Help a n00b display what's on his PC on his TV

[eg1]

Originally Posted by chrisjustinparr

This used to be quite a challenge to do before HDMI. Now, as others have said there are five steps

1) Buy laptop (or PC) with HDMI output
2) Buy TV
3) Buy HDMI cable
4) Plug one end of cable into laptop (or PC)
5) Plug one end of cable into TV

If it is anything like my laptop (which is at least two years old now), it should just do it automatically. Tinker with it and the TV can become a separate monitor although from what I understand you just want to mirror.

Thanks again, guys. I will try this out -- I am not exactly mr-computer-genius over here, you know, so this "separate monitor" and/or "mirror" process might not be quite as simple as y'all think!

 

[GQgeek]

Originally Posted by eg1

Thanks again, guys. I will try this out -- I am not exactly mr-computer-genius over here, you know, so this "separate monitor" and/or "mirror" process might not be quite as simple as y'all think!

Nobody expects anyone from burlington to be too quick, so we'll be patient with you.

 

[eg1]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

Nobody expects anyone from burlington to be too quick, so we'll be patient with you.

Heh -- I used to be quicker, but now I am just older ...

 

[Crosstalker]

Please post what kind of video connector is available on your laptop (or on your laptop's port replicator), as well as what kind of video connectors are available on your receiver/TV.

I'm running dual monitors simultaneously and spent $7 on a simple HDMI cable. I use a 22" HDTV for my primary screen and have a 42" HDTV in use as my secondary screen. You probably won't be able to use two screens like that with your laptop (most laptops don't have multiple video-out plugs, much less the raw video card power necessary to project two images).

Please PM me if you have questions. If you buy something for $200 to get your TV to display, you're insane. My $7 cable + Windows Control Panel solution works just fine.

 

[eg1]

Originally Posted by Crosstalker

Please post what kind of video connector is available on your laptop (or on your laptop's port replicator), as well as what kind of video connectors are available on your receiver/TV.

I'm running dual monitors simultaneously and spent $7 on a simple HDMI cable. I use a 22" HDTV for my primary screen and have a 42" HDTV in use as my secondary screen. You probably won't be able to use two screens like that with your laptop (most laptops don't have multiple video-out plugs, much less the raw video card power necessary to project two images).

Please PM me if you have questions. If you buy something for $200 to get your TV to display, you're insane. My $7 cable + Windows Control Panel solution works just fine.

my tv is an LG55LH40 and has inputs for:

hdmi
L/R Audio/Composite Video In
HD Component Video In (Y,Pb,Pr) + L/R Audio
RGB In (D-Sub 15pin) - PC
PC Audio Input

My computer is one of these: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...696660&lang=en

I see now that it has an hdmi port, so I am guessing I can connect to my tv through that, right?

OK, then what? Will this cause the image on my laptop to show both on my laptop screen and on my tv at the same time?

And before you ask, yes I am an old n00b ...

 

[Crosstalker]

You're in great shape! Since your laptop has an HDMI port (not a very common feature!), you only need to get a basic HDMI cable* and connect the cable to your laptop and your TV. Then, turn on your TV and set the "Input" for the TV to correspond with whatever HDMI slot on the TV you are using to connect with your laptop. From there, it's a matter of opening up Control Panel and changing your display settings. Your computer should automatically recognize that it is connected to two screens: its own laptop screen, plus your TV screen. What you do next will depend on your version of Windows.

Hope this helps! It's really, really, really easy.


* The length of your HDMI cable will depend on your personal needs. Since you are dealing with a laptop, I assume a 6-10 foot HDMI cable will be fine. You can get one for $10-20 shipped online. Don't buy one at a store. It pains me to see people shelling out $99 for a $9 cable, but it happens every day at Best Buy.

 

[eg1]

Originally Posted by Crosstalker

You're in great shape! Since your laptop has an HDMI port (not a very common feature!), you only need to get a basic HDMI cable* and connect the cable to your laptop and your TV. Then, turn on your TV and set the "Input" for the TV to correspond with whatever HDMI slot on the TV you are using to connect with your laptop. From there, it's a matter of opening up Control Panel and changing your display settings. Your computer should automatically recognize that it is connected to two screens: its own laptop screen, plus your TV screen. What you do next will depend on your version of Windows.

