Xerpi makes the PSVita work as a UVC device to stream its display over USB to your computer – Still in PoC stage
Developer xerpi, who’s given numerous great contributions to the scene, such as ds3vita/ds4vita/libvita2d and so on, has now decided to share with us some more of his great work. This time around, it’s a plugin he’s working on that lets you stream your Vita’s screen to your computer through USB!
What does making my PSVita work as a UVC device mean?
It seems that xerpi is quite interested in the ‘SceUdcd’ module for the Vita since it lets you use the USB port on the Vita as any USB device. Xerpi has already exploited this module to do some interesting things with it; an example is VitaStick which is a program for the Vita that lets you use it as a game controller on your computer (or any device letting you connect a USB device to it) via USB.
This time around, xerpi decided to start working on the laborious task of making the ‘SceUdcd’ module function as a UVC (USB Video Class) device. Some examples of UVC devices are webcams and USB video capture cards but in this case, it is being used to send data from the Vita’s screen to your computer through, of course, USB.
Awesome! How can I benefit from it?
As the title of this article states, it’s still in PoC (Proof of Concept) stage so don’t get your hopes up too high just yet. Right now, it’s not exactly fast since it uses inefficient code and only works with LiveArea (the UI of the Vita in which you choose bubbles).
Remember, this plugin needed lots of reverse engineering work (which is not an easy task) to get it to this stage so don’t expect it to output 60fps 960×544 (Vita’s screen resolution) to your computer any time soon! That being said, xerpi could possibly continue developing it to a more useable state as he mentioned that the Vita’s hardware colorspace converters and image encoders could be used to make the plugin much more efficient as
everything’s being done via the CPU now.
As for now, the only thing you can do is to test out a pre-alpha version of the plugin by following the link below. Please don’t pester ‘xerpi’ about his work or ask for an ETA!
Reddit thread with more information (+ download link for the pre-alpha plugin): https://www.reddit.com/r/vitahacks/comments/79mrmv/poc_psvita_as_a_uvc_usb_video_class_device/
VitaStick (Xerpi’s other homebrew that uses the ‘SceUdcd’ module): https://github.com/xerpi/vitastick
In a nutshell, you need to install a VPK, copy the plugin to specific directory, add the plugin to taiHEN’s config.txt (load it by a reboot) and open the installed VPK to be able to test it. Reddit user ‘dic1911’ reports it worked for him with VLC’s Video Capture.
The images used for this article are by ‘dic1911’ on Reddit.
xerpi es el motivo por el que he instalado henkaku lol
You’re a great guy/girl/team Xerpi. You made my life better since my birth.
Damn, since yo birth?
It doesn’t work for me, i tried to use VLC like a user on this tread(Reddit) said he did and it doesn’t work for me, VLC does not detect the Vita as a webcam or simply put, my computer doesn’t detect my Vita as a webcam at all, the only options i have are default or none(on VLC). Anyone figured out a way to make it work?
Hire some hookers and enjoy life instead of asking for help over pointless things
I read somewhere this plugin needs to be added to config.txt for it to work.
Well… it is true but i already know that, its the same for everyone plugin.
Thank Mr. The_Zett for the great news!
Yes! tnks!!!
@Tha_Dat, Thank Aurora
Thank you Enderzombie for the news. Looking forward to more updates.
xerpi plis speed cpu/gpu for emulador full speed
dreamcast, cps3, dolphin etc. sorry my inglish
Dolphin?! I haven’t kept up lately but I don’t think Dolphin has been ported…
I hope this push through in a couple of years or so. I’m ready to do gameplay recordings on my Vita.
/me thinks this feature should be a device option for vitashell in future xD together with vitapad or all the usb devices it can
hmm cant get it to work … i cant get past the plugin_loader error 0x80024302
i copied uvc.skprx to data tai renamed it to kloader edit config.txt
reboot and reload config but still same error
Thanks for dumbing down this article. I’m an idiot and didn’t know what even PoC meant, so that simplification really helps us non-techies a lot.
Wow, everything I hope for Vita homebrew is going to come. AWESOME WORK!