How to Hook Up Laptop to TV
Once you have figured out how to hook up laptop to TV, you can enjoy the many benefits and features of your laptop on your TV set. Many people own HDTV sets and they wish to watch movies from their laptops, or play PC games that are installed on the laptop or carry out some other function on this TV set. This can be done by connecting the laptop computer to the TV set, and there are many different ways to do this. After you learn how to hook up laptop to TV, you can carry out this task with considerable ease.
There are many advantages of hooking up laptop to TV set, and doing so can provide one with a lot of fun and entertainment. By viewing the contents of a laptop on a big screen, a lot of features of the laptop get greatly enhanced.
Hooking a Laptop to TV
Hooking up laptop to TV is a very simple task and it can be done by simply attaching the laptop to the TV set using a cable. There are different kinds of cables that can be used for this purpose and you can choose the one that suits you best. Each cable comes with its own functionality and its own advantages, and the choice of a cable also depends on the kind of TV set and the kind of laptop that you wish to connect.
RCA Connector
This connector is also known as the phono plug, and it is used primarily, for analog audio and analog video components. RCA connectors are available easily at any electronics store and most old-fashioned laptops have a RCA connector plug. Newer models do not come with this connector anymore, but this still remains one of the best ways of hooking up a laptop and a TV. There are 3 plugs on this cable, namely red, white and yellow. The yellow is for the video feed and the red and the white are for the right audio and the left audio respectively.
Digital Video Interface (DVI)
Almost, all laptops and TV sets have a DVI connector nowadays and this is a great answer to the question how to hook up laptop to TV. The downside is that you also need to procure an audio cable to connect the two devices together, as the DVI connector can only be used to transmit video feed from the laptop to TV. This connector is a rectangular shaped adapter, with three horizontal rows of 8 pins each. To get the audio feed, an RCA connector can also be used in unison with the DVI connector.
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI)
This is one of the most expensive connectors that you will find in the market, but there is a reason behind that. It also happens to be the best. The best picture quality can be achieved with an HDMI connector, when you connect your laptop to the LCD TV. Very few advanced laptops have this connector but, almost every HDTV comes equipped with this interface. If you are wondering, how to connect a laptop that does not have an HDMI connector, then you can use an HDMI to DVI conversion connector. You can additionally use RCA audio cables as well for the audio feed.
Video Graphics Array (VGA)
This is again a method of connecting a laptop to a HDTV set only, because no other TV set comes equipped with a VGA port. You will also need a VGA to DVI converter, in order to get audio as well as video from the laptop, onto your HDTV. This is a completely portable system as the converter is USB powered, and does not require any external power source. If you're still wondering about how to hook up laptop to TV, these solutions are the perfect answers.
S-Video Connector
This is the oldest and the easiest way to hook up laptop to TV. The quality of picture that you can achieve with this is not very good, but it is still a reliable means of getting the job done. An additional audio cable can be used for the audio feed but that is optional. All you have to do is connect this single wire, which makes the entire task a fairly simple one. Newer versions of flat screen TV's have stopped coming equipped with this adapter, in the recent past though. But this still remains the most feasible way to hook up laptop to TV.
Using these cables the task of hooking up a laptop to a TV is made very easy, and you can enjoy the benefit of viewing your laptop's features on your big screen HDTV. For some people this is a great tool to have and the knowledge of how to hook up laptop to TV can really serve as a blessing in disguise.
