How to Connect a Computer to a Sony LCD HDTV

You can use a Sony LCD HDTV as a computer monitor.

The quality and size of a Sony LCD HDTV may make you want to use it as a display for your computer. You can use the LCD HDTV as an extended desktop, an additional window for programs, a replacement for your monitor or even an exact copy of what is happening on your monitor. The method that you should use to connect you computer to the LCD HDTV depends on what kind of computer you have, a desktop or a notebook.

Things You'll Need

• DVI to HDMI converter (for desktops)
• HDMI cable (for desktops)
• Audio L/R-to-Mini-pin audio cable (for desktops)
• 15-pin video cable (for notebooks)
• 15-pin gender changer (for notebooks)
• Mini-pin audio cable (for notebooks)

Instructions

Notebooks

1. Attach the 15-pin gender changer to the female end of the 15-pin cable, also called a VGA cable. If your VGA cable already has two male ends, you do not need the gender changer.

2. Connect one end of the VGA cable to the VGA connector on your notebook. The VGA connector should be the only connector with 15 pins on the back or side of your notebook, but it will also be next to an image of a rectangle in between two lines.

3. Attach the other end of the VGA cable to the back of the Sony LCD HDTV in the slot in the “PC IN” section. It should have the letters “RGB” directly over the slot.

4. Attach the mini-pin audio cable to the audio output or headset jack on your notebook and into the audio input on the Sony LCD HDTV directly below the 15-pin connector that has your VGA cable plugged into it.

5. Press the function and F-key combination on your notebook to change the output display. This will be a little different on every notebook, but for most notebooks it is Function-F1, Function-F2 or Function-F8. Use this key combination to scroll through the different choices on whether to use the LCD HDTV, your notebook LCD or both.

Desktop

1. Attach the DVI to HDMI converter to the DVI port on your desktop’s video card. If there is only one DVI port, you will have to unplug your monitor to make this connection.

2. Plug the HDMI cable into the DVI to HDMI converter.

3. Connect the other end of the HDMI cable into the bottom HDMI connector on the back of the Sony LCD HDTV. There should be two red and white audio connectors grouped with this particular HDMI connector.

4. Plug the single pin side of your Audio L/R-to-Mini-pin cable into the output port on your computer's sound card. Plug the two red and white pins on the other end of the cable to the red and white connectors under the HDMI connector that you used on the back of the LCD HDTV.

5. Access the settings for your video card to adjust the display output for the different methods of using the Sony LCD HDTV as a monitor. Consult your video card manufacturer’s website for specific instructions depending on your model of video card.

References

• Sony: Quick Start Guide for LCD HDTVs
• Engadget: Connecting a Computer to a HDTV