Cables & Leads

The increase in popularity of people using Laptop and notebook computers rather than the larger traditional PC has lead to more people using there TV’s instead of a computer monitor. Although the quality of the image displayed will be dependant on your TV. Whether you want to watch movies from your Laptop or use it for surfing the web, with the right know how it is a very easy and can be very worthwhile to connect your laptop to a TV.

In this guide on how to connect a laptop to a TV we will help give you the knowledge you need to be able to get the task done as easily as possible.

Getting your laptop connected up is basically as easy as getting a cable and connecting the two together, then changing the display settings on the laptop to allow the best image possible for the particular TV you are using.

Choosing the right cable for your equipment is where the problems start, there are so many available with different types of connectors to suit a full range of equipment that has been made over the years. Particularly in the last few years there have been so many changes in the types of cable used. To help make sure that you get your laptop connected to your TV as easily as possible it is necessary to identify what type of ports you have available on both your laptop and on your TV. We’ll go over the most common here and describe them as best we can to allow you to make the right choices, no matter if you have the latest equipment or it is a little older.

The majority of TV sets and Laptops will use one of the following Composite or RCA, S-Video, Scart, VGA, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort don’t worry if your laptop and TV don’t have the same type of connections available as there are a number of converters / adapters available to take care of this.

So what are they all and how do I tell the difference?

Flat Screen TV

Composite Cables or sometimes known as phono leads were very common a few years ago using three round coloured connectors and used to transmit analogue data. The three connectors are yellow for video, white for the left channel audio and red for right channel audio.

S-Video cables or Super Video is still popular and consists of a round connector with between 4 and 7 pins for the video signal and two audio cables for the left and right audio channels the same as RCA.

Scart Cables are rectangular in shape and have 21 pins in two horizontal rows. Commonly used on European TV’s and are capable of transferring both audio and video signals in standard definition. Now of course they are outdated and if your equipment is modern it is unlikely to use them.

VGA cables commonly used on older laptops and desktop computers and are a 15 pin connector and have a rounded rectangle shape. The VGA cable is only capable of transferring video information for audio you will normally have to use RCA cables.

DVI cables are rectangular in shape and have three horizontal rows of 8 pins giving a total of 24 pins. These were the standard connector for digital video until recently with the advent of newer and faster technologies.

The HDMI Cable is now the standard for digital connections and used for watching HD TV etc… They are rectangular in shape and about half the size of a DVI connector having only 19 pins in the connection. One of the advantages of these is that they can transfer both digital audio and video.

DisplayPort Cables have been specifically developed for connecting computers to there displays and to home entertainment systems and allowing the transfer of High definition data both audio and video.

Once you know what connection types you have on your equipment from the list above it is then time to start looking for a laptop to TV cable that will suit your equipment.

Can’t find the right cable? Click Here For Help Finding A Cable

Related Articles:
How to Connect a Computer to your TV
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Cables & Leads

SCART cables have been a popular way of connecting devices to your TV in the UK and Europe for years. Although it’s use in other parts of the world has been less popular. It was developed in France and allows the transfer of digital sound and video files from one device to the other. Commonly used to connect video recorders to you TV to allow the recording and play back of programmes.

Many popular Video’s come with two SCART sockets allowing them to connect to other devices such as older gaming consoles and set top boxes. Costs are relevant to its technology with  SCART cables starting at  for less than £3.00 but then for specialist equipment it is possible to pay around £300 for a cable.

The SCART connector is composed of 21 pins. Each one of these pins is assigned an analogue video or analogue audio signal which can be used to pass through S-Video, Composite or RGB analogue signals, making it a highly adaptable cable designed specifically to connect digital components to televisions.

SCART Cable

A  SCART to RCA converter is another example of a SCART connector. The SCART to RCA converter allows for connections to some of the older types of devices including game consoles such as the Sega Saturn. Since the cable is designed for simplicity, the cable itself will not be able to handle high quality data transfers like a HDMI, but will still be able to provide a solid performance at the cost of some colour and quality loss.

While SCART has been around for so long it is still popular today with its ability to allow conversion from many formats to allow the connection of a variety of devices to your TV in a simple way. Although by today’s standard particularly the use of HDMI its quality is not brilliant. Colours don’t seem as vivid and the sound quality just looses its edge. But for most it is of perfectly acceptable standard but it certainly won’t have you in awe at the images coming from your console as something with a more modern connection would.

Related Articles:
What is Display Port
What is HDMI

Press Release: Derby 6^th Aug 2009 –

Trading online for well over 7 years, the MediaAtlantic team has over 30 years of combined of e-commerce experience. They are a dedicated on line UK technology retailer with well over 27,000 IT, Audio, Video products and accessories. MediaAtlantic LTD hopes their experience and extensive product knowledge will make Cables & Leads a popular choice for all connectivity queries. The high volume buying power means Cables & Leads will be able to supply premium cables at a fraction of high street prices.

“With this site we are not just creating an on line shop, we are bringing years of experience to the table to offer solutions. We want our knowledge base to be somewhere people can come not just to buy cables but to find answers,” says Robert Deans, Sales & Marketing Manager. He goes on to add, “We are really excited about the launch of this site. It is the second of our breakaway sites dedicated to specific niches. Our vision is to become an authority in this area that people come to both know and respect.”

The site will also have an extensive reference area, including how to guides and answers to commonly asked questions. Development is also underway on a forum for the site, thus creating an online community of people with the same Questions and more importantly, Answers.

About Cables & Leads
Cables & Leads was launched in 2009 as an extension of the MediaAtlantic Group. As a 100% online retailer, Cables & Leads is dedicated purely providing connection solutions. From Scart leads to the latest DisplayPort cables .With 1,000’s of products in stock a fast, cost effective solution is only one click away.

For more information about Cables & Leads please visit www.cables-leads.co.uk

Cables & leads
C/O MediaAtlantic
PO Box 5050
Derby
DE23 8ZW

T: 0845 009 9134
F: 0845 009 9135