How to connect your tablet to TV with a cable

Ways to connect your tablet to TV

Synchronization of the tablet and the TV allows you to significantly increase the functionality of the equipment. With the tablet you can control the TV, run various applications, use the big screen to watch videos, photos, movies.

If you have a tablet, you can use it to broadcast pictures and videos to the big screen. The TV. In principle, all brands of tablets can do this. From Samsung, Lenovo, Acer, Huawei and others.

Any tablet has a connector that can be used for a wired connection. All you need is a suitable cable to connect the tablet to the TV. If you have a new, advanced TV with Wi-Fi support, the connection is even easier. Wirelessly.

Often you do not even have to download special applications, because the manufacturer initially has built into the TV software with Smart TV functions that allow you to synchronize their work with tablets, cell phones and other gadgets.

The best way to connect your tablet to the TV depends on the technical characteristics of the specific device. Modern devices are recommended to synchronize using wireless channels, since this method does not require the purchase of additional equipment and provides the user with a wider range of opportunities. Wired interfaces are suitable for older TVs and non-Smart, which are not equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Connection via wire

Features its easy connection and minimal latency when streaming.

The best way to transmit picture and sound in high quality. Convenient because it does not require special software to connect, but only the cable itself, which is suitable for all modern televisions.

First, select the type of HDMI cable, the connector of which is suitable for your tablet. This could be:

After selecting and purchasing a suitable cable, connect the devices to each other using the following algorithm:

Go to the TV settings and select an image output device. A list will be presented, from which you need to select the HDMI connection with the number of the connector into which the cable is connected.

In the settings of the tablet must be set to output the signal to the HDMI connection.

Now the image from the tablet will be transmitted directly to the TV screen without latency and quality degradation.

In addition, see the video on how to connect the tablet to the TV via HDMI:

It is better to resort to this connection only as a last resort. It is inferior to HDMI in many ways, and is only suitable if the tablet will be used as an external carrier. This will give you the ability to watch videos, photos, and listen to music.

• Connect the two devices to each other with a USB cable.
• On the screen of the tablet you should see a window with the choice of connection type. Select “As Media”.
• If the window does not appear. Go to settings and change the connection method.

The TV will now begin to recognize the tablet as a portable hard drive.

If you can’t open a video file or view an image, make sure the TV supports this file format.

RSA cable

Obsolete type of connection, which has many disadvantages. During data transmission, the image is converted to an analog signal, which degrades the quality of sound and video. Suitable for older TVs that do not have the new type connectors.

To connect you will need to buy an additional adapter for the tablet in advance.

• Connect the RCA connectors to the TV in the correct order. They are different colors:. Yellow. Image;. Red. Audio;. White. Audio.
• Go to the TV settings and select the output device. Now the image from the tablet will be directly transmitted to the TV.

Use a VGA wire to connect both devices and select an output device in the TV settings.

MHL.Adapter

An easy and affordable way to sync data from your tablet to your TV. The picture quality does not suffer due to the high data transfer rate of the adapter. MHL technology is also capable of directly streaming the image from your tablet.

Make sure your TV is equipped with an MHL input before you purchase the adapter. Otherwise you may need to buy an MHL to HDMI adaptor. Make sure that both devices support Mobile High-Definition Link.

• Connect both devices through the MHL adapter.
• Make sure both devices are switched on.
• Navigate to your TV’s output device through the TV menu. In the list that appears, select one of the presented connectors, to which the adapter is connected.

Some MHL adapters support receiving calls and viewing incoming messages from your tablet or smartphone.

See an example of connecting a smartphone to the TV (a tablet is connected in the same way):

Connecting to an old TV

To connect your tablet to the TV you can use different methods and ways. However, the methods described above will not work if you have an old TV without having all the necessary connectors. But even in this case we have a simple solution. Any old generation TV device has an RCA interface, or in simple terms, a “tulip”.

To connect the tablet to the TV through the tulip, we need an unusual adapter, and even in combination with the converter. It will be difficult to find such an adapter, but it is possible. When it will be in your hands, you need to follow the following instructions:

• Connect both devices through the correct converter adapter and RCA cable. Make sure that the colors on the cord and outputs match.
• Go to the settings of the receiver and switch the signal output.

If you’ve done it right, you’ll immediately see the right image on your TV. It is quite good to know that an old TV can be connected to a portable device, but the picture level will be weak, since it will be an analog format.

