[manjinder]

Hi Folks

I have an Acer Aspire 7720G laptop. I often watch films from Netflix on there and would ideally want to connect that to my flat screen TV, to enable me to watch the films/programs on a bigger screen!!

The laptop has the following ports:

VGA port
DVI port
Gigabit Lan port
USB ports
S-video port
S/PDIF port.

My TV has the following ports:

HDMI
Rf-input
Scart
PC Input

Could someone kindly advice how I can connect the two devices up?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[chrisjr]

What is the exact make and model of TV? That will help be specific.

Need to know what you mean by PC Port. This could be a VGA socket like the one on the laptop or one of the HDMI sockets. There may also be an audio input socket associated with the port which could be a mini jack similar to a headphone socket or a pair of phono sockets.

But you would either need a VGA to VGA lead or DVI to HDMI lead for the pictures and either mini jack to mini jack or mini jack to two phono plug lead for the audio. Knowing what TV you have would help be specific.

[Gill P]

Is it a Smart TV? If it is you can probably get Netflix on that device. Another way is to treat yourself to a Roku streaming stick which allows you to access Netflix etc on your TV if it has a USB port. At the moment it is £39 in Currys.

[Chris Frost]

Check the TV manual first to see what ways it wll support a PC connection. You're looking more at the signals that the TV supports rather than just the physical connection.

If your TV's PC input is the same VGA socket as on the laptop then that's a simple hook-up for picture. (VGA doesn't handle sound. you use a separate wire for the audio). The laptop will have a headphone out socket. The TV's PC Input usually has a way of getting sound in too either from a dedicated 3.5mm jack socket or by sharing an audio input on phonos (red & white) from an AV input. Read your manual about the specific connections.


DVI from the laptop will connect to a HDMI input on the TV (DVI to HDMI cable, or DVI to HDMI adaptor + HDMI cable), but DVI connectors don't generally carry sound. (There a few exception in desktop PC graphics cards, but yours is a laptop so my guess it that the DVI will be the normal version which is picture only.) TVs with HDMI inputs don't generally allow sound from a secondary socket. So it's likely you'll need to use PC speakers or a soundbar.


Using the PC on the TV. There's a very good chance that your laptop screen and the TV screen will be different resolutions. That creates a bit of a problem for some laptops; they can't do two different resolutions at the same time. The answer is to switch off the laptop's own screen so just the TV gets a picture. You'll often find that this is accomplished with a toggle key combination. Fn + one of the F keys where a symbol represents the screen. With the TV connected, press Fn + Fkey and the laptop will cycle through several options: Laptop screen only > both outputs together > VGA/DVI output only > Laptop screen only

[chrisjr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Frost

Check the TV manual first to see what ways it wll support a PC connection. You're looking more at the signals that the TV supports rather than just the physical connection.

If your TV's PC input is the same VGA socket as on the laptop then that's a simple hook-up for picture. (VGA doesn't handle sound. you use a separate wire for the audio). The laptop will have a headphone out socket. The TV's PC Input usually has a way of getting sound in too either from a dedicated 3.5mm jack socket or by sharing an audio input on phonos (red & white) from an AV input. Read your manual about the specific connections.


DVI from the laptop will connect to a HDMI input on the TV (DVI to HDMI cable, or DVI to HDMI adaptor + HDMI cable), but DVI connectors don't generally carry sound. (There a few exception in desktop PC graphics cards, but yours is a laptop so my guess it that the DVI will be the normal version which is picture only.) TVs with HDMI inputs don't generally allow sound from a secondary socket. So it's likely you'll need to use PC speakers or a soundbar.

Pretty sure I've seen at least one TV that has one HDMI socket that does dual service as a normal HDMI or as DVI with a separate jack socket for audio.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Frost

Using the PC on the TV. There's a very good chance that your laptop screen and the TV screen will be different resolutions. That creates a bit of a problem for some laptops; they can't do two different resolutions at the same time. The answer is to switch off the laptop's own screen so just the TV gets a picture. You'll often find that this is accomplished with a toggle key combination. Fn + one of the F keys where a symbol represents the screen. With the TV connected, press Fn + Fkey and the laptop will cycle through several options: Laptop screen only > both outputs together > VGA/DVI output only > Laptop screen only

That only applies if you set the two displays to Clone mode. If you set Extended Desktop mode the laptop and TV can use whatever (different) resolutions you like. You just have to drag whatever you want to watch over onto the TV side of the desktop. No need with most half decent modern laptops to turn off the built in screen.

