 720p record setting result is 960x720 that is not compressed. It means that the record setting should be set to 720p for 640x480.

- It is possible to capture composite signal, but only for luminescene signal (see Example 7 below this page.)

- Sometimes it grabbed even-frame confirmed by keyboardmania on playstation 2, in this result we couldn't conclude whether the problem is caused by T3 or not.

- Has not checked record/streaming stability, latency of bypass/transcoded output, video-audio timing latency, and still has not confirmed some resolutions, I will update soon.
 (Update) streaming stability test result : Twitch Tokyo server / 720p 3Mbps, 100Mbps FTTH
Depending on ISP stability
1st try : 17hour
2nd try : 2hour 8min
3rd try : 11hour 33min


- Depend on source output, T3 can be streaming as 720p60 720p30.

- No mic-input, you should make sure the mixing before capture.

- HDCP content cannot be capture, unlike past skydigital products.



A clone product...?
Actually I found altanative two products of USB2HDCAPS, REX-HDGCBOX2 that seems to be simillar product last 2 month ago in U.S. and Japan. Only different the case, definitely exactly same functional and compatible with bundle software each others even though there are selling different companys. I guess these products are just OEM product by K-world made in China.






Example 1 : Splatoon by Nintendo WiiU

Source output : 1080p60 HDMI
Recognized resolution : 1080p30 (Maximum resolution/frame rate grabberable of this device)
Record setting : 1080p 18Mbps
Record mode : PC mode (connected to PC via USB 2.0)
Storage : PC HDD
Monitor : Bypassed HDMI
Connection : Wii U --- Supercast T3 --- Monitor (bypassed 1080p60)
                                                           --- PC USB (Transferred compressed-stream to HDD)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235

Recorded file information

General
ID                             : 0 (0x0)
Complete name                  : Sample_Splatoon.m2ts
Format                         : MPEG-TS
File size                      : 437 MiB
Duration                       : 3mn 22s
Overall bit rate mode          : Variable
Overall bit rate               : 18.1 Mbps
Video
ID                             : 85 (0x55)
Menu ID                        : 1 (0x1)
Format                         : AVC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                 : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC         : No
Format settings, ReFrames      : 2 frames
Codec ID                       : 27
Duration                       : 3mn 22s
Width                          : 1 920 pixels
Height                         : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio           : 16:9
Frame rate                     : 30.000 fps
Standard                       : NTSC
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0
Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Scan type                      : Progressive
Color primaries                : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics       : BT.601
Matrix coefficients            : BT.601
Audio
ID                             : 97 (0x61)
Menu ID                        : 1 (0x1)
Format                         : AAC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version                 : Version 2
Format profile                 : LC
Muxing mode                    : ADTS
Codec ID                       : 15
Duration                       : 3mn 22s
Bit rate mode                  : Variable
Channel(s)                     : 2 channels
Channel positions              : Front: L R
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode               : Lossy
Delay relative to video        : 14ms



Example 2  : MarioKart 8 by Nintendo WiiU

Source output : 1080p60 HDMI
Recognized resolution : 1080p30 (Maximum resolution/frame rate grabberable of this device)
Record setting : 1080p 18Mbps
Record mode : PC mode (connected to PC via USB 2.0)
Storage : PC HDD
Monitor : Bypassed HDMI
Connection : Wii U --- Supercast T3 --- Monitor (bypassed 1080p60)
                                                           --- PC USB (Transferred compressed-stream to HDD)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235





General
ID                             : 0 (0x0)
Complete name                  : Sample_MarioKart8.m2ts
Format                         : MPEG-TS
File size                      : 1.94 GiB
Duration                       : 15mn 21s
Overall bit rate mode          : Variable
Overall bit rate               : 18.1 Mbps

Video
ID                             : 85 (0x55)
Menu ID                        : 1 (0x1)
Format                         : AVC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                 : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC         : No
Format settings, ReFrames      : 2 frames

Codec ID                       : 27
Duration                       : 15mn 21s
Width                          : 1 920 pixels
Height                         : 1 080 pixels

Display aspect ratio           : 16:9
Frame rate                     : 30.000 fps

Standard                       : NTSC
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0

Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Scan type                      : Progressive

Color primaries                : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics       : BT.601
Matrix coefficients            : BT.601
Audio
ID                             : 97 (0x61)
Menu ID                        : 1 (0x1)
Format                         : AAC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version                 : Version 2
Format profile                 : LC
Muxing mode                    : ADTS
Codec ID                       : 15
Duration                       : 15mn 21s
Bit rate mode                  : Variable
Channel(s)                     : 2 channels