Which tablet can connect to your TV??

Any Android tablet or even a Windows Phone tablet can connect to your TV. Yes, not all methods will be available, some have their limitations, but at least a few methods will be available in any case.

You can connect your tablet to the TV in many ways, but we can split them all into 2 parts: wireless and wired. The first are interesting because they do not require additional cables, adapters. The second category is better for people who often use picture transmission, as it provides greater speed, less delay.

Wireless ways to connect your tablet

There are enough technologies to connect your tablet to the TV through wireless networks. We will describe the main ones, as well as the peculiarities of their work.

• Wi-Fi Direct. It is necessary to activate Wi-Fi Direct in the settings in the “Wireless Networks” section of the tablet. The same thing you need to do on the TV, and then select the device. The devices open a direct channel between them, even without using Wi-Fi network from the router, and can share files. From the TV, you can select any file that is saved on the tablet and play it. The only problem is that not all televisions have Wi-Fi Direct.
• Wi-Fi Miracast. The beauty of this kind of connection over the network is that additional equipment in the form of a router is not needed. Also, with this technology, the TV can act as a second monitor. The image quality at the highest level, you can broadcast in 4K. To enable it, open “Settings” on the TV and turn on Wi-Fi Direct. On your tablet, go to “Miracast Display Duplication. Start the process by pressing the “Start” button.
• Airplay. Made for Apple tablets. Provided you have a compatible TV, the tablet menu will allow you to start streaming. Here’s how to connect your iPad to your TV.
• DLNA. This technology connects gadgets: computers, phones, tablets, TVs, forming one big unified digital network. Once there, the devices will communicate with each other perfectly. We have already described the details of DLNA setup before.
• Allshare or Samsung Smart View. Designed to connect to Samsung TVs. Read more about it in our separate article. What is Samsung’s Smart View.

If you want to use the tablet as a substitute for the remote control for the TV, you will need to download a special application. For example, “Mi Remote controller“.

Wired methods to connect your tablet to the TV

You can synchronize images between your TV and your tablet in a number of ways. Each has its own peculiarities that you should be aware of. So below you will find descriptions for each of them.

• HDMI. The best and most relatively convenient way to sync the two devices. Bright advantages: digital signal = excellent sound and picture quality, no frame delay issues, easy to set up. Once connected, you must click on “Select Source” on your television or press the Source button on the remote and select HDMI. The picture must be mirrored.
• MHL. It is a USB to HDMI adapter that allows you to send your tablet‘s picture to the big screen. As a bonus, the tablet recharges, albeit slowly. The adapter is inexpensive and works well enough.

RCA (Tulip), DVI, USB are all either outdated, don’t work, or just aren’t practical to use in today’s world.

Connect your tablet through the wire

Wired ways of connecting the tablet to the TV is convenient because the user does not need to download and install additional software. Wired synchronization is suitable for owners of devices that do not support Smart TV. To connect using a cable, use one of the following interfaces:

Now let’s analyze in detail the advantages and disadvantages of all methods.

Connecting your tablet to your TV through HDMI is one of the most effective ways to sync. The tablet will partially function as a Smart Extra. What you need to do to make this connection? First, you need to buy an HDMI cable. Sold in all electronics stores and supermarkets. Second, if your tablet does not have an HDMI interface, then you need to buy an adapter that you plug into a USB interface. Sometimes this adapter is included in the basic package of the tablet.

How to connect a dual cable to your device? All the nuances of the connection are described in detail in the user manual. You only need to insert the plugs of the cable into the corresponding sockets. There is nothing complicated about this. In most cases, the HDMI connector is located on the back of the TV, sometimes on the side.

• Audio and video transmission is set automatically as soon as two devices are connected by cable. If there are problems with the transmission, debugging is done manually. Take your television remote control, and then select the HDMI port as the source. Also set the input value for this interface in the settings. Set the output in the tablet’s HDMI settings.
• Designers are constantly improving HDMI in an effort to improve picture quality and increase data transfer rates. Therefore, the generations of interfaces on your TV and tablet may not match. In this case, you’ll need to use the adapter we’ve already talked about. This is the most practical solution to the compatibility problem.
• The new HDMI 2 standard.0 enough to transmit 4K video to the big screen. The picture will be as natural and clear as possible. Bandwidth increases to 18.2 Gbps. This standard is relatively new. So it is very rare to find it on a device.

