Post by nil on Jan 21, 2007 10:01:00 GMT -6
Thought I'd share:
(Putting geek hat on)
Since people have varying degrees of TV/Computer know how, I'm going to try to explain this as clearly as I can:
FOR VIDEO:
First thing, you must make sure you have access to the appropriate inputs on the back (or side) of the TV. (If you are going to use the ones at the HRC, you may have trouble, since they are fixed to the wall)
**Tip: figure out the model of the TV you are using, and go online to find the instruction manual's for the TV. The manuals will be able to easily tell you if the TV has a PC connection.
Next, assuming you have access to the input panel, see if there is an input for a PC (VGA) connection. The image below has the panel for my TV (Sony KDL-40V2500 LCD) ; as you see, the PC connection is clearly marked (#4)- you should be able to see if there is one right away. As Bulldog TV said, I'd reccommend this option simply because I know it works. On your laptop, see which connections you have available, as you seen in the picture, my laptop (Dell Inspirion 6000) has both Svideo (left) and the PC / VGA connection (right). I haven't tried using the SVideo, although sometimes they have Svideo inputs easily accessible on the side of the TV, so that might be your only option if there isnt a PC input on the TV. In the picture below, you'll see what the cord looks like. Here's a cheap PC cable from Wall Mart:
www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3756908
FOR AUDIO:You'll probably need to get a cord that has a headphone jack at one end, that splits the cable into RCA cables at the other end. (see picture below - RCA end is shown; I had one that I used to connect my IPod to my stereo.)
I hook my audio into a seperate Stereo reciever. You may run into issues if you try to use the TV's speakers, since the Audio and Video inputs are usually tied together (same audio input for whichever video connection you are using) and the PC input is probalby not going to have a RCA audio input associated with it. (my TV has a headphone jack input below the PC input, so you'd need a really long cord with headphone jacks if using the audio through my TV) If you have a portable stereo or something that you could use to hook the audio thorugh, that might be the easiest option.
here's a cheap cord from radio shack:
www.radioshack.com/sm-8-ft-monster-standard-mini-to-rca-audio-interconnect-cable--pi-2110460.html
I'd go to Wall Mart for your cables, they've always had what I need, and its much cheaper than Best Buy.
Now, once you've figured out the connections and cords you are going to use, and get it all connected up, you'll probably have to play with the display settings a little to get it to look right on the TV. With the cables all connected, make sure the TV is switched to the appropriate input, probably by using the TV/Video Input button on the TV or Remote (Sorry, I know this is probably obvious, but you never know)
Now, on the laptop, you'll need to change the video settings to a presentation or secondary setting so that the signal is sent to the TV. On my laptop, there is a label on the "8" key that says "CRT/LCD" in blue. (my company IBM laptop has a similar key, but is labled differently) When I hold down the "FN" button at the bottom of the keyboard (next to the "Ctrl" and "Alt" buttons) and also press the "8 or CRT/LCD" key, it switches the video out of the laptop to this presentation mode, and the Laptop's screen is now displayed on the TV; the TV looks exactly like my monitor, with the mouse cursor and everything on the TV and the display on my laptop dissappears. The Video will be in proportion to the way it looks on your laptop screen, only larger to fit the TV.
*** I'm not really sure why, but when I press that same key combination a second time, the display on the laptop re-appears, and the TV displays ONLY the Video on the screen(when it's playing - otherwise the TV screen is black), Doing it this way, the video will take up the entire TV screen. THIS is the option you want to use if possible, since it will allow you to view the game big enough for everyone to see it.
I'm sure there is another way to do it through the video settings on your computer, but I'm not really sure how (sorry!). If you have any trouble, you could post your laptop model on here, and maybe someone could help (I'm not promising to be able to do that)
Good luck!
(Putting geek hat on)
Since people have varying degrees of TV/Computer know how, I'm going to try to explain this as clearly as I can:
FOR VIDEO:
First thing, you must make sure you have access to the appropriate inputs on the back (or side) of the TV. (If you are going to use the ones at the HRC, you may have trouble, since they are fixed to the wall)
**Tip: figure out the model of the TV you are using, and go online to find the instruction manual's for the TV. The manuals will be able to easily tell you if the TV has a PC connection.
Next, assuming you have access to the input panel, see if there is an input for a PC (VGA) connection. The image below has the panel for my TV (Sony KDL-40V2500 LCD) ; as you see, the PC connection is clearly marked (#4)- you should be able to see if there is one right away. As Bulldog TV said, I'd reccommend this option simply because I know it works. On your laptop, see which connections you have available, as you seen in the picture, my laptop (Dell Inspirion 6000) has both Svideo (left) and the PC / VGA connection (right). I haven't tried using the SVideo, although sometimes they have Svideo inputs easily accessible on the side of the TV, so that might be your only option if there isnt a PC input on the TV. In the picture below, you'll see what the cord looks like. Here's a cheap PC cable from Wall Mart:
www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3756908
FOR AUDIO:You'll probably need to get a cord that has a headphone jack at one end, that splits the cable into RCA cables at the other end. (see picture below - RCA end is shown; I had one that I used to connect my IPod to my stereo.)
I hook my audio into a seperate Stereo reciever. You may run into issues if you try to use the TV's speakers, since the Audio and Video inputs are usually tied together (same audio input for whichever video connection you are using) and the PC input is probalby not going to have a RCA audio input associated with it. (my TV has a headphone jack input below the PC input, so you'd need a really long cord with headphone jacks if using the audio through my TV) If you have a portable stereo or something that you could use to hook the audio thorugh, that might be the easiest option.
here's a cheap cord from radio shack:
www.radioshack.com/sm-8-ft-monster-standard-mini-to-rca-audio-interconnect-cable--pi-2110460.html
I'd go to Wall Mart for your cables, they've always had what I need, and its much cheaper than Best Buy.
Now, once you've figured out the connections and cords you are going to use, and get it all connected up, you'll probably have to play with the display settings a little to get it to look right on the TV. With the cables all connected, make sure the TV is switched to the appropriate input, probably by using the TV/Video Input button on the TV or Remote (Sorry, I know this is probably obvious, but you never know)
Now, on the laptop, you'll need to change the video settings to a presentation or secondary setting so that the signal is sent to the TV. On my laptop, there is a label on the "8" key that says "CRT/LCD" in blue. (my company IBM laptop has a similar key, but is labled differently) When I hold down the "FN" button at the bottom of the keyboard (next to the "Ctrl" and "Alt" buttons) and also press the "8 or CRT/LCD" key, it switches the video out of the laptop to this presentation mode, and the Laptop's screen is now displayed on the TV; the TV looks exactly like my monitor, with the mouse cursor and everything on the TV and the display on my laptop dissappears. The Video will be in proportion to the way it looks on your laptop screen, only larger to fit the TV.
*** I'm not really sure why, but when I press that same key combination a second time, the display on the laptop re-appears, and the TV displays ONLY the Video on the screen(when it's playing - otherwise the TV screen is black), Doing it this way, the video will take up the entire TV screen. THIS is the option you want to use if possible, since it will allow you to view the game big enough for everyone to see it.
I'm sure there is another way to do it through the video settings on your computer, but I'm not really sure how (sorry!). If you have any trouble, you could post your laptop model on here, and maybe someone could help (I'm not promising to be able to do that)
Good luck!
