Linux Community Magazine

You have two options when mating your desktop computer, laptop, netbook, tablet PC or smartphone to your television screen - With cables, or wirelessly. It is evident that the market for implementing wireless streaming technology for connecting devices together is rapidly expanding. This article aims to go through some of the most useful websites for connecting PC to TV, and discusses the various options the consumer has.

Connecting Computers to TVs With Wires:

Televisions do not normally support Ethernet cable connections. Instead, you will typically connect your laptop or desktop PC to a TV using one of the following types of audio-visual (AV) cables or input types:

HDMI (Type A), HDMI (Type B), Mini HDMI (Type C), Micro HDMI (Type D), HDMI (Type E), 3D HDMI (1.4 Type A), VGA (15 Pin D-Sub), Mini VGA, Mini DVI, Micro DVI, DVI-D (Digital), DVI-I (Integrated), DVI-A (Analogue), DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, USB (Type A), USB (Type B), Mini USB (Type A), Mini USB (Type B), Micro USB (Type A), Micro USB (Type B), Component, Composite, S-Video, SCARTSee also - PCmyTV

A scan converter is a device that translates the computer's video signal into standard TV formats. You may need to set up a scan converter to connect your computer and TV if, between them, the two do not support any compatible combination of AV cable technologies listed above. Newer televisions, however, generally support multiple types of digital inputs, and finding the right cable should not be too difficult.

Connecting Computers to TVs Wirelessly

As an alternative to using cables, you can also use Wi-Fi to connect computers and TVs wirelessly. Because televisions do not ordinarily support Wi-Fi, you will need to install a separate unit between the computer and TV. One common solution is called aWireless PC to TV system or Digital Media Receiver. These products connect via AV cable to the TV and supply Wi-Fi connections to any computer in the home.

Another wireless PC to TV connectivity option is based on Windows Media Center Edition (MCE). If you purchase a Windows XP or Windows Vista PC with the MCE application included, this system contains built in wireless connectivity support for streaming images to your television. Some of these systems also support TV tuner cards that allow your computer to receive incoming television signals. Finally, you can extend the capability of a Media Center PC across an entire wireless home network by installing a Media Center Extender product like the LInksys DMA2100.

See also - Wireless PC to TV

Pros and Cons of Connecting Computers and TVs

Networking your computers and TVs provides the most convenient sharing of multimedia images:

does not require connecting a digital camcorder or camera to the TY

can make the necessary connections with either Windows, Mac or Linux computers

with Media Center Extender or similar capability, can direct content from any home computer to the TV

You may also encounter a few challenges and limitations:

The screen resolution of older TVs is much lower than modern computer displays - your images and video may appear with lower quality when shown on the television

When using AV cables, you may need to relocate the laptop or PC very close to the television to reach

When using wireless connections, the effective range may be relatively short, depending on the equipment in use, due to the high volume of data involved in digital media

Hardware needed, especially the more advanced wireless gear, may be expensive to purchase

See also - Wireless PC to TV on Facebook