Laptop to TV cable connections are not rocket science. They’re easy and simple. All you need is the proper cable and a few adjustments to your laptop settings.
Cables & Jacks for Connecting Laptop to TV
The first step is to inspect both your laptop and TV and identify the connections, easily located on the back of either component. There are five basic types of jacks, or ports involved:
*Composite/phono plug (RCA)
*S-Video
*Video graphics array (VGA)
*Digital video interface (DVI)
*High-definition multimedia interface (HDMI)
*An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector, is used for analog audio and video components. Three round, colored sockets are standard — left audio is white, right audio is red, and composite video is yellow. These are standard jacks on older TV’s and laptops. A three-prong cable, readily available at any computer or electronics, is the easiest way to make an RCA laptop to TV connection.
*S-Video, or Super-Video, a more advanced analog video connector, uses a four-prong round plug, like those used in TV cable installations. Separate audio cables are the same as for the RCA connector, left audio/white, and right audio/red. S-Video is commonly found on older TV sets and some laptops.
With S-Video on both TV and laptop, connecting a laptop to a TV is a simple matter of a single S-Video cable. If your laptop has a great sound system, you won’t need audio cables, but for better quality you’ll also want audio cables.
RCA to S-Video cable, a special laptop to TV cable, is available when you have RCA jacks on one device and an S-Video port on the other.
*A VGA connector and cable are used to carry analog video signals plus display and graphics data. The VGA is a 15-pin connector commonly found on laptops and other devices. With this port you need a PC-to-TV Convertor to connect laptop to TV. You simply plug the VGA cable from the source into the convertor, and use an S-Video or RCA cable out to the TV. The converter is USB powered, so there’s no external power adapter to carry around, making this laptop to TV connection entirely portable.
*A DVI port is rectangular with 24 pins arranged in three horizontal rows of eight pins for digital video; separate RCA analog audio cables fit into white and red plugs. DVI ports are found on Macintosh laptops; sometimes they are smaller than normal DVI ports and require an adapter, which usually comes with the laptop.
*The HDMI port, one-half the size of the DVI port, is also rectangular with 19 pins. It provides digital audio in addition to digital video, despite it’s smaller size, for a complete TV to laptop connection. These ports are found on new HDTVs, and sometimes there are two or more. TVs with HDMI ports are the only ones that do not require additional audio cables.
TV’s with a single digital port labeled HDMI/DVI require only one cable when the source is another HDMI component. But when source is a DVI laptop, you need a DVI-to-HDMI cable for the video and a separate pair of RCA analog stereo cables.
NOTE: Whenever ports do not match, you can by adaptors and/or cables to make any connection.
Image courtesy of powernotebooks.com
Tuning
The second factor in a laptop to TV connection is proper tuning. If the screen resolution and aspect ratio of your TV screen and computer are not the same, the TV picture will be distorted. This is important whether the screen is LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or non-LCD flat-screen.
The screen aspect ratio is a monitor’s proportion of width to height. Prior to 2003, most computer monitors had a screen ratio of 4:3, the same as standard TVs. Since then, ratios of 16:10 have become common, especially in laptops. HDTV has a ratio of 16:19; and motion pictures and still photography have even different ratios. One common example of a screen-ratio problem is when wide-screen video is shown on a standard screen. The result is undesirable letter-boxing, with black bars filling the screen at top and bottom.
Similarly, screen resolution varies between monitors. Resolution is measured in number of pixels across and down. Laptop LCD screens range from 1024 x 768 to 1920 x 1200 pixels, for a 15- or 17″ screen. HDTVs and wide-screen TVs have pixel resolutions varying from 1920 x 1080 to 1366 x 768. Unless your laptop screen and TV screen are the same size, adjustments have to be made to pixel ratio to ensure the best connection from TV to laptop.
Make sure both screen aspect ratio and pixel resolution of TV and laptop are compatible. You can adjust both picture ratio and resolution with the Display Settings on the Control Panel of a PC laptop. Mac laptops automatically adjust settings for screen resolutions and ratios; if necessary, the adjustments can be tweaked in System Preferences. Your laptop user’s manual and manufacturer’s Web site provide information on settings and options for video output.
These few guidelines are the basics for making the right connections that result in clear, non-distorted video from laptop to TV. Whether downloading a motion-picture, streaming video, or playing a DVD, the convenience of a laptop and the luxury of a larger screen are easily attained.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je8mKQ0FXLc
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- Laptop To TV: How To Make The Connection | August 8, 2008
- HP Pavilion DV6820EA Notebook laptop | July 1, 2008
What about Component connection to TV. My home is wired all component to one main closet. I’m looking to hook my laptop up, convert video out to component in on TV.
I have a laptop name lenovo and i have s- video cable only with a video out and i tryid to conect my laptop to tv but it didnt work and i tryid to use the fn boten and all the f’s but still it didnt work is there some other way i can connected.
I have Lenovo Y series 5AQ model laptop. I have connected S-video out to TV (RCA). It is showing black screen on my TV (AV mode). Tried a lot with Fn keys and Graphics setting.Nothing worked out. Is there any other graphics driver needs to be installed for S video out?
I have LG R400 series notebook and i could connect the S-Vedio out to TV (RCA). I could get the display on the TV but in black and white……without colour and also i am not getting audio on the TV set. My S-Vedio card is 7 pin jack.
Kindly advice to obtain colour display and audio on the TV.
Hi guys,
From what I’ve read this is a common problem and I don’t know why exactly is happens:
“There are many programs that can’t display video through the regular “S-Video Out” connector because the video only plays on your laptop’s screen and it is “black” on the secondary screen.”
