How to Connect a Computer to a Television

So you want to connect your computer to your TV. This is something more and more people are doing these days, as you can download videos and games to your computer and then share them with your whole family by putting them up on the TV. This is also a great help for Power Point presentations. Here we will lead you through a quick step-by-step process to get this done.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• S-video cord, relatively long
• 3.5MM to 2 RCA wire (red/white ends) if you want to connect sound, as well.

Video

1. Identify if your computer has an S-video port and/or a VGA out port. An S-video port will be a small, black port with 4 or more holes in it. A VGA port will be a larger (but still relatively small) port shaped like a trapezoid that has 15 holes, 5 in each row of 3. If your computer does not have an S-video port, you will need to purchase a VGA to VIDEO converter; you can get these at Amazon for around $60 (see Resources below). If your computer has neither port, you're out of luck.

2. Determine if your TV has an S-video port. This will be marked usually on the back of the set, but sometimes on the front as well.

3. Connect your S-video cord to the back of your computer.

4. Connect the other end of the cord to the back of the TV in the "S-video In" port.

5. Put your TV into the appropriate mode for the S-video port you are using. You can do this either by pushing the "TV/Video" button on your remote or TV, or some TVs have them as channels below channel 1.

6. Right-click anywhere in open space on your desktop. Click "Properties," then the "Settings" tab.

7. Click on the box labeled "1," then click the "Advanced" tab.

8. This is where it gets a bit tricky, because it varies by computer. All computers will have tabs here that say "General," "Adapter," "Monitor," "Troubleshoot" and "Color Management." We need one that's specific for your video card, and it will be different for everyone, so you need to experiment a little. Find the one that will set up your video card (sometimes it will open another window).

9. Look for something similar to "Set Up Multiple Displays." Find this, then choose your laptop display as the primary and the TV as the secondary. You want "clone" mode, which means the TV will display exactly what is on your laptop. If you can't figure out where this setting is, refer to your computer's manual.

Audio

10. Hook up the 3.5MM port to the headphone port on your computer.

11. Find the audio jacks that correspond to the S-video port you are using for the video. Plug the wire in according to the appropriate colors.

12. Turn the sound all the way up on your computer; if it's too loud, turn down the volume on your TV.

Tips & Warnings

• Generally, the better the S-video cord you use, the better the picture will be.

Resources

• Purchase a VGA to video converter from Amazon.