Is it possible to connect your computer to your TV

How to connect your TV to your computer with HDMI

I have decided to prepare a separate article with detailed descriptions and examples of how to connect your TV to a standard desktop computer using an HDMI cable. This is a hot topic and I am often asked about it. Really, it’s not that complicated. But there are some details, which we will try to get to the bottom of within this article.

Almost every television, even the newest ones, has at least one HDMI input. And in computers, on the back of the system unit there is an HDMI output. This means that we can easily connect a PC to a TV with a standard HDMI cable, which you can probably buy in every digital store.

What do you plug them in for?? Everything is very easy. Can the TV work as a monitor. That is, you can display the image from your computer to the TV screen. A television set can be used as a primary or secondary monitor. This means that your PC picture will be displayed on your regular monitor and your TV screen simultaneously. Or just a TV. It depends on what you want to do. Note that HDMI not only outputs the image but also the sound.

I myself and other users often connect PC to TV to watch movies on the big screen, or to play games. You can also connect a gamepad to your computer and play on the big screen. Some people use TVs instead of monitors. Working with documents, surfing the internet, etc. д. But I think it is not very comfortable. And their eyes get tired faster. To work at your computer all the time, it is better to use the monitor. To connect a TV to watch movies, take pictures, play games, etc. д.

The connection process will be the same for TVs from different manufacturers: LG, Samsung, Sony, Philips, Panasonic, Ergo, Hitachi, etc. д. Just as there will not be much difference in the settings of Windows. Yes, the settings in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 are slightly different, but not critically. I’ll show you everything.

If you have a laptop, you can do everything according to this article: How to connect your laptop to TV through HDMI.

How to connect your computer to the TV via Wi-Fi

In this article we will tell you how to properly connect your computer via WI-FI to the TV, and consider a few of today’s most popular options. The point of this connection is to be able to conveniently watch video files and photos stored in the computer or broadcast over the Internet, on the big screen.

What you need to set up a wireless connection?

Since Wi-Fi is supposed to exchange data via radio channel you first need to make sure your Smart TV as well as your PC has built-in Wi-Fi module or supports this technology as an option.

As for laptops, almost all modern models have a hardware built-in Wi-Fi module. If you wish to connect a desktop computer to your TV set, you will have to additionally purchase a special Wi-Fi adapter.

The adapter can be made as a PCI card with an antenna built into the system unit, or as an external USB module that looks like an ordinary flash drive. The same external Wi-Fi adapter may need to be connected to the USB-connector of your TV, if the latter is initially not equipped with a built-in module. To avoid problems when connecting and configuring it, it is better to buy adapters of the same brand as your TV.

It is not superfluous to pay attention to the version of the standard Wi-Fi, which supports modules. It is better to stay with the most current and high-speed version of IEEE 802.11n. It has a wide bandwidth and will not cause delays and freezes the image on the TV screen. Also don’t forget to update the drivers for all network devices.

The easiest way to wirelessly transmit pictures or music from your computer (laptop, tablet) to your TV is to use the following methods:

• Through LAN via a Wi-Fi router (computer. router. TV).
• Via Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) or Wi-Fi Miracast (wireless monitor) technologies.

Connecting your TV to your computer with a Wi-Fi router (DLNA technology)

To organize wireless data transfer between several devices it is required that they have built-in or external Wi-Fi modules and are connected to a single local network via a Wi-Fi router. The TV must support DLNA technology. a set of universal standards for multimedia exchange. You can check availability of this feature in the accompanying technical documentation, although today all Smart TVs support DLNA.

Connect your Wi-Fi router, set it to DHCP mode (automatic distribution of network settings) and give it a password to access the local network.

Connect your TV to the local network

Using the remote control, enter the TV menu, go to “Network” and open the “Network Setup” tab. Activate the Wireless option in the Network Setup Wizard that appears. From the list that will open, choose your Wi-Fi network, wait until it checks the connection, and then enter the access password.

If the router supports WPS, it’s even easier to connect the TV to the Wi-Fi network. Select the appropriate item (WPS/PWS) in the TV Setup Wizard and hold the WPS button on the router for a while until the connection is established.

Install a media server on your computer

Simply speaking, in order to transmit files to TV via local network you will have to create several folders on your computer for storing different types of multimedia files (video, music, photo). After that, these folders should be accessed from all networked devices, including the TV.

The easiest way to do it is to use any convenient for you media server program designed for organizing access to network resources from various connected devices. There are many programs that solve this problem: AllShare (Samsung Link), Samsung PC ShareManager, SmartShare, Serviio media server, Plex Media Server, Home Media Server, and others.

