I have a laptop that I want to hook up to a television to display video. I don’t know the exact model of the TV — it’s not mine — but it’s an older (6-7 years) Sharp rear-projection. The laptop is a Dell Latitude D810 with a Radeon X600 graphics card, standard VGA out.
The television does have a VGA port, but my Googling suggests that laptop output and television input are different formats, which makes sense. I’ve seen mention of TV-out video cards, VGA-to-video cables, and other hardware solutions, but I don’t have time to do the requisite legwork to decide on my best option before tomorrow.
So, my question is, what’s the cheapest, easiest (“easy” in this case meaning I can walk into Radio Shack/Best Buy/etc. and walk out with whatever I need) way to accomplish this? Any advice is appreciated.
(If all else fails, I can wrangle a projector and just shoot the image up on the wall, but…eew.)
If both are using VGA they are not different “formats”. If the TV monitor has a VGA input you should be able to get an acceptable picture with the same standard VGA cable you would use for a monitor. The main issue will be what VGA resolution and frequency parameters the TV can display and what the compatible settings you need to make for the external video port of the notebook. Your notebook and TV manuals should have these parameters.
In your notebook graphics settings applet you should have the ability to set separate resolution parameters for the on-board screen and outboard port so you can view both at once. Holding the function key and pressing the monitor key will cycle between notebook screen only- external port driven screen only - and both screens being visible at once.
Re buying anything you can generally get the needed VGA cable off an existing monitor if both ends unscrew. Most newer flat panel monitors have detachable VGA cables you can use, or in many case these VGA cables are left in the box if the PC has a digital video out option as the digital cable is usually preferred.
Your notebook is an older non-wide-screen unit so adjustments should be fairly minimal assuming the TV is not a widescreen.
See specs here
Please be sure you turn off all timeout screensavers when using the TV as this can annoy the audience. In looking at how to set up the TV make sure you are looking at the part describing using an external PC monitor (which is effectively what you are doing WRT the VGA input) not using a TV.
Well hell, if I can just plug it up to the VGA port with a standard monitor cable, I can handle the rest…I do the kind of tweaks you’re talking about for different monitor/projector outputs all the time. I was under the impression from what I’d found that the signal to the TV wouldn’t work without some kind of conversion. If that’s not the case, I’ll just gank one of the 2,647 spare VGA cables I have lying around in the hardware dungeon, and I should be set.
This would all be true if the monitor did not have a VGA input option. As a side note you also have an S video out option on your notebook and I’m pretty sure the monitor (if it has a VGA option) should also have an S video input option.
I use a dual monitor card on my HTPC to view movies on the HDTV. I have it set to extend the desktop to both the main LCD monitor and the tv. However I never, ever use the tv to do anything else like web browsing or PC housekeeping. Even though the tv can handle up to 1920x1080 resolutions and I have it set for something lower, it’s too difficult to read the type faces.
The point is, even if you can output to the tv, which should be straight forward, you’re probably going to have to make adjustments to make it comfortable to use as a PC monitor. And those settings are probably going to be different from what is best for video.