It’s a marvelous age we live in. Between youtube and itunes, photoshop and consumer grade editing software, the entire world of media is at our fingertips. You can bring up a video of just about anything you want at the click of a mouse, save it to your computer, and manipulate it to fit your purposes to your heart’s content. More than a few industry professionals have used youtube and windows movie maker as a powerful resource for making video presentations at meetings, and more than a few amateur filmmakers have found their calling making goofy internet videos to show their friends.
This is exactly why it’s so incredibly frustrating when we have to deal with something that doesn’t seem to be working. You know, minor technical malfunctions and equipment problems that hinder progress when we have something important we’re trying to do. One of the chief frustrations in the world of modern media is connecting laptop to TV, or rather, trying to connect TV to laptop.
Using a laptop and a television, it should be easy to show your friend’s pictures and video you’ve shot or make a video presentation at work, but there’s so much to worry about. Screen resolution, compatibility, getting the right cables and so forth. It’s kind of a headache, and you may feel like throwing in the towel and just telling your friends or co-workers “Okay, now squint=2 0really hard at the laptop monitor, you can kind of see what I’m trying to show you here!”
With that in mind, there are a few different ways to connect laptop to TV, and we’ll get into them right away…
How to Connect Laptop to TV: Cable Options
Unless you’re onto some new technology that we haven’t heard about, connecting a laptop to a TV is going to be done using a cable. You should be able to find any of these at a nearby electronics or computer store, or even your local Wal Mart.
S-Video
S-Video is perhaps the most common method, thanks in part to the fact that an S-Video cable is incredibly cheap, and most TVs these days are equipped with an S-Video port. Before buying an S-Video cable, take a look at your computer and make sure it’s equipped with an S-Video port (it should be clearly labelled).
There are two different types of S-Video cable, four pin and seven pin. Check the TV and your laptop. If they both have the same number of pins, you’re good to go and the TV will display whatever is on your laptop monitor. However, if your laptop has seven pins and your TV has four, you’re going to have to look into other options.
VGA
VGA is probably your best bet if you’re working with an HDTV. VGA gives better image and sound quality, and VGA cables are also quite cheap. However, VGA ports aren’t very common on regular television sets, so this option is only really available with HDTV.
DVI
Digital Visual Interface. DVI gives the best quality image and sound, but can be kind of expensive. A DVI cable may cost between forty and fifty bucks, most computers do not have a DVI port, and only HDTV’s have a DVI port.
HDMI
HDMI will give you, bar none, the best quality. HDMI ports are pretty rare on laptops, so you’ll want a DVI-to-HDMI cable.
Troubleshooting
If you’ve got the right cables hooked up, you should do just fine. If no image is going through, try some trial-and-error troubleshooting: Make sure you’re on the right channel for input from the laptop, double check the cables, etcetera.
If you can’t seem to get the image to show (which is unlikely if you’ve plugged the cable in correctly), the problem is probably in the cable. The most common problems people face with properly connected, working cables has to do with things like resolution and aspect ratio.
Keep in mind that, especially on an HDTV, your laptop image might look a bit pixelated, almost like you’re using a Nintendo instead of a high end laptop. No matter how high res your computer is, it’s not a big-screen TV, and most documents and media files intended for computer use won’t look as good on a big screen.
Of course, you can always adjust the screen resolution in your settings for a better image on the television, just… don’t expect miracles. There’s going to be a bit of quality loss.
If you’re working with a widescreen television set, you may wind up with your image stretched out. No problem, just grab the remote and adjust the aspect ratio on the television itself until it looks good (4:3 is the most common aspect ratio for laptops).
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Nice to see an interesting article.
I have my laptop connected to my lcd tv through vga. It will let me do dual view but not clone. When I switch to clone my TV says no signal found. I want clone so I can use my tv as the primary monitor. Why is this happening and how can I fix it?
