Using the TV as a computer monitor. Connecting a TV as a second monitor How to set up a TV for a monitor

Watching a movie on the big screen with the whole family gathered in the evening is quite a good family leisure activity, especially in the cold season. The only problem is how to properly connect the monitor to the TV? There are several solutions to this problem, and they depend on the equipment that you have available.

Connection features

When connecting cables according to the scheme: computer - monitor - TV, problems usually begin with image output, sound, signal, etc. The scheme can only work if the monitor has a motherboard, a built-in graphics chip and a sound card. And such equipment is no longer possessed by a display, but by a laptop or monoblock. In any case, there is no way without a computer, and we return to the computer-monitor and computer-TV scheme.

But you can connect both the display and TV to the computer in many ways, and the two displays can operate in different modes: both duplicate images and separate the visible and work areas.

Using a TV as a monitor for a computer is the simplest option, where you need a special cable or Wi-Fi adapter.

But, if you need to connect a monitor to a TV without a computer, it all depends on the display and the board installed in it. It may be equipped with a decoder to receive an image. If not, then you should change the board - and this pleasure may cost more than buying a small TV.

For information on how to connect a PC and TV, watch the following video:

Wired connection of TV to computer

You can connect your PC and TV using cables with the same connectors or adapters.

Such cables (male-male) include:

  • Display Port is a signal interface standard for digital screens (supports 8K).
  • HDMI – High Definition Multimedia Interface (supports 8K).
  • DVI is an outdated interface for transmitting video images to LCD monitors and projectors (maximum resolution 1920×1200 pixels)
  • VGA is an outdated interface for connecting screens on electro-ray tubes (max resolution 1280x1024 pixels).


In addition, you can use adapters (the first connector connects to the video card, the second to the TV):

  • HDMI – DVI;
  • Display Port – HDMI;
  • HDMI – Display Port;
  • Display Port – DVI;
  • DVI – VGA.

If you connect a PC display and a TV at the same time, connect to only one video card. Do not connect devices that are plugged in to prevent the ports from burning out.

In Windows settings to select a mode:

  1. Open Settings with Win+I and go to “System” – “Display”.


  1. Scroll down to the Multiple Displays section and select the option you want.

Wireless connection between PC and TV

In this case, the monitor is already connected to the PC via a cable. To connect it to a TV over the air, the following conditions must be met:

  1. The computer had a Wi-Fi adapter installed.
  2. The TV was SMART or connected to a TV-box.

Miracast technology is supported by Windows, Android, Tizen, webOS and other systems, so connecting two devices via Wi-Fi is very simple. On a Windows computer:

  1. Press Win+P and select “Connect to a wireless display.”
  2. The search for devices will begin.
  3. At this time, run a similar search on the TV using the function
  4. Select the found device and wait for the connection to complete.

Ready. Using Miracast technology, the contents of the monitor screen are projected onto the TV screen.

Making a TV from a Monitor

There is an excellent video on the topic of this section:

You can create a full-fledged TV from a display using:

  1. Smart set-top boxes (TV-box) – connection via Ethernet or Wi-Fi, use of IPTV.


  1. Tuner for connecting to the computer motherboard (installed in the PC system unit).


The first and fourth options are two independent devices connected to the monitor directly. The first is through a twisted-pair network cable, the second is through a coaxial television cable.

Not all displays have built-in speakers, so you will need to connect audio equipment to the devices via a special audio output or mini-jack. If the monitor has speakers, and you connected the devices via HDMI, the sound will be played through them.

The second and third are additional devices that only work when connected to a computer.

Conclusion

You can connect the monitor to the TV through a computer, or if the display has its own motherboard. If you need to connect two displays, this can be done using cables or adapters. And if you need to build a TV out of a monitor, TV tuners or smart Android set-top boxes will help.

The idea of ​​connecting a computer or laptop to a TV may be quite reasonable if, for example, you often watch movies stored on your hard drive, play games, want to use the TV as a second monitor, and in many other cases. By and large, connecting a TV as a second computer or laptop monitor (or as the main one) is not a problem for most modern TV models.

For your computer, the connected TV is simply a second monitor, and accordingly, all settings are made in the monitor settings. In Windows 10, you can make the necessary settings as follows:


In general, the setup can be considered complete at this point, except that you should make sure that the correct resolution is set for the TV (i.e. the physical resolution of the TV screen), the resolution is adjusted after selecting a specific screen in the Windows 10 display options. two displays, instructions may help: .

