How to Use Your TV As a Computer Monitor

Three Parts:  Considerations  Creating the Connection  Changing Your Computer Settings

Want to make your computer experience a little...bigger? Perhaps you have to make a presentation and don't have a projector, so you're turning to your 50" HD TV. Or maybe you're converting your laptop to a desktop, and don't have an external monitor. Whatever your reason, follow the instructions below to get some helpful advice on how this can be done.

> Part 1 of 3: Considerations

1. Keep the tv at the right height for computer use. You’ll need to keep your tv much lower to the ground than if you were just going to watch movies on it. Keeping it high will eventually strain your eyes and hurt your neck. It is best to keep the tv at a height where your eye level is roughly ¾ of the way up the screen, much like with a monitor.

2. Make sure your tv has good resolution.  When your computer sends the image to the tv, it’s going to be designed for a much smaller screen. Even with a high resolution TV, some text may appear blurry. With a lower resolution tv, you may have a very difficult time reading text. This is probably fine for entertainment use, but may make daily computer use annoying at best.

3. Make sure your computer is powerful. If you plan on gaming with this computer, be aware that forcing the game to play at a high resolution like this will probably make for some ridiculous lag. Only a combination of a good video card and a good processor will be able to handle it without causing problems.

4. Find your computer’s output options. Look at the back of your computer and identify the output options. You’ll want to look for HDMI, DVI, or VGA outputs (places to plug things in). These are sometimes labeled, but they may be easier to identify by looking at images of the outputs online, if you don’t know what they look like.

• If you don’t have an HDMI, DVI, or VGA output, you may be able to get special connectors through your computer manufacturer. This is more likely to affect people with tablets or laptops, as most fairly recent computers will have one of those three.

5. Find your tv’s input options.  Look at your tv, both on the sides and at the back, to find the available inputs. More recent televisions should almost always have an HDMI input. Once you know what output your computer has and what input your tv has, you can start planning how you will connect them.

> Part 2 of 3: Creating the Connection

1. Get the cable.  Get whatever cable is appropriate for the output on your computer. Keep in mind that, at least for HDMI, a more expensive or fancier cable will not change anything so just get the cheapest one you can find. 

2. Convert the signal as necessary.  If the input on your tv is not the same as the output on your computer, you may need to take some extra steps. If you have an HDMI on one end and a DVI on the other, for example, you’ll need a cable which converts the two and likely an additional audio cable (since a DVI output will not be able to output sound).

 3. Connect the devices.  Once you have the necessary cables and converters, connect the two devices. They do not need to be turned off necessarily while you do this, though it may help your computer to recognize the device if the computer is turned off when it is plugged in.

• Make sure to loosen and tighten the locking screws, if your connector has them, as necessary.

4. Connect the audio.  If you are not connecting an HDMI output to an HDMI input then you will need to double check to make sure there is an audio connection. This will probably require a separate audio cable.

> Part 3 of 3: Changing Your Computer Settings

  1. Change the settings on your tv.:  You will need to access your tv’s settings and change it to input from your PC. Check the user guide for help changing this setting.

• Sometimes there will not be a setting called PC. I may have a different name, like Video 1, HDMI, or some other term.

  2. Change the settings on your computer.  Go into your computer’s settings and change it to use the tv as a screen if this does not happen automatically.^[2] For laptops this setting will need to be adjusted. If using instead of a monitor for a desktop PC, this should happen automatically.

• For PCs, this setting can be found through the “devices” charm in Windows 8 or through the Display or Screen Resolution menus for Windows 8 and earlier operating systems.
• For Macs, choose Displays under View in the System Preferences menu.

  3. Adjust the resolution as necessary.  Change the resolution so that it is appropriate for a 1080 screen. Usually this will happen automatically if connecting using HDMI cables.

4. Enjoy your new display!  Have fun playing PC games on a big screen, watching movies with your family, or whatever it is you decide to do!

Tips:-

• If unsure about cable types, look up pictures on Google.

• HDMI cables will pass audio only if both the TV and computer have HDMI jacks, if the computer / video card sends audio information over the HDMI jack (some video cards do not) and no adapters are used. If a VGA or DVI cable or connector or adapter is used, the audio signals are stopped at that cable or connector. An HDMI cable connected directly to the devices with HDMI connectors must be used.

• It is not required to spend a great deal of money on cables for digital signals. "Monster Cables" are generally over kill. A 6' (2m) HDMI or DVI cables can be had for no more than $5 to $10 on the internet - anything more than that is a waste of money. The cheaper VGA cables however, can be problematic. VGA signals are analog, and the slightest degradation of signal begins to be visible on the display (the longer VGA cables and larger displays will show "ghosting" with the cheapest cables so be prepared to exchange the cable for a better quality type). Choose the cheapest thicker VGA cable for best results on short runs (6' or less) into 20+/- inch displays.

• It is possible to find adapters and cables to connect different types of connectors. Here are a few:

Warnings:-

• Be careful not to pull too hard on any of the cables connecting the computer and tv. You could break the pins on the connection or worse: knock down the tv or the computer.

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