I’ve plugged my laptop up with a svideo chord to rca. It’s a converter so i know it works. Problem is it’s only showing my desktop display picture. none of my programs are showing and i can’t get it to see any of the icons or anything. thanks
I’m trying to connect a laptop with and hdmi port to a television that does not have HD. Is this even possible? What would I need to make this work? Thank You
Hi,
I’ve got a bit of a problem— my laptop (Dell Inspiron 1420) is equpied with a 15 pin VGA port and a 7 pin S-Video port, but my television cable box (the tv itself, an LG 21FX4R, only has RCA connections and an old circular 1 pin cable connect) has a 9 pin VGA port and a 4 pin S-Video port. I’ve also recently moved to South Korea and have a hard time explaining anything remotely technical to anyone. What can i do?! I really want to connect my laptop to the TV so i can watch programs from back home, but don’t know what my options are. Thanks for your help!
Dear Sir: It sounds easy and I did exactly the same way as you suggested but in the TV screen, it shows “VGA error”. How can I fix this problem. Thank you for your help.
Jesse in Poland
i have compaq 6820s laptop, it has a vga slot, so connect that to my vga on grundig hdtv, i can view video, but no sound, i have tried to connect via my 3.5mm phono-jack to phono jack on hdtv, no good, tried to connect laptop jack to the red/white connections at the nack of the tv, no good, any ideas??? i think the only way is may be a vga to hdmi cable, as my tv has hdmi slot?
I HAVE LAPTOP ACER EXTENSA 5220 WHEN I CONNECT WITH TV BY S VEDIO CABLES NOT CONNECT BUT CONNECTING WITH PC MONITOR IS OK GIVE ME HELP
I’m trying to connect my Dell XPS laptop with an old CRT TV. the TV only has composite video input (I believe its also known as RCA Video, the TV has only a yellow and white colored inputs, one for video the other for audio). So I bought a S-Video to RCA cable. Most of the time I get no picture, but when I adjust the resolutions I get an image of my desktop background. When I press Fn + F8 the same happens. If I hit it a few more times the TV flashes whatever windows I have up on my laptop. I can’t seem to get the image to stay, it only flashes for a second. What else do I need to do in order to get this to work?
Dear sir can you help
I have conected my Toshiba laptop fitted with 15 PIN AVG
lead to my SAMSUNG LCD TV
When I select PC on the TV all I get is the desktop Background
can you help ALAN SPALDING LINCS
I have a HDTV that has the S-video, HDMI connections. The laptop only has the VGA connection. How can I connect my laptop to my TV.
i have a 52″ phillips lcd tv. There is no input for vga/hdmi or any other computer cords i do have fios and i am willing to buy maybe a dvd player or converter to solve this problem. I am trying to hook up my computer to my tv and even my comp has no hdmi port. is this all hopeless or is there some kind of mechanism i can buy????
the hookups were working fine–now all of a sudden no video or audio–I was able to watch netflix movies=now I get a -no signal o weak signal message-
any advice?
Dear Sir or Madam,
I have a Toshiba Satellite A100 laptop and a 32″ Toshiba LCD TV.
I’m trying to get a Visual and Audio connection from the laptop (Headphone jack) to the TV.
I’ve tried 3.5 Jack to 3.5 Jack into “PC” jack on the rear of the TV with a “D sub” lead attached also………..excellent video on the TV, but NO audio whatsoever. Then swapped the Jack to Jack, for a 3.5 Jack to twin phono plugs, in order to hopefully receive audio at last. NO joy again!! I’m now beginning to despair. Any help would be most appreciated!!.
Regards, David.
Hi
I connected the laptop to the tv using a VGA cable however I get no sound from the TV any suggestions?
Thanks
Liam
hi there
i have connected my vga cord. and its on the right channel.
when the i press the fn button along with F4 as i do to change sreens over, the tv looks like it wants to do something but i dont get a picture its just blank, when the cable isnt in i get a no signal sign, so when the cords in it does something, but its stillblank any sugestions on what i can do will be great
i have a LG 42″ Plasma TV about 3 years old
with a HP Pavillion Evtertainment Laptop PC
cheers Leigh
Hi
I have connected my Toshiba laptop via VGA to our LG HDTV. The image is great and I have no problem with converters etc as there is a compatible RGB port on the TV.