How to adjust the image on a TV from a computer and laptop in Windows 7 and Windows 8 (8.1)

In order to configure the display mode on two screens (or on one if you are going to use only the TV as a monitor), right-click on an empty space on the desktop and select “Screen Resolution”. The following window will open.


If you have both a computer monitor and a connected TV working at the same time, but you don’t know which one corresponds to which number (1 or 2), you can click the “Detect” button to find out. You will also need to clarify the physical resolution of your TV, as a rule, on modern models it is Full HD - 1920 by 1080 pixels. The information should be in the operating instructions.

Settings

  1. Select the thumbnail corresponding to the TV with a mouse click and set the “Resolution” field to the one that corresponds to its real resolution. Otherwise, the picture may not be clear.
  2. If you use multiple screens (monitor and TV), in the “Multiple displays” field, select the operating mode (more details below).

You can select the following operating modes, some of which may require additional configuration:



Apply the settings and enjoy. The best option, in my opinion, is to expand the screens. At first, if you have never worked with multiple monitors, this may not seem entirely familiar, but then you will most likely see the benefits of this use case.

There are several situations when you need to connect your TV to your computer via an HDMI or USB cable. Fortunately, modern TVs fully support this feature. But first you need to clarify in what specific capacity you want to use this bundle. Well, for example, you can simply use a TV instead of a monitor. This method is the most common, and when a user enters a query on the topic of our article in a search engine, then, as a rule, he needs exactly this information.

How to connect a TV to a computer instead of a monitor?

Quite often there are situations when it is advisable to connect a TV to a computer in order to have a larger monitor instead of a small screen. For example, if you're playing a game, it's much nicer to see everything on a larger display. Or if you want to watch a movie from the Internet directly on TV, but your zombie box does not support an Internet connection.

There is a situation when the computer has only a digital DVI output, and the TV has HDMI, how to connect them in this case, since DVI is not designed for audio transmission? There is a way out, but it doesn’t always work—you can try using a dvi-hdmi adapter connected to your computer. And connect the hdmi cable to it and stretch it to the zombie box. In this case, to transmit sound, you need to transfer the audio signal on the motherboard from the built-in S/PDIF sound card connector (if it has one, of course) via an internal cable to a similar connector on the video card so that it is also supplied to the DVI output. I repeat - this option may not work on all models of motherboards and video cards, so it is better to choose simpler methods.


How to mirror the screen from a computer to a TV via wifi on Windows 7 or 10?

Displaying a computer screen image on a TV can be done not only via various types of cables, but also via WiFi. There are several ways to do this.

  • Computers with Intel processors and Windows 10 already have a built-in feature called . With its help, it is easy to duplicate your computer screen onto your TV via a wireless signal without third-party software.
  • Another way is to use . To do this, you need to install a separate one on the TV. And on the computer - the application with which it will work. This option is suitable for any operating system, both Windows all versions and .
  • Finally, there is another device specifically designed for this type of connection -. We will also talk about this in another article.

These are the ways to connect a TV to a computer to broadcast images from it instead of a monitor.


Often, users who have a laptop begin to express dissatisfaction due to the fact that the diagonal of the laptop screen does not fully suit them. After all, if you just work on the device, then it’s a sin for you to complain about anything, but when you have to plunge headlong into some game or enjoy watching a high-quality movie, you immediately begin to notice that the screen is a little small. But there is no need to be sad, because instead of using a standard screen, you can connect a TV to your laptop and display the picture you need on it.

Now, equipment that was produced after 2003 has a built-in connector called HDMI. Thus, if you have a special cable, you can easily connect the TV to a computer or laptop. But, if you don’t have this connector, then you don’t need to worry either, because in the 21st century, the use of VGA adapters is not prohibited, but, on the contrary, is encouraged.

Necessary things to connect via HDMI:
- Laptop or personal computer with an HDMI socket.
- TV with the same HDMI output.
- A cable through which the connection will be made. Now in hardware stores, this cable costs little money, but it looks like this:

Some versions of laptops or PCs do not have an HDMI connector; here you can use a VGA port, but there is one drawback - this interface does not transmit an audio signal, but this problem can be eliminated if you have speakers that act as an additional sound system. You can also use a VGA to HDMI signal converter, but we’ll talk about this later; now we’re trying to connect the TV to our device using an HDMI cable.