One way to fix this is to buy a PC-2-TV-Converter… try this site!
http://www.svideo.com/
http://www.svideo.com/vga2video2.html
I have Thoshoba(Windows Vista) laptop and Sharp TV. I have S-video cable also.
I connect from laptop to TV and I could hear the voice but not the video. I don;t know why I couldn’t see it. I used for Fn + F7 key. But it didn’t work.
In vista did it work ? If so please tell me…
I would appreciate if I get a reply.
Thanks,
Suresh
i have connected my s-video cable from laptop to tv, i was told in pc world i only needed the one cable. I am getting a great picture but no sound at all. Any advice you could give me, i thought i would have to adjust something on my laptop but dont know how to do this. cheers x
Hi,
Suresh:
The only reason though that I can think of why you’re getting sound and no picture is that you need to perhaps upgrade your video codecs in Windows.
Michelle:
You seem to have the opposite experience to Suresh’s. Maybe upgrade audio drivers…? But this is a pure guess.
Hi,
I purchased HP-DV5T laptop, which does not have S-Video outport. But has HDMI instead. But my TV is old model. Is there anyway by which I can still connect Laptop with TV.
Thanks in Advance.
Regards
–Shrikant
Hi,
I purchased HP-DV5T laptop, which does not have S-Video outport. But has HDMI instead. But my TV is old model. Is there anyway by which I can still connect Laptop with TV.
Thanks in Advance.
Regards
–Shrikant
Michelle,
S-video does not carry sound,video only. You will need a separate audio cable. Normally a 3.5 mm cable inserted into your computer’s headphone jack. If your TV does not have a 3.5 mm jack, there are 3.5 mm to RCA (red and white) conversion cables available (try Cabelsforless.com or Radioshack).
FYI
my tv has a DVI port to connect to computers, but my laptop only has a VGA port. so i bought a male DVI to female VGA adapter and tried to connect my laptop with a regular vga cable. the problem is when i check the “extend my windows desktop to this screen” and click apply the computer just unchecks the box and flickers. do i need a better graphics card?
I am having a HUGE problem. My computer and tv both have hdmi inputs, so I bought a hdmi-hdmi cable. But my problem is this, Not only am I not getting audio, but the hdmi and sdfid audio drivers are not showing up in the audio control panel. Someone please help!!!I need sound!!
Hi Ryan,
The HDMI sound issue is really a huge problem to many users out there.
Try this site for your high def questions:
http://www.highdefforum.com/
I have an Acer A110 Laptop with only a VGA output (15 pins)
and an old television with RCA(i.e the 3 coloured cables)input
.I have a cable VGA/3RC.I hav windows XP installed.Is there any way to connect the laptop to the TV??? If so how?
Are there any settings. please help.
prem
Hi, your help is terribly needed. I have connected my laptop and my lcd tv through hdmi and although i get the perfect picture i get no sound which is frustrating. Is there anything to be done to get audio as well from my tv?
thanks in advance
NIKI
i have connected my laptop to my tv i have got picture but no sound on tv only on my laptop
i have brought a vga lead to connect my laptop to my TV but i get nothing !!!!! no sound and no picture !! i have vista could this have something to do with it?? is there something i need to do to my laptop to allow it to happen HELP PLEASE !!
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!
Can anyone tell me how to connect a Compaq Presario 2100 laptop to a 1995 Crosley television with Yellow, White and Red inputs on the back. Also if you could tell me what cables i will need.
This informatio is not the most helpful sorce i have read.
It does not inform you to what you have to apply to your PC for it to be compatable with the telvision of your succension
hi, got HP laptop, 32″LG LCD TV, got VGA male/female cable,male fits into laptop, the TV got female,so not fitting,it also has HDMI on both, would you reccomend i use that cable? iv got vista on laptop,and what is Fn key?
try pressing function and f4 buttons to change screen source
hi,connected with HDMI cable,from HP LAPTOP(VISTA) to LG LCD, everything like picture,video quality excellent,but no audio coming from TV,why? HDMI CABLE suppose to give audio as well unlike VGA. audio is coming from laptop,not from TV..pls advise?
hey folks n folkies…!
same old issue… have a Dell XPX1330 w/HDMI port and a LG LCD 32″ w/2 HDMI ports. Picture is all great but no audio…!?! what the hell….? came here… saw several posts on this… phew…. what next?
I have a brand new Macbook Pro (2008) and I would like to connect it to my T.V. through HDMI. Does my labtop have an HDMI connector port or can I get an adapter for it???? Somebody please help.
hi,
i got a VGA to RCA composite cable. i want to connect my hp laptop DV5T to RCA TV.
After connecting the cable, i am able to get the image on TV but it is scrolling continuosly and image is coming in black and white with screen showing in 3 pieces/sections…hope u got it what i am trying to say here.
please help me out in this regard
regards
srini.
http://realhyd,synthasite.com
hey…great info..anyway when i connect my laptop to the t.v. i get picture on the t.v. for ten seconds or so..then it blacks out…..its hdmi input on both laptop and t.v. and the wire is brand new and wasnt cheap! any help is greatly appreciated…..
another one…
For initial 2 weeks the monster HDMI 400 cable worked well with HP Pavillion dv5 series connected to Panasonic Viera LCD TV. (Windows Vista Home Premium) Since the auto update of OS to SP1, only the video is transmitted while the audio isn’t .
Is this due to the OS update ? has anyone tried this with Ubuntu or OpenSuSe ?
A search for HDMI in the Windows Help and Support / HP Support provides ‘0′ results. what the heck?