Watch Laptop On Living Room TV

BenJ · 12 Dec 2011 at 06:59

Is it possible to watch films on my laptop and feed to the flat screen in our living room. It has a VGA output.

Was thinking of a VGA to HDMI cable but there dosent seem to be one on overclockers?

lucid · 12 Dec 2011 at 08:32

You won't find a VGA to HDMI cable on Overclockers. The two signals are different.

VGA is analogue. HDMI is digital. A simple adapter or cable won't change one format in to another. You'll need a box of electronics to act as an interpreter.

There are plenty of scammers selling VGA to HDMI cables on Epay. They don't work for normal gear.

phil-k · 12 Dec 2011 at 08:42

my tele has a vga input so I just have a cable linking the two
The only way is if your tele has a broadbad conection

shanestatham · 12 Dec 2011 at 11:22

The only problem you have then if your tv has VGA is there wont be any sound lol, So in short you need a device that will accept VGA and an audio jack which then outputs to HDMI....urgh headache.

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=vga+to+hdmi+converter&hl=en

I hope im allowed to do this as i dont see this type of product on OCUK.

lucid · 12 Dec 2011 at 13:10

shanestatham said:
The only problem you have then if your tv has VGA is there wont be any sound lol, So in short you need a device that will accept VGA and an audio jack which then outputs to HDMI....urgh headache.

I think you have got it the wrong way round. The laptop has VGA, the TV has HDMI.

Many of those convertor boxes will take audio alongside the VGA connection and combine them on the HDMI output...so no problems at all!

BenJ · 12 Dec 2011 at 13:11

I'll check if the TV has a VGA input, im pretty sure it does since I remember seeing PC in the list of sources.

With regards to the sound can I then get a lead to go from the laptop speaker output to the TV? to avoid this box converter

True_Scotsman · 12 Dec 2011 at 13:12

What TV do you have? I've seen some TVs that have a audio input for the PC source.

lucid · 12 Dec 2011 at 13:19

If the TV has a VGA input then there's no adapter box required.

Picture = VGA to VGA cable

Sound = either 3.5mm jack to 3.5mm jack, or a 3.5mm jack to stereo phono cable

Check your manual about how to make the audio connection (read paper version or download fresh one from makers website) - some TVs need to be told which audio input to use when selecting the PC/VGA input, others don't.

shanestatham · 12 Dec 2011 at 13:26

lucid said:
I think you have got it the wrong way round. The laptop has VGA, the TV has HDMI.

Many of those convertor boxes will take audio alongside the VGA connection and combine them on the HDMI output...so no problems at all!

No i didnt.

I said that the VGA needs to go from the lappy to the exhange box to convert to HDMI

Ive also linked to various devices that do this.

Yes if the tv has VGA no problems if there is options for sound with a jack.

L1ght · 12 Dec 2011 at 19:15

I think your main issue is going to be getting the sound from the laptop. You can get VGA - HDMI leads for the picture no problem. If your laptop has a VGA output then theres no way sound can be carried on that signal. Go with the advice about for the seperate audio lead. I think my brother used to use the headphone jack to get sound the the tv.