connecting laptop to tv

[farmerjones]

can i connect my laptop to my tv screen?
i have a few films stored on my laptop, after trying to crowd four people around the laptop screen, whilst the big massive tv glared at us, silently in the background, i was wondering if this is possible? ie, play the film on the laptop, but watch it on telly?
also, what about skype? is it possible to connect the desktop to the big tv screen so we can all have a conversation from comfort of sofa, rather than crowdding round tiny webcam and screen?
tia

Yes it's possible, but the biggest issue is what sort of TV you have (e.g. High Def?) and what outputs your laptop has.

There's some information on it here:
www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-connect-your-laptoppccomputer-to-your-tv /

Once the TV is connected it will function, in effect, as your laptop screen. So yes you could use Skype.

thank you badger. the tv is an old one, big and fat, bought about 8 years ago. the laptop on the other hand, is fairly new, a year old sony vaio. i'll have a look at that link

So it's probably not a High Def TV then. The easiest method is if your PC has an S-Video output. I've got a cable that connects straight from my laptop to the yellow socket on my TV that has the three separate plugs on it (red, white and yellow).

So something like this...
www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-PC-DVD-Cable-S-Video-Adapter/dp/B0002IA1X6

And I'm sure that there are cheaper ones out there.

If you post what model of Sony you've got it might be possible to determine exactly what your connectivity options are.

One thing to note though is that with a standard def TV the resolution will appear really bad compared to what you get on your laptop.

For DVDs it will look fine, your PC desktop however will appear huge and not able to hold very much.

oh

is a sony vaio vgn ns20e

If I'm right the only display connector that Sony has is a VGA port.

Now some video cards are clever and if you connect it to a standard def TV via a special cable it will just work:

So something like this:
www.amazon.co.uk/VGA-to-S-Video-RCA-Adaptor/dp/B000P3UB24

And then a normal S-Video cable at the end to connect it to your TV.

However TV signals are very different from computer monitor signals and I don't know if having the ability to connect straight like that is at all common and I don't know if your laptop in particular can do it.

You're probably going to need something like this:
www.amazon.co.uk/ClimaxDigital-Video-SVIDEO-Notebook-Converter/dp/B0017ODLJU

That's a gadget that will do the clever stuff and convert a VGA signal to a TV signal.

Depending on your TV region, farmerjones, you might want to consider whether you could find a big screen but slimmer LCD or Plasma in the 300 to 600 pounds region.

I mention TV region, because in the not-too-distant future there will be a lower opportunity for selling an old TV in the newspaper / on Ebay, as it would need a Freeview or FreeSat or Sky box to work, and if you were getting a newer flat screen TV, it would probably have Freeview as minimum...
and multiple inputs.

Some TVs hace SCART and HDMI, and quite a number have one VGA input. As you have a laptop, it would probably be possible for you to test out in a specialist TV shop (and less easy in Asda / Comet / Currys / etc) just what your laptop display would look like on a big TV.

I don't use Skype, but you could perhaps do a window 'capture' (press ALT + Print Screen at the same time, then go into MS Paint and paste in the copy of the Skype window). It's a still image, of course, but you'd get some idea of how it looks.

You could also play a DVD and check how that looks.

I'm only mentioning the option of a new TV because my sister is just considering what she will need when her region (Central) loses the standard TV signals. They have Sky in the lounge and other TVs in the house can watch a UHF (coaxial) feed from the Sky box.

In the kitchen, for example, she could be watching what's on Sky, or, if her DH is watching sport, can {at present} switch to BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV etc. She won't be able to do so without a Freeview box (or some other option) in future, as the Sky output would be the only analogue signal the TVs could accept without some sort of box for digital services being added.

Since digital switchover will be nationwide over a number of years, it is an issue many others will also need to consider in due course.