However although I can get playback image from DVD and iplayers I can’t get sound. Obviously the main TV set up uses the surround sound as its main audio but even turning this off and turning up the tv sound doesn’t solve the issue, any ideas?
Cheers
Neil (UK)
I have . a alienware comp. that has the hdmi ..i also have a 52 inch sharp aquas that has the hdmi.. i bought the hdmi connecter and i get great picutre on my tv but no sound.. how do i fix that?
i have a cable DVI to HDMI but it doesn’t conduct the sound
How can i make this
hi, like most guys here, I have conected my laptop to tv picture great, movies playing etc, but no sound. HELP.
thanks
I have plugged my s-video cord into my laptop and tv, and i know that the cord works. But the problem is it’s only showing my desktop display picture. none of my programs are showing and i can’t get it to see any of the icons or anything. Thank you.
Hi, I’ve done what the video suggested, but when i turn both the laptop and the TV on, the start up screen showed, but when I got to my desktop a “No Signal” came up on my TV. Can you explain to me what I did wrong, please. Thank you.
VGA – Video Graphics Array!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only video! ONLY VIDEO!!!!
Thats why you don’t get sound. The article is wrong = ‘VGA gives better image and sound quality, and VGA cables are also quite cheap’.
Does not carry any sound information!
i have a VGA cable as shown in the youtube vid provided. now when i initially tried it it worked but then a while later it cut off. i now cant get the thing to work. why is it that it now wont detect the tv when it had it working before
i have a dell inspiron 1525 with the vga and svideo ports.i bought the vga cable and connected it to the tv (sharp aquos) and it says “signal is not compatible with this input” what do i do? thanx
Hello i have a acer one notebook labtop and i have connected it to my phillips flatscreen the sound works but i cant get any picture on the flatscreen. What should i do. How do i get some software to my problem because i think it is because the television dont support the format i have on my laptop the screen software i mean.But i dont understand why the sound works then it is strange. Im working on it but if anyone have an idea i will be very glad im not that good with compiuters so it is hard for me to understand the problem and find a solution i hope there is one with the proper expertise that can help me with the problem.
yours sincerely mads
Hi,
My laptop – Fujitsu Lifebook – A serires –
My TV – Envision HDTV
both of them have VGA connections. I connected both of them with VGA, I can my wallpaper on my tv but not anything else. I started WMP , which I can see but in case I open any website or watch movie online I amnot getting that on TV.
Do you have an RSS feed?
I have connected my HDTV and HP laptop by VGA connector; however, I get no video or audio, only a “no signal” message on the tv screen. What am I doing wrong and what do I need to do? My laptop LCD is going bad and I was told to hook to another monitor, which I elected to do with the HDTV.
I have Inspiron 1420 and trying to connect it to HDTV. I got video on TV
but no sound is coming out audio output of Inspiron. How to fix it?
Thanks for replay. Yury
I have a Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop and tried hooking it up to a LG 42″ plasma hdtv monitor via a VGA cable. The back of the tv has the the proper input listed VGA RGB Input so I naturally set the tv to the RGB input display. I get the NO SIGNAL image on screen. Tried all the other tv input display settings but none of them show a signal except my Direct TV and Component 2 settings (the latter hooked up to a Wii). Thing is, I hook up my laptop to a second screen all the time and it works fine. I played around with the display settings on my laptop but still no joy. What may be wrong here and how can I trouble shoot this?
I just bought a laptop and it has an rgb port which only gives me the picture on my lcd tv no sound i was told i need a hdmi cable but the laptop does not have an hdmi port. is there an adapter out there that will convert the rgb to hdmi???
Help, I have a dell Inspiron 1525, and a 42inch LG HDTV, s-video will not work at all, everything else is working fine but like everyone else I get a no signal message on the screen.
hey i hooked my hdmi cable up the first day it worked perfect it was lik a clone my tv and the laptop then all a sudden my tv just had the background
If any answer from anyone send me a email @ ARumZ33@gmail.com
Hello there!