The connection process itself is not difficult, but for the correct presentation of information, it was decided to split the entire process into two component blocks. The first block will talk about the connection process itself, and the second will talk about setting up the image output. Of course, let's start the story from the first block.

1. Connect the purchased HDMI cable.

First, we need to make sure that each of our devices is working. To do this, we launch both the TV and the second device, in our case it is a laptop. If everything works properly, you need to proceed to connecting the cable. To do this, we find the connector block on our TV, find the HDMI connector there, and connect one end of our cable to it. It looks something like this.

The second end of the cable, of course, needs to be connected to the laptop, into the appropriate HDMI connector.

If you don’t have a laptop, but an ordinary system unit, then you shouldn’t worry either, because a large number of modern video cards provide for the location of this output on the device. Having looked at the video card bracket, you can find the required connector there, provided that it is, of course, present there.

This concludes the first point, because the mechanical work has come to an end, now the whole point lies in setting the correct settings.

2. Set up the image output and the TV receiving a sound signal.

A person will have to install the correct settings both on his TV and laptop. Perhaps let's start with TV. To do this, pick up the control panel and find the Input button on it. This button is responsible for the signal source. After finding this button, click on it.

After you press the button, you will see the corresponding menu appear, in it you will need to select the signal source, in my case it is HDMI-2.

Thanks to such simple manipulations, we get such a pleasant result:

In principle, we achieved what we wanted, the image from the laptop is displayed in high quality on the screen of our TV, but in order to improve all this, we need to specify the necessary settings on the laptop.

In order to change the image output settings on a laptop, you can use two methods, and each of them will be discussed in detail in this article.

The first way is to use the mobility center of our operating system.

This mobility center can be opened either by pressing the two keys “WIN” and “X” or from the Control Panel. In any case, when you open it, you will see a menu like this.

If you click on the “Turn off screen” button, this action will bring up another menu that looks like this:

Of course, the work of each item is clear, but it is better to dwell on each of them in more detail.
- By clicking on the first item “Computer only”, you agree that the image will not be displayed on the TV screen.

The second item “Duplicate” will display the same image both on the laptop and on your TV.

Point number three involves expanding your standard screen. This option is considered the coolest, because in this way you can start, for example, a movie, drag a window onto the TV, and on a laptop, for example, continue to communicate on a social network. This way you will be doing several things at the same time.

By selecting the last item - the fourth, you agree that the image is displayed exclusively on the TV.

The second way is to change the desktop settings.

To access the settings, you need to right-click on an empty space on the desktop, a menu will pop up, and there select almost the last item called “Screen Resolution”.

This menu allows a person to not only specify how the screens will work, but also specify at what resolution they should display the picture.

It must also be said that there are alternative ways to connect a TV to the device.

Using VGA interface. If there is no other option, then there is nowhere to go, you have to use this solution. Of course, the picture during transmission is not as clear as through the HDMI interface, and it should also be noted that there is no sound signal during transmission.

Purchasing a special converter. It helps turn a “VGA” cable into a full-fledged “HDMI”. This converter is sold separately and has been hard to find these days.

On modern devices, there is a function for wirelessly transmitting pictures and sound to the TV. But here two facts need to be noted. To make the action a reality, you will need a multifunctional TV, and of course, standard drivers. So, if you reinstalled the operating system, there is a chance that the drivers were lost.

After reading these instructions, you can understand that connecting a TV to a laptop is no longer a problem.

PC enthusiasts will soon decide to use the TV as a computer monitor. The usual viewing of photos through a television device turns into a colorful spectacle, and videos become more realistic.

TVs suitable for working with a computer

To fully use your TV as a computer monitor, you need to make sure that it meets a number of requirements.

The first condition for a television model is image quality. The recommended resolution for a 32″ diagonal is 1920 x 1080. It is better to choose LED backlighting, otherwise the picture will become blurry and will not provide aesthetic pleasure. It is worth buying a TV with a resolution greater than the minimum.

Advantages of interaction between TV and PC:

  1. TV screen resolutions reach 4K HD, which is why they convey images more realistically and in more detail than PC displays.
  2. Viewing will then be more comfortable, which is explained by a different viewing angle than the monitor.
  3. Plus the ease of connection - at least two ports included. Video receiving devices are equipped with an antenna and a television tuner.
  4. The presence of speakers adds an argument in favor of TV.

