8 replies to this topic

[The Crackerjack Man]

Okay so the other day I hooked my laptop up to my surround sound and it works perfectly. My friends older brother does this thing were his laptop is connected to his tv but is used as a second screen instead of both screens being the same. What kind of cord, or anything, do I need to do somthing like that?

[Rambo]

I'm confused as to what you are looking for.
A) You play a file, DVD, etc. on your laptop but the image is outputted to the TV or
B) You play a file, DVD, etc. on your laptop and the image is on your laptop and the TV?

Either way you're going to need a cable that transfers the picture from your laptop to the TV, yes. It depends, however, on what kinds are mutually accepted. There are many kinds, so if you can link to your laptop and your TV, I can tell you what kind to get.

If your laptop is customized, you can post a picture of any/all outputs that are on it, and I can try to tell you from that too.

Edited by RAMBO, 23 May 2007 - 12:48 PM.

[Thom]

We'll also need to know what inputs are on the TV.

It's unlikely that your laptop has just the right output for your TV; you'll probably need an adapter.

[The Crackerjack Man]

I got help from RAMBO, and im going to have my friend look at it. He's the one with the setup I seen.

[Prometheus]

I have an old display adapter for PC's that will convert the image to a co-ax output (I think, it's been a while since I looked at it), which you use to display stuff on TV's. It's really old though, made for 640 x 480 resolution.

[CaptainSlug]

Your laptop would have to include a TV-out option of some kind (S-Video, RCA Composite, or a dongle that came with your laptop). Then you simply hook it up to the TV using an S-Video or Composite cable then change the driver settings for multiple displays or try the Fn + LCD/CRT key combination until a picture comes up o nthe TV.

Or you would need to purchase a scan converter.
http://www.buy.com/r...y=col&orderby=4

Edited by CaptainSlug, 23 May 2007 - 02:21 PM.

[nerfboi]

Here come CS to the rescue! Also, wouldn't you need a video/ graphic's card?

[CaptainSlug]

Also, wouldn't you need a video/ graphic's card?

It's a laptop. If it doesn't have integrated graphics then it wouldn't be able to display anything on the integrated screen.

[Prometheus]

Here come CS to the rescue! Also, wouldn't you need a video/ graphic's card?

Depending on the system, it could have a separate graphics card, but alot of older ones have it integrated right into the motherboard. E.G., my PC has a 64MB shared graphics card, which runs off the system's 128MB RAM. So, no, you don't always need a separate graphics card, it just depends on your method of converting the image to display on the TV.

Edit: Damn, CS beat me to it, a few bloody seconds...

Edited by Prometheus, 24 May 2007 - 11:54 PM.