How to Watch Your PC on a TV

Posted by on 09/06 at 11:41 AM Permalink
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Many people have purchased large screen flat panel televisions over the last few years and one of the cool by-products of having an HDTV is many will have a plethora of inputs that will allow you to view your desktop computer quickly and easily right on your television. Some of the geeky pleasures of having the ability to output your computer to a TV are showing off videos or photos on the big screen, and using it as a very large work or gaming screen. In this Tech Tip, we are going to look at some quick and easy methods for viewing your computer’s output on your television (these tips work great for projectors as well).

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    Posted by Harry  on  09/06  at  12:16 PM

  1. I like the article.  My Pioneer 6020 has an ethernet input. Can this be set up to view streaming video; MLB for instance?

    Harry

    2. Posted by Dale Johnson  on  09/06  at  01:13 PM

  2. You left out a whole class of devices that allow viewing PC materials on your Television.
    They are Media Extenders.
    They range from those that will just send Media Center materials to your TV to those that also serve as DVD Players.
    I personally use a Linksys DMA2200 with integrated DVD player. Linksys also has the DMA 2100 which has no DVD capability.
    Linksys can be wireless or wired, your choice.

    In addition to Linksys, software versions of this capability are availabe for using Xbox 360 as a Media Extension Device.

    D-Link makes the DSM-750 to do the same as the Linksys system does.

    There is the Niveus Media Extender - EDGE as well as HP’s MediaSmart Connect and MediaSmart HDTV (Which isn’t an extender, it is a HDTV with built in extender capability) as well.

    Samsung has the MediaLive Digital Media Extender MR-00EA1.

    While these all are currently “married” to Windows Media Center, ultimately the concept should allow playing movies, MP3 and showing photos without going through Media Center.

    But right now they do have to go through Windows Media Center but that is a small irritant.

    I have watched large numbers of movies, looked at slide shows of family photos, listened to music and Audiobooks without any problem at all.

    The best thing is that with good layout planning, it is easy to use on any TV in your home. I prefer wired installs but with wireless, it is even more flexible.

    3. Posted by scott  on  09/06  at  05:08 PM

  3. Drawback with S-Video: it only carries a 4:3 signal. That means that your computer will add black bars to the widescreen image to make it square, and then when you play it on your widescreen tv, it will add black bars on the sides because it’s getting a 4:3 signal. You then have to zoom/stretch the image to full the widescreen TV. It works, but it’s poor resolution compared to using ANY of the other connection methods.

    There are also some adaptors available that will combine a DVI video signal, and an audio signal, and output it to HDMI. Then you only need one cable from your computer to your TV, rather than two separate. Not cheap at about $45, but worth it I think.
    http://www.amazon.com/Audio-SPDIF-Toslink-Converter-Adapter/dp/B0015YYOQQ

    4. Posted by john carman  on  09/06  at  05:35 PM

  4. great tip, lots of good info, well done!!!!

    5. Posted by Trace Middleton  on  09/06  at  07:27 PM

  5. I enjoyed your How to this week, I enjoy pretty much all of them. So thank you! I also learned that VGA is not digital, so I increased my knowledge a bit more. I was hoping to suggest a couple of items. I built a computer for my Blu-Ray and HDTV combo. It has 7.1 surround in the motherboard. But I don’t know how to go about that. Also I would love some info on Video Cards for HDMI hook up. The internal card is left wanting. Also can you get the widescreen view out of a video card? Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge.

    BTW, I have a ASUS M3A78-CM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780V Micro ATX AMD Motherboard, AMD AD775ZWCGHBOX Athlon 64 X2 7750 Black Edition 2.7GHz, and an LG Black 6X Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20L

    6. Posted by Steve W  on  09/06  at  10:48 PM

  6. Great tip, but you missed the part about how do you get the TV signal, which can go so in depth that it can be another tip section.  I went through about 3 TV tuners before I found a brand that worked (Haupague was great for both a PCI card and a USB).  I love watching TV on my computer, and am very excited about the new Windows 7 Media Center and its ability to view Clear QAM cable - i.e. the ‘free’ HD cable signals that most cable operators seem to broadcast.  It does require a Clear QAM TV Tuner - I bought one from Hauppague that I haven’t used yet.  But we are on the virge of crossing the bridge to recording local HD channels without messing with an antenna to bring in the signal - very exciting time!

    7. Posted by Gaming computers  on  09/23  at  03:52 AM

  7. Nice guide, just thought I would post a useful tip. Some resoutions may not look right when getting a signal from a PC. For example a “720p” TV should be run at 1280x720. John mentions this above. I wont go into much detial but A nice easy fix is to run a more pc friendly resolution, so use 1360x768 for a 720p screen.

    8. Posted by Leon Dudovich  on  09/27  at  11:57 PM

  8. Cool blog, sorry if this not about a thread of this topic but I got to ask you something…
    What are you think about website builders? And also what are you think about Site2you.com website builder?  I want to create a website for my wifer and looking around for a best one.

    9. Posted by Saied  on  03/04  at  09:43 AM

  9. Good tips. Thanks, but I wish you would have made some recommendations on good graphic cards that can accomplish this task along with required cables. I installed a Gforce 210 graphic card into my pc and used an HDMI switcher. via input1, I was able to watch regular TV programs and hear the audio perfectly. Via input 2, I was able only to watch my desktop background image only and nothing else, and continue to hear the audio of the TV program. I followed all instructions to the best of my limited pc technical knowledge and I could not get the pc to work like it should.

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