Download the program to your computer, install it, set it up conveniently and run it. After launching the media server you need to enter the TV settings where you will see the folders with media content available for demonstration. Now you can browse your computer‘s files from your TV screen.

Connecting your TV to your computer using WiDi/Miracast technology

Unlike DLNA technology, this option to wirelessly display multimedia information from your computer to your TV, allows you to view not only the files stored on your computer’s hard drive, but also those played online in its built-in web browser.

However, the technology WiDi/Miracast (screen mirroring) is very demanding to computer resources, so it is supported only by individual computers (laptops, tablets) with powerful hardware. And, of course, these advanced technologies must be implemented in the TVs. If your TV only optionally supports WiDi/Miracast, you’ll need to purchase a special adapter, which you can then plug into one of its HDMI ports.

The principle of wireless monitor technology is that the picture, which is displayed at the moment on your computer screen, is compressed according to a special algorithm and then is sent by Wi-Fi radio channel to the big screen of TV. There is no need to connect TV set to local Wi-Fi network together with PC using router: TV-receiver will organize a separate mini-network for connection only with PC.

To begin transmitting a picture, you must install a special application Intel Wireless Display on your computer (if it is not pre-installed) and launch the broadcast in it. The WiDi/Miracast function must be activated in the TV menu. You can do this in its settings, entering the “Network” tab, and then go to the item “Miracast/Intel WiDi.

If this article did not help you to solve your question, ask it on our forum.

How to connect a computer to TV via Wi-Fi

Modern smart TVs can be connected to computers wirelessly via a local Wi-Fi network. Technologies like DLNA and Wi-Fi Direct allow you to stream videos, music and other content to your TV screen or fully duplicate the image from your computer to your TV, turning it into a wireless monitor. And in the case of Wi-Fi Direct, you don’t even need a router.

For example, LG devices have the Smart Share service for such functions. And Samsung televisions offer similar features as part of the AllShare service.

Wireless connection settings may vary depending on the TV manufacturer and model. Some devices establish a connection in semi-automatic mode. Others require additional software to be installed on the computer to be connected.

So it’s difficult to formulate a universal instruction that will work for all users. If you want to connect your TV to your computer via Wi-Fi, you will find the necessary information in a paper manual or on the manufacturer’s official website along with the necessary software for this.

Connecting your laptop to your TV with an HDMI cable

If you are interested, I will show you by the example of a laptop Asus K56CM, and a slightly outdated LG 32LN575U TV, which, by the way, we have connected to Wi-Fi in this article.

So, one end of the cable connects to the HDMI connector on the TV. These are labeled. There can be more than one. It doesn’t matter which one you plug in.

Plug the other end of the cable into the HDMI connector on the laptop.

Or, to the video card on the system box. If you have a desktop computer.

You probably won’t see an image on your TV right away. You need to select the signal source in the settings. On LG televisions you have to press the INPUT button on the remote control.

And use the joystick on the remote control to select the desired HDMI, to which we have connected the cable. I have HDMI2. It will be active. If your TV is not LG, then there should also be a button which you can use to switch the signal sources. If it does not work, write in the Комментарии и мнения владельцев, we’ll figure it out.

That’s it, you should see the image from your laptop on your TV.

In the Комментарии и мнения владельцев, Dmitry advised that it is absolutely necessary to change the device name for the selected HDMI-input on the TV. Since this changes some of the parameters that may affect the quality of the picture. So I recommend that you do this.

In the menu to select the HDMI input (as in the photo above) click on the red button on the remote control. In the menu on the TV is the item “Change the name of the device. In the menu that appears, select the HDMI-input, in which we connected the laptop and select “Laptop” below.

We are done with the connection. Already you can use and enjoy the picture on the big screen. And I will also show you how you can configure the output of the image on the laptop, consider a possible problem with the output picture and sound. When the sound after connection will not come from the TV, but from the speakers of the laptop.

Wireless connection to the TV. Wi-Fi

Wireless technology is convenient and it is a trend of the modern market of electronic equipment. Therefore, first of all, let’s consider options for connecting a laptop to a TV using Wi-Fi technology: with DLNA (you can also use a router), Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Di, Miracast and Chromecast. The TV-set must have a Smart TV supporting these technologies (otherwise you will need to buy a set-top box), and the laptop must have Windows 7, 8, or 10.

Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Di, Miracast. allow you to duplicate the laptop monitor on the TV, as well as enabling the viewing of multimedia content.

Direct connection

To connect via Wi-Fi Direct, you need to do the following:

• Turn on Wi-Fi adapters on both devices.
• Select “Home” (can be called “Menu”, “Settings”) on the TV.
• Then go to “Network” (“Network”), in different models of TV it can be “Device Connector”, “SmartShare”, “Source” tab, and activate Wi-Fi Direct.

Among the disadvantages of connecting with Direct. small signal delay, small distance for data transfer between devices.

Wi-Di technology

Intel Wireless Display. Developed by Intel wireless content transfer from laptops, ultrabooks, tablets to Smart TV and allows you to play 1080p HD video and 5.1 surround sound on compatible monitors.

To connect TV with laptop via Wi-Di both devices must support this technology. There are several steps to make this connection:

• On the TV, go to “Menu” (Home).
• Then go to the “Network” tab.
• Select “ScreenShare” pairing mode in the opened window. Duplicate monitor or “Content Share”. content broadcasting.
• You will be offered connection options. Activate Wi-Di (may be referred to as “Intel Wi-Di”).

Connection with Miracast

One of the most popular ways. To connect via Miracast the TV must support this technology, or you can use a separate adapter. Second condition is that the TV and laptop must be inside the same wireless LAN. Installation of Miracast software, such as EZCast, is also required on the computer. After that, you need to do the following:

• Turn on Miracast on your TV.
• Run the Miracast app on your laptop.
• Click on the “Search Device” button in the Chromecast.

Pair with Chromecast

Among wireless connection technologies, unfairly little attention is paid to Chromecast. And it is a good way to use your TV without Smart TV. But with Chromecast you can only stream photos, video, music and browsing.

This type of connection requires a router connected to a laptop and a Chromecast STB connected to the TV. You do not have to make any complicated settings, but only the following:

• Launch the Chrome browser on your computer.
• In the upper right corner of the screen to open the menu.
• Select “Broadcast”.
• Select the name of your TV and what you want to broadcast in the pop-up window.

Connecting with DLNA

DLNA only provides playback of multimedia content from the hard disk or SSD, without the ability to duplicate or expand the monitor. The notebook computer and the TV must be in the same network. Connecting via DLNA requires the following steps:

• Download and install a multimedia server on your notebook computer and perform its settings (instructions on settings can be found on the Internet).
• Create a folder on your computer in which files will be stored (it is better to use Latin letters for the name).
• Hover your cursor over the new folder, open the context menu, go to Properties-Access-Advanced Settings and check the box to allow shared access to the folder. Save the settings.

Then on your TV you need to find the “Media Server” (Depending on the TV the name can be different). This tab can be found in the “Inputs”, “Networks”, “Settings” or “Photos and videos”, also depending on the TV model. Now you can go to a folder created on your laptop and view or listen to its contents: photos, videos, music.

Connecting your TV to your computer

When connecting the TV to the computer you first need to implement a hardware connection with the appropriate cables and connectors, and then configure the necessary settings. The settings themselves may vary depending on the operating system and video card model on your PC.

I need to say that this kind of connection between your TV and your computer or laptop is needed to use the screen of the receiver with a large diagonal as a monitor. This way it’s much more enjoyable to watch movies, look at pictures, or play games. But all this is true for modern models of HD Ready TV sets with a screen resolution of 1920×1080 or 1366×768. If you use a screen with a lower resolution, which is found on older models of TV, you may not get a gain in video quality. Or it could be a situation where you do not have the necessary connectors to transmit high definition video from your computer to your TV. But all modern models of both TVs and video cards can be connected to each other to view Full HD video on your TV.

Connectors to connect the TV

Transmission of high resolution images is connected with the use of a video signal in digital form and its subsequent processing. To transmit video signals in digital form are used interfaces HDMI and DVI. It is the connectors and cables of these two interests, and is associated today with the connection of the TV to the computer. It must be said that DVI comes in three varieties digital, analog and combined. So, to transmit a digital signal of Full HD, you have to choose a video card with a digital output (marked with an additional letter D), or a combined one, and use an appropriate cable.

HDMI is considered the preferred connection because it transmits audio along with video. When connecting via DVI you may need to additionally connect the audio signal via a separate cable. For the video card to output sound on some models you will need to connect S/PDIF connectors inside the computer system unit, a cable for the connection is included in the video card kit. Then maybe even audio will be on the DVI output and using a DVI to HDMI adapter and then an HDMI to HDMI cable on the TV, you can get video and audio from the same DVI connector. HDMI cable is even better, because it can be very long (more than 10 meters). And if you use a DVI to DVI cable, you may need to put intermediate amplifiers (which no one does) if it is more than 5 meters long, otherwise you will get interference.

