Posts Tagged ‘vga cable’

How to Connect a Laptop to a TV

 Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Cables & Leads

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

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
How to Mount a Flat Screen TV

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DVI and VGA. What are they and why you should care!

 Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

cables-and-leadsOver the years there have been many ways invented to allow faster, more secure data to be transferred between TV’s and devices that need to be joined to them. Such things as Video Recorders, DVD players, gaming consoles and home entertainment systems.

Although you have probably used DVI and VGA cables before, you probably didn’t know what they were. In there simplest form the difference between them is that one of them uses older analogue technology and the other more modern digital signals.

VGA is the oldest technology and has grown since it’s inception in the late 90’s. It was a way to pass information from computers to there displays, even though the technology is relatively old there is still many uses for it today in one form or another for the various things that need to display images on screen. Digital cameras and mobile phones use this technology even today.

VGA is based on analogue technology and requires changing to a digital signal at either end. Obviously this slows things down and little. With the increase in the needs of users we needed a faster more accurate way to transfer this data.

Enter DVI offering the ability to transfer a complete digital signal allowing more accurate transfer without the loss in performance or quality that a VGA cable can cause. This is still used regularly today, as it is a good performer and proven technology.

Since it was first introduced DVI has changed a little and different versions have been released to help out with certain problems and offer variety of solutions. One such variety is DVI-D which is digital only and DVI-I which is both analogue and digital.

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How to Connect a Computer to Your TV

 Friday, September 18th, 2009

cables-and-leads More and more devices around the home can connect interact and work together or be controlled remotely via mobile devices and from small controls in the home. While it is true that there are a lot of things that can work together in this way, one of the most common connections and the one we will help you with here is connecting your computer to your TV.

It really isn’t that difficult to do; in fact a lot of modern pc equipment particularly laptops come complete with the necessary cables. Although many times the cables you get may not be the best they will be enough to get you started then you can upgrade as and when you deem fit.

So what do you need to get your TV and computer connected?

You need to get a cable with the right type of connectors or adapters, one end to connect to the TV and the other to connect to your computer. For this you will need to look at your PC and see what connection options you have, also do the same with your TV.
So what are the popular options for connecting them?

Over the years there have been a number of different connections devised to allow people to connect devices together. While some are now too slow to be of any use nowadays, there are some which have stuck around and are still good to use.

S-Video cable consists of either a 4-pin connector or a 7-pin. Since most computers nowadays usually support only a 7-pin, you will find it difficult to connect a PC to a television if your TV only supports 4-pin S-Video. This connection method is as simple as connecting the cable from your computer to the television. There are various types of converter available which allow the connection of S-Video to other types of socket on your TV.

VGA cable. These are more commonly associated with high definition televisions, and are probably the better choice for a computer to TV connection if you don’t want to lose any video quality. Normal televisions will usually be equipped with an S-Video port, so don’t expect to find a VGA connection on anything other than a hi-def television.

DVI and HDMI Leads are another great way to ensure that the quality stays between the transfer of data between the computer and the TV. High definition televisions can support DVI cables, but they definitely aren’t cheap to purchase. However, the level of display that a DVI cable can support is stunning. HDMI, by far being the best quality, is not supported by PC’s at the moment, although there is a solution by purchasing a DVI to HDMI converter which runs through a USB port from the computer.

Hopefully now you know what you are looking for you should find connecting your computer to your TV a much less daunting task. If you have any doubts then it would be wise to talk to a good supplier who would offer you advise on what your options are.

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