How to Connect Laptop to TV Easily and Safely
Categorized: Laptop and Tablet Accessories, Laptops and Tablets, Laptops By Uses | 1 comment
Connecting laptop to TV is not as difficult as it would seem. It is only a matter of using the proper cables in the proper way.
Once you have it connected, anything that is on the laptop screen will be shown on the television set. This is excellent for gaming and doing presentations, as well as watching
Never miss a cute kitty video on YouTube again when you use the right cables to connect laptop to a tv
videos. There’s nothing quite like watching YouTube on the big screen TV.
Once you have followed these steps, you won’t ever have to ask, “How do I connect my laptop to my tv?” again.
The Cables You Will Need
The first thing that you’ll need to look for on both the laptop and television is the type of connector cables that you will require.
Generally, there are five different types of connections that you’ll find on both the laptop and TV.
RCA Connector Cable
RCA plugs are most common on older TVs, and can be identified by three plugs,
See here for how to connect laptop to tv with RCA cables
color-coded for audio and video. Video will be yellow, and the audio will likely be red and white, one for each channel.
S-Video or Super Video Cable
S-video or super video is a four prong round connector type. That is for video signal only. Other means will have to be used for audio if you use one of these connectors.
VGA Cable
A VGA connector is one of the most common types, and it’s used to carry the analog video signals from your laptop to your television. With this type, you will need a PC to TV converter, which allows you to plug the cable from your laptop into the converter, which can then be connected to the television.
DVI and HDMI Cable
Mac computers use DVI port, and is one of the easiest to use.
A connector type that is becoming more popular with the release of new televisions is HDMI, and, if your laptop and television are both HDMI capable, no separate audio cables will be needed.
What If My Cables Don’t Match?
There’s no need to worry as far as connector types are concerned, because adapters are available to purchase at local retail outlets, and online. They are cheap to buy, and will get you going quickly.
Once you’re connected, you will need a way to tune your laptop and television together to have proper video resolution.
What About Screen Resolutions?
Since televisions and laptops use different resolutions, meaning more or less pixels between each, you will need to fine tune your laptop’s resolution to match that of the television.
One of the most common problems his letter boxing, which is the dark bars on each side of the television screen.
Warning!
A warning if you use S-video: a common problem is that the screen will remain black no matter what you configure your laptop to be. Conversion software is available to resolve this issue.
In general, any problems of this nature, no matter what connector type you use, can likely be solved if you buy PC to TV conversion software and cable adaptors.. Cables of this nature can be found at places like Best Buy or Radio Shack.
Now that you know how simple it can be, you can use your laptop on the big screen without wasting much time or effort.
Related Posts:
Tagged with: cable adapter, How to Connect Laptop to TV, how to watch tv with my laptop, laptop to television, laptop to tv, laptops, pc to tv conversion software
Comment by Jolene
You are a lifesaver! My friend has been needing to know how to connect her laptop to her tv for ages! Thanks!
on January 3, 2011 at 1:56 pm