TV from laptop

[Ed Fenwick]

Aloha, I hooked the desk top computer to the TV for the volleyball game tonight. 'works great. I want to hook up the laptop but the TV says "no signal". Do I need to switch something on the laptop to change the screen?

Thanks for your help Ed

 

[Richard L]

Ed,

Yes, most laptops require that you toggle the screen on with a "Special Function Key" sequence. Look on your keyboard and you will probably see some added "Blue" symbols on the keys and there will often be a separate special "Mode" or"Fn" (function) Key that must be pressed when you press one of the keys with a blue symbol.



Different computer manufactures will have different key combinations to toggle the screen. Most will toggle each time you press the Mode key combination and will go from laptop screen only, to external monitor only, then to both the laptop and external monitor, and finally back to the laptop screen only.



The key that toggles the screens will usually have a symbol that resembles a TV screen on one of the top row function keys, or on the top row of number keys.



...Rich

 

[Doctor CAD]

HP is function&F4

Dell is function&F5

 

[Bill V]

Not all Dells are Function&F5. Some (including mine) are Function&F8.

 

[Richard L]

Exactly why I never specified and exact funcion key....Dell Funciton keys vary from model to model, and I assume most other brands do as well.....and why you need to look for the Fn Symbol.



...Rich

 

[Ed Fenwick]

Thanks guys, it is function 4 and f4 together. I get a rolling line on the TV, do you think the computer video is set wrong? Ed

 

[Richard L]

Ed, I am assuming you are using the VGA input port on your TV. So you will have to make sure you set your TV input to the VGA/Computer port. If you are doing that it should work, unless your VGA port on your TV or Laptop are bad.



The easiest way to check that is to connect your Laptop to a known to be good monitor. If it works, then your TV may have a problem with the VGA input port. If it does not work on the good monitor, then the VGA port on your laptop is probably bad.



Also, note that the Fn/F4 screen toggle only works for the VGA port. If you are connecting your TV to the HDMI port, then it should just appear on your TV screen if you set the TV input to the proper HDMI port.



...Rich

 

[EddieS'04]

My laptop has HDMI and VGA ports. Never tried to use it, though.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

The VGA port may not work if your screen resolution on the laptop is set higher than the TV can support.



If the TV has HDMI input, then the HDMI output of the laptop would be your best bet. It's unlikely the laptop has a resolution above HD and even if it did, I think the HDMI port video gets scaled. I don't think the VGA port video necessarily gets scaled.



Just a thought. I'd suspect it is resolution related if you are getting a signal but it isn't showing up properly on the TV.

 

[Richard L]

Eddie,

My laptop, netbook, nor my desktop include an HDMI port so I have never tried it myself. However I have used the VGA port on many laptops to display the computer screen on an external monitor/TV/Video Projectors equipped with a VGA input port.



TJR,

I was thinking the same thing...perhaps there is a HD/resolution conflict between the laptop and the TV. That's why I even mentioned possibly using the HDMI port. Not sure if the TV will automaticly switch resolutions to match the laptop if the VGA port is used? Usually if the screen resolution is set too high, the picture will be too small....if it is too large the TV screen will not show the complete image.



...Rich

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Depending on the TV/monitor/projector and its VGA input capabilities some will scale, some will clip or crop, and some will complain about the resolution with some warning ("resolution not supported") and others will just 'crap out."



HDMI, on the other hand, is typically more forgiving and sophisticated in its support, that's why the suggestion to try the HDMI out to the TV's HDMI in (if there is one) is a good idea.



TJR