Channel positions              : Front: L R
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 KHz

Compression mode               : Lossy
Delay relative to video        : 3ms






Example 3 : Ar tornelico by Banpresto & Gust, Playstation 2

Source output : 480i Component
Recognized resolution : 480p30 (Automatically deinterlaced)
Record setting : 480p 8Mbps
Record mode : Standalone
Storage : SD card
Monitor : Transcoded HDMI output (Automatically realtime transcoded from component to HDMI)
Connection : Playstation 2 --- Supercast T3 --- Monitor (Transcoded/deinterlaced 480p)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235



General
ID                             : 48879 (0xBEEF)
Complete name                  : HS000036.m2ts
Format                         : MPEG-TS
File size                      : 167 MiB
Duration                       : 3mn 46s
Overall bit rate mode          : Variable
Overall bit rate               : 6 207 Kbps
Video
ID                             : 68 (0x44)
Menu ID                        : 1 (0x1)
Format                         : AVC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                 : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC         : No
Format settings, ReFrames      : 2 frames
Codec ID                       : 27
Duration                       : 3mn 46s
Width                          : 720 pixels
Height                         : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio           : 3:2
Frame rate                     : 30.000 fps
Standard                       : NTSC
Color space                    : YUV
Chroma subsampling             : 4:2:0
Bit depth                      : 8 bits
Scan type                      : Progressive
Color primaries                : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics       : BT.601
Matrix coefficients            : BT.601
Audio
ID                             : 69 (0x45)
Menu ID                        : 1 (0x1)
Format                         : AAC
Format/Info                    : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version                 : Version 2
Format profile                 : LC
Muxing mode                    : ADTS
Codec ID                       : 15
Duration                       : 3mn 46s
Bit rate mode                  : Variable
Channel(s)                     : 2 channels
Channel positions              : Front: L R
Sampling rate                  : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode               : Lossy


Example 4 : Splatoon by Nintendo WiiU

Source output : 1080p60 HDMI
Capture : 1080p30
Record setting : 1080p 20Mbps
Record mode : Standalone mode
Storage : SD card
Monitor : Bypassed HDMI
Connection : Wii U --- Supercast T3 --- Monitor (bypassed 1080p60)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235







Example 5 : Raystorm by Taito, Play on Playstation 2

Source output : 240p60 Component
Recognized resolution : 480p30
Record setting : 480p 8Mbps
Record mode : PC mode
Storage : HDD
Monitor : Transcoded HDMI
Connection : Playstation 2 --- Supercast T3 --- Monitor (bypassed 480p30)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235




Example 6 : Rally Raid by Twinkle Soft

Source output : 640x480 60Hz HDMI
Recognized resolution  : 480p60
Record setting : 720p60  5Mbps
Record mode : Standalone mode
Storage : SD / HDD
Monitor : Bypassed HDMI
Connection : PC --- Supercast T3 --- Monitor (bypassed 720p60)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235
Force-resized as 1280x720 60Hz, 960x720 (exclude horizon blank. 160px left/right )



Example 7 : Taiko no Tatsujin by Namco
Test for composite input
Source output : 480i Composite Wii
Capture input : Wii 480i Composite output to Supercast T3 component Y input
Recognized resolution  : 480p30
Record setting : 480p60  8Mbps
Record mode : PC mode
Storage : HDD
Monitor : Transcoded to HDMI
Connection : PC --- Supercast T3 component Y input--- Monitor (480p30)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235



Example 8 : Beatmania 6th MIX + CORE REMIX by Konami
Source output : 240p60 Component
Recognized resolution : 480p30
Record setting : 480p 5Mbps
Record mode : Standalone mode
Storage : SD Card
Monitor : Transcoded HDMI (480p60)
Connection : Playstation 2 --- Supercast T3 --- Monitor (bypassed 480p60)
Color depth : BT.601 YUV 422 to 420 (converted during H.264 encoding)
Color Level : 16-235



3 comments:

  1. Do you happen to have a link for firmware or software for the Skydigital brand box?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi AndrewG
      Sorry I cannot understand what you said, If you said about firmware/software link for Skydigital, here's the link the official download.

      http://skyok.co.kr/board/index.html?imode=view&D=4&c_id=206236&my_mode=&search_1=&search_2=&start=0

      I tried by this driver, but you'd better don't use this software.
      In my experience, Startech one should be stable than this.

      Delete
  2. thankyou for your information :)

    ReplyDelete