the inputs on the Tv aren't working, what do i do?

1 ANSWERS

1. amomipais82
   

   Hey,
   It’s a marvelous age we live in. Between YouTube and iTunes, Photoshop and consumer-grade ediIt’s a marvelous age we live in. Between YouTube and iTunes, Photoshop and consumer-grade editing software, the entire world of media is at our fingertips. You can bring up a video of just about anything you want at the click of a mouse, save it to your computer, and manipulate it to fit your purposes to your heart’s content. More than a few industry professionals have used YouTube and Windows movie maker as a powerful resource for making video presentations at meetings, and more than a few amateur filmmakers have found their calling making goofy internet videos to show their friends.
   
   This is exactly why it’s so incredibly frustrating when we have to deal with something that doesn’t seem to be working. You know, minor technical malfunctions and equipment problems that hinder progress when we have something important we’re trying to do. One of the chief frustrations in the world of modern media is connecting laptop to TV, or rather, trying to connect TV to laptop.
   
   Using a laptop and a television, it should be easy to show your friend’s pictures and video you’ve shot or make a video presentation at work, but there’s so much to worry about. Screen resolution, compatibility, getting the right cables and so forth. It’s kind of a headache, and you may feel like throwing in the towel and just telling your friends or co-workers “Okay, now squint=2 0really hard at the laptop monitor, you can kind of see what I’m trying to show you here!”
   
   With that in mind, there are a few different ways to connect laptop to TV, and we’ll get into them right away…
   
   How to Connect Laptop to TV: Cable Options
   Unless you’re onto some new technology that we haven’t heard about, connecting a laptop to a TV is going to be done using a cable. You should be able to find any of these at a nearby electronics or computer store, or even your local Wal Mart.
   
   S-Video
   S-Video is perhaps the most common method, thanks in part to the fact that an S-Video cable is incredibly cheap, and most TVs these days are equipped with an S-Video port. Before buying an S-Video cable, take a look at your computer and make sure it’s equipped with an S-Video port (it should be clearly labelled).
   
   There are two different types of S-Video cable, four pin and seven pin. Check the TV and your laptop. If they both have the same number of pins, you’re good to go and the TV will display whatever is on your laptop monitor. However, if your laptop has seven pins and your TV has four, you’re going to have to look into other options.
   
   VGA
   VGA is probably your best bet if you’re working with an HDTV. VGA gives better image and sound quality, and VGA cables are also quite cheap. However, VGA ports aren’t very common on regular television sets, so this option is only really available with HDTV.
   
   DVI
   Digital Visual Interface. DVI gives the best quality image and sound, but can be kind of expensive. A DVI cable may cost between forty and fifty bucks, most computers do not have a DVI port, and only HDTV’s have a DVI port.
   
   HDMI
   HDMI will give you, bar none, the best quality. HDMI ports are pretty rare on laptops, so you’ll want a DVI-to-HDMI cable.
   
   Troubleshooting
   If you’ve got the right cables hooked up, you should do just fine. If no image is going through, try some trial-and-error troubleshooting: Make sure you’re on the right channel for input from the laptop, double check the cables, etcetera.
   
   If you can’t seem to get the image to show (which is unlikely if you’ve plugged the cable in correctly), the problem is probably in the cable. The most common problems people face with properly connected, working cables has to do with things like resolution and aspect ratio.
   
   Keep in mind that, especially on an HDTV, your laptop image might look a bit pixelated, almost like you’re using a Nintendo instead of a high end laptop. No matter how high res your computer is, it’s not a big-screen TV, and most documents and media files intended for computer use won’t look as good on a big screen.
   
   Of course, you can always adjust the screen resolution in your settings for a better image on the television, just… don’t expect miracles. There’s going to be a bit of quality loss.
   
   If you’re working with a widescreen television set, you may wind up with your image stretched out. No problem, just grab the remote and adjust the aspect ratio on the television itself until it looks good (4:3 is the most common aspect ratio for laptops).
   
   ting software, the entire world of media is at our fingertips. You can bring up a video of just about anything you want at the click of a mouse, save it to your computer, and manipulate it to fit your purposes to your heart’s content. More than a few industry professionals have used YouTube and Windows movie maker as a powerful resource for making video presentations at meetings, and more than a few amateur filmmakers have found their calling making goofy internet videos to show their friends.
   
   This is exactly why it’s so incredibly frustrating when we have to deal with something that doesn’t seem to be working. You know, minor technical malfunctions and equipment problems that hinder progress when we have something important we’re trying to do. One of the chief frustrations in the world of modern media is connecting laptop to TV, or rather, trying to connect TV to laptop.
   
   Using a laptop and a television, it should be easy to show your friend’s pictures and video you’ve shot or make a video presentation at work, but there’s so much to worry about. Screen resolution, compatibility, getting the right cables and so forth. It’s kind of a headache, and you may feel like throwing in the towel and just telling your friends or co-workers “Okay, now squint=2 0really hard at the laptop monitor, you can kind of see what I’m trying to show you here!”
   
   With that in mind, there are a few different ways to connect laptop to TV, and we’ll get into them right away…
   
   How to Connect Laptop to TV: Cable Options
   Unless you’re onto some new technology that we haven’t heard about, connecting a laptop to a TV is going to be done using a cable. You should be able to find any of these at a nearby electronics or computer store, or even your local Wal Mart.
   
   S-Video
   S-Video is perhaps the most common method, thanks in part to the fact that an S-Video cable is incredibly cheap, and most TVs these days are equipped with an S-Video port. Before buying an S-Video cable, take a look at your computer and make sure it’s equipped with an S-Video port (it should be clearly labelled).
   
   There are two different types of S-Video cable, four pin and seven pin. Check the TV and your laptop. If they both have the same number of pins, you’re good to go and the TV will display whatever is on your laptop monitor. However, if your laptop has seven pins and your TV has four, you’re going to have to look into other options.
   
   VGA
   VGA is probably your best bet if you’re working with an HDTV. VGA gives better image and sound quality, and VGA cables are also quite cheap. However, VGA ports aren’t very common on regular television sets, so this option is only really available with HDTV.
   
   DVI
   Digital Visual Interface. DVI gives the best quality image and sound, but can be kind of expensive. A DVI cable may cost between forty and fifty bucks, most computers do not have a DVI port, and only HDTV’s have a DVI port.
   
   HDMI
   HDMI will give you, bar none, the best quality. HDMI ports are pretty rare on laptops, so you’ll want a DVI-to-HDMI cable.
   
   Troubleshooting
   If you’ve got the right cables hooked up, you should do just fine. If no image is going through, try some trial-and-error troubleshooting: Make sure you’re on the right channel for input from the laptop, double check the cables, etcetera.
   
   If you can’t seem to get the image to show (which is unlikely if you’ve plugged the cable in correctly), the problem is probably in the cable. The most common problems people face with properly connected, working cables has to do with things like resolution and aspect ratio.
   
   Keep in mind that, especially on an HDTV, your laptop image might look a bit pixelated, almost like you’re using a Nintendo instead of a high end laptop. No matter how high res your computer is, it’s not a big-screen TV, and most documents and media files intended for computer use won’t look as good on a big screen.
   
   Of course, you can always adjust the screen resolution in your settings for a better image on the television, just… don’t expect miracles. There’s going to be a bit of quality loss.
   
   If you’re working with a widescreen television set, you may wind up with your image stretched out. No problem, just grab the remote and adjust the aspect ratio on the television itself until it looks good (4:3 is the most common aspect ratio for laptops).

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