# How do I connect my laptop to the hotel TV so I can watch DVDs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-connect-my-laptop-to-the-hotel-tv-so-i-can-watch-dvds/350580 "2006-03-30T19:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![robdavsuss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@robdavsuss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robdavsuss)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-connect-my-laptop-to-the-hotel-tv-so-i-can-watch-dvds/350580/1 "2006-03-30T19:03:17Z")
My OS is Windows XP Professional. My laptop is a Dell D600. There is an s-video port on the back. I connect an S-video to RCA adapter to the S-video port, and an RCA video cable to the other end, which of course, is than connected to the TV. I can get the TV to act as a secondary monitor. If I drag the DVD player to the TV, I can see my background wallpaper and the player, but do not get any video. Is there a setting in the Display Properties I am missing? Thanks for your help! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-connect-my-laptop-to-the-hotel-tv-so-i-can-watch-dvds/350580/2 "2006-03-30T19:07:41Z")
Can you put the dual monitor settings into “Mirror Mode” (or whatever it’s called). That way, whatever you play on the screen will be on the TV as well. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-connect-my-laptop-to-the-hotel-tv-so-i-can-watch-dvds/350580/3 "2006-03-30T19:36:14Z")
What you’re looking for is an Overlay option. The video is rendered directly by your video card to your screen, the only thing Windows handles is the window that surrounds the video. I guess by default the overlay part isn’t rendered to the Svideo port. The exact setting depends on your video card and driver version. On my Nvidia card, I have to set it for Dual View or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-connect-my-laptop-to-the-hotel-tv-so-i-can-watch-dvds/350580/4 "2006-03-31T00:02:20Z")
You can either a) set your card to mirror mode b) set the TV to be your primary monitor c) if you have fancy video card drivers, they may allow you to change the overlay settings.