The TV set may have a separate HDMI input to connect the computer, despite the fact that usually the TV set has several such connectors. You need to read the manual to identify the correct input.

If you use a home theater system for sound or other audio system, you can send the signal from your computer to the receiver via HDMI, and from the receiver to the TV set via HDMI as well.

All other methods of video transmission from a computer uses an analog signal form and cannot transmit HD video. These are used when an HDMI or DVI connection is not possible.

• 1) VGA (D-sub). One of the main connectors in modern HDTVs. Used to connect a computer. Has 15 pins. Able to transmit a signal of 1280×1024 pixels.
• 2) Component. You can see three different colored “tubes”: green, blue, red. Two of them carry the color component, and the third carries the brightness signal. On the devices it is labeled as Y Pb Pr. Has better characteristics than A/V and S-video.
• 3) Scart. This is a large connector with 21 pins. Has different specifications, so it can transmit different signals, depending on what the manufacturers have connected inside the connector. Can transmit good quality video (standard definition) and sound.
• 4) S-video. Used in video technology a long time ago. May no longer exist on a modern television. Transmits color and brightness signals on separate wires, so this connector is better than regular “tubes. Transmits only video signal, sound is connected with a separate cable. Can be 4 or 7 pins.
• 5) Composite (A/V). These are ordinary “tulips” (RCA). Have been around for a long time. It is worse than the component ones in that the brightness and color signals are sent through the same cable, so there is interference. Can be used on DVD, game consoles, etc. Both video and sound are transmitted.

Usually when connected correctly, the picture from the computer appears on the TV screen immediately. Sometimes you must tweak the resolution, or if you have no picture at all, configure the outputs and inputs correctly. Before you set it up, it is a good idea to download and install the latest drivers for your video card and sound card in your computer.

The most common are the following models of video cards:

• Based on the NVIDIA platform. Drivers are available on NVidia.
• Based on ATI platform. Drivers are available from ATI.ru
• Based on Intel Extreme Graphics. Drivers are available at Intel.com

After connecting and turning on the network on both devices, Windows should display a connection message and ask how you intend to use the additional screen. There are three options:

• 1 Use an external display as the primary display.
• 2 Extend the workspace to the other screen, with both displays in use.
• 3 Connections screen to use as a clone, that is, the image on the two displays is the same.

It is preferable to use the connected TV in “clone” mode, so it is easier to set up and manage.

If the operating system did not detect the new connection by itself, you can enter the menu of displays settings by yourself. Start-Dashboard-Enterface takes you to the screen settings menu.

In this menu you need to configure the parameters of the connected display as you want.

For a more complete picture adjustment (resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, color gamut) you may need to go into the video card settings.

Why connect your PC to your TV??

Firstly, you can use the TV equipment as a big screen to watch movies, and secondly, comfortably play your favorite video games. Completely immerse yourself in the world of virtual reality will help a pair of gaming joysticks or virtual reality glasses. You can even use the LCD TV to talk to family and friends over Skype. Then the picture will be shown on the big screen, which will make the communication more pleasant. Computer in this case can be used for other tasks or to duplicate the picture on two monitors simultaneously.

A PC and a television set are used together for business purposes. To show various presentations on the TV screen, a notebook is used. A computer display is not capable of delivering images with the same good quality and color as today’s televisions.

Pairing is done using standard cables or you can do it wirelessly. Setting takes a few minutes. Method should be chosen based on the TV model.

Connect via Wi-Fi

Modern models of TVs with Smart TV function have a built-in Wi-Fi module, which is useful for connecting the device with your PC and displaying an image on the screen.

To do this, connect to a wireless network via the equipment settings, connect to this network on your personal computer. Now use the Control Panel to go to the screen menu, enable monitor search in the resolution settings window. When the computer detects all the monitors, you will be able to broadcast your desktop on the big screen. Both your computer and TV must support Wireless Display (WiDi) technology, and it must be enabled.

If your TV supports Miracast technology or you use a special set-top box, it is enough to install on your computer some application for broadcasting to the TV via Wi-Fi, for example, the EZCast utility. After that it is enough to connect a TV and a computer to the same Wi-Fi network so they can work together, just like with a cable connection.