I am trying to connect my laptop to my tv and it is giving me a headache!
I have an HP Pavilion tx2000, in other words, a tablet laptop, and a 52″ Sanyo tv.
I got an S-video with RCA cord, one end is the 7 pin S-video for the laptop with and audio cord for the headphone jack, and the other end is the 3 color RCA cable for the tv. I tried connecting the RCA cord to the tv according to the colors on there, but all I got were sounds, no picture at all. I dont know if that’s the wrong cord or what, but I can’t seem to get any picture at all on the tv. So, help!?!?
Thanks.
Blia.
Hi,
I have connected my LG laptop with samsung LCD tv using 15 pin VGA…
I have problem like only desktop background is displayed and the desktop background also looks broader in TV.
could u plz help me to rectify this problem?
Hi,
My laptop has a 7 pin S-Video output & the TV has a 4 pin S-Video input. How do I make the connection work? At present, neither picture nor audio is displayed / heard on TV when playing a DVD from laptop.
I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 with a vga output and a Sony Bravia HDTV. Will the HDMI to DVI cable work to connect the laptop to TV to view Netflix streaming videos or do I have to get a VGA cable? What kind of cable to I need for audio connection. My dell has a headphone and microphone audio slots?
Cindy,
I have a MacBook Pro laptop & a Samsung 42″ HDTV. I have the odd-looking DVI output on the laptop and the usual HDMI inputs on the tv. All you will need is a conversion coupler to transform the connection to the correct input you have on your tv, if you have a DVI or HDMI video out port on your laptop. If you only a have a vga video out jack on the laptop then you will ned to see if there is such a thing as a vga-to-RCA coupler. I do not know if there is such a thing. In order to use DVI or HDMI inputs on the tv you will need to have a laptop that has a similar output. It will only have such an output if it can generate a high def video signal. I am not familiar with the specs on your Dell laptop but if you can find a way to convert your video output so that it will go into the RCA jack on the t.v. you should get a picture and then convert your stereo/headphones output into RCA cables –the white & red ones that go into the jacks on the tv– you should be all set. You’ll need a stereo mini cable with 2 male ends. Then get a stereo mini cable-to-RCA converter coupler at Radio Shack and you will be good to go. I hope this helps you out. It’s how I do it, Rube Goldberg style admittedly, but it works for me. Good Luck.
-Matt
Hi,
My laptop has a 7 pin S-Video output & the TV has a 4 pin S-Video input. How do I make the connection work? At present, I have a 4 pin S-Video cable with the blocker inside the head of the cable removed so it plugs into the laptop (this is what the guy at the computer store told me to do). I can get my background pick up if the settings is “Extend my desktop onto this monitor”, but nothing else will show up. Any help here is great.
Tate
I recently bought a VGA to 3 RCA component cable. However when i connect, a message is displayed saying “no signal”. have followed other solutions posted on this website and a few others which suggest pressing “fn” and F4 or F7 (the screen key), but message is displayed saying “mode not supported”. Have also right clicked on desktop changed a setting, also “extending my windows deskop onto this monitor” now the tv flashes a broken display every 3 seconds from the middle of the screen downwards, top half is blank and can not make out the image.
Im using a Sony Vaio N110, and Samsung LCD LE37S86BDX
Can anyone help?
Hey, I have a laptop and I was trying to connect it to my tv, but as stated above my computer has 7 pins but my tv only has four. What can I do to get this to work?
Hi
I connect my lToshiba Sattelite Laptop VGA male to VGA male HDTV Samsung and I get only background image of my laptop.
What I am doing wrong?
Thanks
I own an Acer aspire one laptop and trying to connect it to my home tvs. It only comes with the VGA port which I can connect the VGA cable at both ends to my HDTV. I just have to change the Fn+ F5 on the laptop to get the right screen resolution shows on the tv. This works fine on my HDTV.
Now, my question is having the same laptop to connect to an older tv with only RCA ports and S-video port (but I don’t have the S-video Cable). Meaning no VGA/Composite/ HDMI/DVI. Is this possible at all? What cable or converter would I need?
Thanks.