When the connection is established, the tablet’s desktop appears on the big screen. It is a tablet that is controlled. Another advantage of HDMI is that it allows audio and video to be transmitted simultaneously. Therefore, there is no need for additional cables.

In the settings of the tablet, you can turn on the option “Display a mirror” to duplicate the image. On the big screen, the user will be able to play video games, as well as use various applications: Viber, Skype, WhatsApp and other tools.

Via VGA video output

Almost all older TVs have a VGA connector. This input also allows you to connect to the tablet. Inteace is significantly outdated, but in rare cases is still used. Of course, you will need a specially designed adapter for your tablet that simply plugs into a USB connector.

The main problem is how to output the sound from the tablet to the TV? The VGA connector only allows you to send images. You need to use speakers or an additional cable to transmit sound. This interface is more suitable for synchronizing computers and televisions.

How to Connect a Tablet to a TV via USB

The USB cable is also an option to connect the tablet to the TV. However, this method is not as good as HDMI, AirPlay and Wi-Fi because it cannot play the picture on your TV.

It is also not possible to stream videos, view photos, listen to music, run games and applications. As with RCA, the only thing you can do is use the device as an external drive. To do this, connect your devices via USB cable if the tablet has a suitable connector.

If this isn’t available, you’ll need a USB-Microusb adapter. Once connected, select the USB source on your TV, then locate the desired file in the file system.

With this method, you can watch movies and TV shows by pre-loading a video file. Note that before you do this, it’s best to find out what file types are supported by your TV model.

MHL is the most popular solution for connecting your tablet to your TV. Mobile High-Definition Link is the full name of this technology, which allows you to freely connect smartphones and tablets to your TV.

This method provides high quality images when streaming from your gadget to your TV. At the same time, it charges the device at the same time. The undoubted advantage is the low price of this wonderful device.

Not every TV has an MHL input, but if at least one HDMI port supports MHL, the TV will be marked as MHL. If your TV doesn’t have this input, you can purchase an MHL-HDMI adapter and cable.

With this technology, MHL-compatible devices can share files without loss of quality. This allows you to display, take pictures, play music and stream movies on a large display.

And the TV remote control, can control MHL-compatible devices.

• Connect the cable plug to your MHL device;
• Connect the HDMI cable to the HDMI port on your MHL-compatible TV;
• Turn on the tablet and the TV;
• When connecting MHL-compatible devices, the TV menu must be set to automatic mode. This setup may not work or may not work properly if the tablet does not support these features;

Wired connection

Connecting with cables may not be comfortable. However, it is the wires that can provide the most comfortable data transfer, with no packet loss and no signal latency.

This interface is capable of delivering both picture and sound with just one cable-no adapters or accessories. Transmission is digital, which provides a perfect transfer of quality. It is probably impossible to find a modern TV without this port, but it is more rare for tablets to have HDMI, although manufacturers are trying to build it in everywhere.

HDMI allows you to stream video, directly capturing the screen of your tablet. Whatever is displayed on it will be transmitted to the TV in real time. And if you consider the ease and speed of connection. This port is the best solution among other wired.

In most cases, you can simply plug the tablet and the TV in to establish a connection. The devices will automatically recognize each other and establish a connection. If this does not happen, you need to set the HDMI source as the input signal in the TV settings. Therefore, in the tablet’s settings, choose to output the signal to HDMI.

Most likely the tablet will not have a classic HDMI connector, but a more compact version, such as miniHDMI. In this case, you need to buy an inexpensive HDMI to miniHDMI adapter.

This method is slightly less functional than HDMI. Through the USB it is possible to use the tablet only as an external drive. This allows you to run music, photos and videos on the TV, previously downloaded to the tablet. But it is not possible to stream video from the screen.

For connection it is enough to use a simple USB cable which is supplied with the device. After connecting the two devices, you must select the method of connection “as a drive” in the USB tablet settings. The TV will “pick up” the device as a normal flash drive, and then you only have to enter the appropriate folder and run the desired files.

Make sure the video files in the tablet‘s memory will be supported by the TV beforehand. Especially when it comes to older devices. If you can’t find such information, you should stop at the most common formats, such as avi, mkv or mp4.

Slimport

This technology uses a tablet connector microUSB, but to display the picture on the TV would have to buy a SlimPort adapter microUSB.HDMI. Output can be carried out not only on HDMI, but also on other TV ports. DVI, VGA, and even DiplayPort.