[David (2)]

The key everyone needs to know - make sure the pc/Mac you plan to buy has an Hdmi port.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjr

Pretty sure I've seen at least one TV that has one HDMI socket that does dual service as a normal HDMI or as DVI with a separate jack socket for audio.

Historically that was true, but probably not on many (if any?) current sets, which are unlikely to have any audio inputs associated with HDMI.

However, as his TV set has a 'PC Input' that's almost certainly VGA, and will have an associated audio input (most likely a 3.5mm stereo jack).

[Chris Frost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjr

Pretty sure I've seen at least one TV that has one HDMI socket that does dual service as a normal HDMI or as DVI with a separate jack socket for audio.

That's one TV out of how many though? Also, is it worth sending the OP on a wild goose chase on the outside chance that he/she has that odd TV that doesn't follow the general pattern? So while I take your point I do have to say that if we tried to list every exception to every scenario then answers would run in to pages. Better perhaps to leave it a little open by using conditional clauses such as "generally" "unlikely" "probably" "most likely" etc because a) we don't know the TV make & model, and b) there's generally an exception to the rule

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjr

That only applies if you set the two displays to Clone mode. If you set Extended Desktop mode the laptop and TV can use whatever (different) resolutions you like. You just have to drag whatever you want to watch over onto the TV side of the desktop. No need with most half decent modern laptops to turn off the built in screen.

Well, you're assuming that the OP knows about extended desktop mode. I'm not sure it's safe to do that.

If an OP asks the more basic question about just making a connection, then to me it suggests that the person is likely to be a novice. So the first hurdle is just getting things to work. Dealing with clone vs extended displays might be their next step after this one. Also, unless their using a very long cable then it's a good possibility that the laptop will be near the TV. Wouldn't you find it distracting to have the laptop display on at the same time as the TV when watching movies? I know I would.

Dealing with the basics first seems like a sensible approach to me.

[oilman]

Why not buy a Chromecast, and do it totally wirelessly - I assume you have WiFi at home.
Netflix is a Chromecast friendly app.

All a chromecast needs is an HDMI port and a USB power supply. You can normally power it from a TV USB slot(sometimes slot is not powerful enough and you need an external power supply but this is fairly uncommon).

A Roku stick would work as well as another Poster says (Chromecast is a bit cheaper and millions have been sold).

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Frost

That's one TV out of how many though? Also, is it worth sending the OP on a wild goose chase on the outside chance that he/she has that odd TV that doesn't follow the general pattern?

As I said above, historically that was the norm - so it's not a question of "the odd set that doesn't follow the general pattern" - simply a question of an old set where "almost all sets provided it" (in fact it would be rare to find an HD Ready set of the correct age which didn't).

[Gill P]

Quote:

A Roku stick would work as well as another Poster says (Chromecast is a bit cheaper and millions have been sold).

The reason I suggested Roku is that it is on special offer at Curry's at the moment.

[manjinder]

Hi Folks

I bought the Google Chromecast dongle which arrived yesterday in the post yesterday. I attached it to the back on my TV and downloaded a film on my PC using the Showbox app.

However, what would I need to do in order to stream the film to Chromecast to enable me to watch any movie/show on the TV?

Do I need to install another app called 'Allcast'?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

[gomezz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

As I said above, historically that was the norm

Bear in mind that most sets still in use will be of that vintage rather than most new models available today. An important distinction that some often overlook.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gomezz

Bear in mind that most sets still in use will be of that vintage rather than most new models available today. An important distinction that some often overlook.

Not at all, it's been quite a few years now since separate audio for HDMI disappeared, I would imagine by far the greater number of sets in use don't have it.

Many of the older sets that had will have been scrapped by now, sets from that era were relatively 'rare' (and VERY expensive), and sales figures of flat screen sets are much higher these days (as there's no other option)