How do I connect my laptop to my TV? Are you amongst those still asking this question in 2018? You’ve been missing out of so much fun! But thank goodness you’ve found this, especially as the holiday season is approaching.
First here’s a question for you; why are you still spending so much money on Cable TV when you could easily get the same value for entertainment and more from the internet?
Like most folks, is connecting your laptop to your TV an issue for you? Or didn’t you know it’s possible to connect your PC to your TV? It’s not rocket science really, it’s actually quite easy and very convenient.
Nowadays they are boundless things one could do online via their computers. The list goes from watching lots of movies and series on Netflix to various documentaries and tutorials on YouTube. One could also choose to play games online and so many more activities.
Modern TVs are a beauty to behold with screens so large and advanced it’s almost like a cinema. Now to the big question; how do I connect my laptop to my TV? So, on one hand, you’ve got a laptop with a fast internet connection and on the other hand, you’ve got a crazy big screen TV.
Mixing the power of both devices brings a special kind of joy and it’s so simple you’d wonder why you’ve been missing out on this.
How do I connect my laptop to my TV?
Actually, there are so many ways to go about connecting your laptop to your TV set. You’ve got the wired and the wireless option. The wireless option is definitely more convenient but the wired option is more versatile. So to get started, we begin with the wireless option of how to connect a laptop to TV;
How do I connect my laptop to my TV wirelessly?
First, you need to confirm that your laptop and your TV set meet the Miracast standard. Most systems and TV sets manufactured since 2012 meet this standard. You’ll usually notice the symbol as the one below. However, if your PC or TV set does not meet this standard, the wired option is your best bet.
So to begin;
- Turn on your TV, navigate to the settings option to check if the Wi-Fi is turned on if not, turn it on.
- From the settings option of your system locate the display option via Settings app > System > Display then locate the “multiple displays” section and click on “connect to a wireless display”. The system will now search and try connecting with all available nearby devices.
Note: if you don’t see the “connect to a wireless display” option it probably means your system doesn’t meet the Miracast standard.
- Once you’re connected, you can then project your laptop’s screen to your TV and enjoy. Usually, the connection uses your last known projection mode which might be distorted while connected to your TV screen so you might want to change your projection mode. It’s easy, from the “connect to a wireless display” option click on “change projection mode” and perform the appropriate action. An alternative method would be to simply use the keyboard command; “Windows + P”.
Please note that this Miracast mode of connecting laptops to TVs only works on Windows OS, especially Windows 10. They are also other methods to answer the question; how do I connect my laptop to my TV? And it includes;
- Chromecast Screen Casting which comes as Google Chrome’s extension. Initially designed for casting contents from specific web pages or app to the TV screen, Chromecast can also project the entire desktop to the TV screen. Its efficacy, however, depends on your Wi-Fi signal strength.
- AirPlay Mirroring is Apple’s proprietary solution to the question of how do I connect my laptop to my TV? This requires you to have the Apple TV Box connected to your TV. With that, you can easily mirror contents from your other Apple devices (Mac, iPhone or iPad) to your TV screen.
How to connect computer to TV with HDMI
This is the wired method of connecting a laptop to the TV. The HDMI is one of the best and easiest method to connect a laptop to the TV and any other HDMI accepted device. It’s cheap and provides quality HD display.
All you need to do to get started with this is to connect the HDMI cable to the laptop port and then the TV port. Most modern systems (Windows systems) are preset to automatically configure for best viewing so you’d need no extra settings.
But if yours needs settings for better viewing, simply go to the control panel > Display > Adjust Resolution. From the following drop-down menu, select the option that gives you the best viewing experience.
So, in summary, to connect a computer to the TV via HDMI do the following;
- Turn both your TV and Laptop on
- Connect the HDMI to the port on both devices
- Select the HDMI channel/input via your TV remote
- And if it doesn’t automatically connect and display the best viewing, go to control panel > Display > Adjust Resolution to manually set it.
Conclusion
Connecting your laptop to your TV especially with modern large screen TVs redefines the meaning of fun. This is especially true when more than a few people want to view the content of the laptop.
So we’ve talked about both ways you can go about this (wired and wireless). For emphasis, the wired method via HDMI proves to be the most reliable way to get this done and offer the best quality experience.
The wireless method provides more options for users and if you are a big fan of Apple products, the AirPlay method will interest you very much. Leave a comment to tell us about your experiences with any of this and share amongst your friends.