You have to make sure that both the TV and the tablet support this technology. Connection is similar to the above described HDMI connection. You need to connect both devices through the adapter and the cord, and if necessary, to specify in the settings of the appropriate ports for input and output.

This method is similar to the previous one. Only unlike SlimPort, MHL can output the image only to the HDMI port on your TV. As in the previous case, your TV and your tablet must support MHL technology. You will also need to buy an adapter microUSB to HDMI.

If the TV will support MHL, then near one or more of its HDMI ports will be labeled “MHL. These are the ports you need to plug the cable into. Once the tablet is connected, you will need to select MHL-HDMI as the incoming signal in the TV settings.

This technology has another big plus. In addition to high quality sound and picture transmission, the tablet will gradually charge from the TV. This charging will be quite slow, but it is 100% guaranteed that the device will not run out or shut down at an inopportune moment.

RCA in common parlance more commonly known as “tulips”. RCA connectors can be found in almost all TVs produced in the 2000s. These are analog connectors, so the transfer of good quality will have to forget about.

To connect you will need to get hold of an HDMI to AV (RCA) converter. With its help, the digital format of the tablet will be converted into analog, which will be able to recognize an old TV.

The converter will only have HDMI and RCA connectors. The first one, as you can guess, will be intended for connecting to a smartphone. The other three RCA cables will connect to the TV.

It is necessary to connect all the tunes according to the colors. Yellow cable is responsible for picture transmission, white and red. For sound. Switch on the HDMI output for the tablet and the AV output for the RCA jacks on the TV.

This connector is pretty old, and although it can still be seen in laptops, tablets are not equipped with it now. But if your TV does have it, you can still use mini/microUSB to VGA adapter or miniHDMI to VGA connection. Connection is made in the same way as with standard HDMI.

Please note! VGA allows you to transmit only an image. There will be no sound output to the TV. For this purpose we will have to connect separately headphones or speakers to the tablet.

Wired connection of the tablet to the TV without Wi-Fi

Wired connection is supported on more devices, and does not require you to download separate apps or use one common brand.

VGA port is mostly found on older monitors and TVs. You will need a Microusb-to-VGA adapter, because tablets do not have a VGA connector.

Use a Microusb-VGA adapter

The connection is made by directly connecting the cable to the two devices. Next you have to select the correct signal source on your TV.

[info-box type=”fact”] Important: I do not recommend this method, because VGA only transmits pictures, not sound. Sound will have to be plugged into speakers or played on the gadget.[/info-box]

Connecting with an HDMI cable

To connect your tablet to a TV through an HDMI cable, you will need the appropriate adapter (Microusb-HDMI), since few devices will have an HDMI jack.

Then plug the HDMI cable into the TV on one side and into the tablet through the adapter on the other side. This adapter is called an interface MHL, it is sold in many stores of equipment. You only need to select a signal source to the TV and enjoy high quality transmissions through HDMI.

Rcas are three cables, each in red, white and yellow. The adapter is used in older TVs, and you cannot use it to send the image from your tablet display, stream video or listen to music.

The only thing possible is to use the device as an external mass storage device. Also, modern gadgets do not support data transfer via RCA at the system and hardware level.

This means that even if you connect devices with the appropriate adapter (RCA-Microusb), most likely there will be no signal. And it will be hard to find such an adapter.

How to Connect a Tablet to a TV via USB

USB cable is also one of the options on how to connect the tablet with the TV. But this method is not as good as HDMI, AirPlay, and Wi-Fi as it does not allow you to duplicate the picture on the TV screen.

You also can’t stream video, watch photos, listen to music, or run games and apps. As with RCA, all you can do is use the device as an external drive. To do this, connect the devices with a USB cable, if the tablet has a corresponding connector.

If you don’t have one you need a USB-Microusb adapter. Once connected, you need to select the USB source on the TV and then locate the desired file in the file system.

This method lets you watch movies and TV shows by pre-loading a video file. Keep in mind that before you do this, it’s best to find out what file types are supported on your model of TV.

About the author of this site

Hi. My name is Pyotr. I am the author of this site. This is where I tell you what I find very interesting. Specifically about tablets. In the blog I try to tell in simple language about the firmware, settings and innovations of all modern tablets. Also, most of the articles are devoted to the Android OS, which I like very much