Disadvantages of a TV instead of a monitor:

  1. Large dimensions. It is inconvenient to use a TV as a computer monitor. Large models are simply not suitable for installation on a regular computer desk.
  2. A diagonal of more than 68 cm means moving your gaze around the screen, which is also not comfortable for viewing.
  3. The TV cannot be adjusted to tilt. This device is static.
  4. It is not recommended to use a TV for normal work, since it is recommended to place the screen at a distance greater than arm's length.


You must first study these features, and then decide whether or not to use a TV instead of a monitor.

Connecting your TV to your computer

Before connecting devices, you need to check what connectors they are equipped with. Options for connecting the TV monitor to a computer can be via an HDMI port, VGA port, DVI port or S-Video. Let's look at each connection separately.

HDMI

This connection is more advantageous. An HDMI cable produces higher quality images and video streams. To connect to each other, the TV and PC video card must be equipped with HDMI inputs. You will need an HDMI to HDMI cable. If at least one device does not have such a connector, then you will have to use other methods.


This is what an HDMI cable looks like

VGA

A VGA connection requires a standard VGA cable. All video cards have it. This option has its downside. Screens with a large diagonal are inconvenient to use, so they are used as a second monitor for watching videos and playing games. Then the PC must have an additional VGA connector, but this is rare. The second output can replace the DVI port. Accordingly, you will need a DVI-VGA cable. Then a standard monitor and TV can simultaneously connect to a PC.


This is what a VGA cable looks like

DVI

For large devices, the most advantageous option is to use a DVI connection. The transmission quality in this case is the highest. To properly connect a TV to a computer via DVI, you need to find out what types of DVI devices are equipped with. Otherwise there will be no signal.


This is what a DVI cable looks like

S-Video

Simple connection. These connectors are not found in the most modern devices. An S-Video connection transmits an average quality picture, the so-called analog signal.


S-video / RCA adapter

DisplayPort

TVs and computers with a DisplayPort connector are appearing on the market. This port is more powerful than HDMI, but is not yet as popular.


This is what DisplayPort looks like

WiFi

The newest models with television "" have appeared. The Wi-Fi function allows you to use the device to watch videos on YouTube and photos on your PC. A TV with Wi-Fi can even be connected to a smartphone.

Wi-Fi will not work on the TV if the “Home Media Server” software is not installed on the computer. Instructions for setting up the program can be found on the official website. Devices cannot reproduce sound and picture at the same time; additional cables are used for this.

For devices to work well, you need to know how to set up your TV as a monitor.

Setting up TV after connecting to a computer

Before connecting, both devices are turned off for safety. Then insert the cables correctly. Using the television remote control, you must select the connection mode on the TV. If the TV is to work as the main display, then no additional settings are required.


After connecting, select the signal source on the TV

The computer finds the TV automatically.

If this does not happen, settings are made on the computer using the “Find” button. After completing the search, set the screen resolution to maximum. Under Monitor, select Frequent screen refresh. If the device receiving the video signal does not work in monitor mode, you will have to make additional adjustments. This will also be needed for the TV and monitor to work together.

Windows 7/8

For Windows 7 and Windows 8, right-click on the desktop to select Screen Resolution from the list.


Set the computer settings as in the photo

In the menu that opens, each monitor is determined and what number it is designated by. After selecting the main monitor, you need to save the entered data. Use the mouse to select the picture with the TV number. In the “Resolution” field, set the resolution that corresponds to the TV. Otherwise the picture will be unclear.

In order for several screens to work together constantly, in the “Multiple screens” field, select the “Duplicate” operating mode.

“Extend these screens” means displaying the PC desktop on both screens at once. When moving beyond the border of one, the mouse moves to the second screen.


How two monitors can work

To maximize image quality settings, you can set the desktop resolution and color correction in the video card properties. After all the settings, it is better to restart the computer.

Windows 10

For the TV to work properly as a monitor in this system, you need to go to “Start”. Select the “System” section. The next step is to go to the “Display” tab. In the “Display” item, define the screens, enter the TV resolution and select the monitor operating mode. The display operating modes are similar to those in Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Often you need to download a driver for a television device.

In conclusion

Using a TV instead of a monitor is an idea that can be done at home. To carry out this procedure, it is recommended to take a responsible approach to choosing a TV and read the connection instructions. Then the TV-monitor combination will delight you with all the delights.