Hope this helps! It's really, really, really easy.


* The length of your HDMI cable will depend on your personal needs. Since you are dealing with a laptop, I assume a 6-10 foot HDMI cable will be fine. You can get one for $10-20 shipped online. Don't buy one at a store. It pains me to see people shelling out $99 for a $9 cable, but it happens every day at Best Buy.

Thanks -- I will try it soon. Here's another wrinkle -- my AVR has a convenient front-port hdmi input, so theoretically I should be able to connect my laptop to that instead of the tv directly, being sure to select that particular input on my AVR, yes?

Oh brave new world that has such things in it ...

 

[Kique]

Originally Posted by eg1

Thanks -- I will try it soon. Here's another wrinkle -- my AVR has a convenient front-port hdmi input, so theoretically I should be able to connect my laptop to that instead of the tv directly, being sure to select that particular input on my AVR, yes?

Yup, no reason why that shouldn't work.

 

[eg1]

OK -- was able to connect the laptop to the tv through my avr's front aux hdmi port.

Picture is great! No sound, however (except from the laptop speakers) ...

Now what?

 

[GQgeek]

^^ lol RTFM!

ok I'll be nice. you need to use the digital output from your laptop. it's a single rca plug. chances are your laptop isn't going to pass the audio via hdmi or you'd be hearing sound. you'll need to change the sound output on your computers sound settings. do that from the control panel->sounds. You need to change the playback device to digital audio/spdif. Then run the cable to your avr. hopefully it's got aux digital in on the front as well or you'll have to reach around to the back. if you do that, best to just leave the cable plugged into the avr all the time so it's not a total pain. you might have to remap the input to aux though.

 

[eg1]

Originally Posted by GQgeek

^^ lol

RTFM!

ok I'll be nice. you need to use the digital output from your laptop. it's a single rca plug. chances are your laptop isn't going to pass the audio via hdmi or you'd be hearing sound. you'll need to change the sound output on your computers sound settings. do that from the control panel->sounds. You need to change the playback device to digital audio/spdif. Then run the cable to your avr. hopefully it's got aux digital in on the front as well or you'll have to reach around to the back. if you do that, best to just leave the cable plugged into the avr all the time so it's not a total pain. you might have to remap the input to aux though.

so the hdmi only sends a video signal? I thought the point of those was that they send both video and audio? Or is it the computer settings that determine this?

 

[jagmqt]

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921666035676

Get that cable, but at Radio Shack for $5.

jag

 

[eg1]

Originally Posted by jagmqt

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921666035676

Get that cable, but at Radio Shack for $5.

jag

OK, let's say this is the solution -- how do I get the avr to simultaneously acknowledge the hdmi input for the purpose of the TV, but this other input for the purpose of the speakers?

 

[otc]

It is really sort of amazing how simple hdmi makes this stuff. Get a fully hdmi computer and connect the hdmi cable and you are set.

My old roomate's parents just bought her a nice (maybe not by SF big timer standers but certainly by just finished school standards) tv for christmas and she already figured out on her own how to get full resolution video and audio from her laptop to the TV to watch downloaded TV and stuff.

In our old apartment, this was a hacked together mess that needed a programmable logitech remote to get everything set up right when anyone besides me used it. The xbox with xbmc was easy enough but if you wanted to connect a laptop or use the mac mini, it was a mess (even after we had an LCD since it didn't do hdmi).

Of course my new apartment is now TV-less...anyone in chicago looking to get rid of their old tv and switch to something that is /bigger/better/flatter/HD (a late model SD is plenty good for me)?

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by eg1

OK -- was able to connect the laptop to the tv through my avr's front aux hdmi port.

Picture is great! No sound, however (except from the laptop speakers) ...

Now what?

I've read some of the other suggestions, but I think you can try some other things before buying another cable. First of all connect the HDMI cable via the aux HDMI port and try to change the settings on your computer (as g33k mentioned) under control panel -> sound and change the sound output from your computer speakers to HDMI Output.

If the sound still does not play form your computer, try connecting to the main HDMI port instead of the aux HDMI port, since it may be possible that the aux HDMI port can only handle video and not audio. The main HDMI port should be able to handle both video and audio output. I helped a buddy of mine connect his 1.5 year old comp via HDMI sans problems, and IRRC your computer is less than 1.5 years old.