computer to tv hook up

again with the newb questions...what is the best way to connect my HP desktop to my Samsung LCD tv? I've looked at the instructions and talked to confusing tv sales staff etc... but there has to be an easy way of hooking it up so I can play movies from my computer on my TV with the audio coming out my TV.

Your computer needs a video card with an HDMI output. Your computer will see it as both a video card and a sound card. HDMI will send digital audio and video to your TV. That is what I use for my home theatre setup. I also use XBMC as my media player (Windows Media Player is shall we say - less than optimum).

Good luck!

Use a Western Digital Live. You can stream to it (wireless) or load stuff to n external HD from it.

That's great, and possibly waaaaay too technical lol, but how do I hook the two up? I'm guessing there's wire involved? What wire to where and then what? lol

Use a Western Digital Live. You can stream to it (wireless) or load stuff to n external HD from it.

Yes, this is also a good solution. I have one attached to my second TV. The WD is great because it plays a wide variety of formats including MKV. I setup my home theatre PC before the WD came out.

I use a 1 TB USB drive. I tried it's wireless networking but found it couldn't keep up when pulling HD movies from my main computer.

check if your computer has an "HDMI" connection (little bit bigger than a USB connection)your tv should already have an HDMI if you need to look to see what it looks like. This cable carries the best possible video & surround sound audio from your computer to your tv

buy a HDMI cord $30-$250 (depends on length) 3ft being the cheapest, cheaper if your computer is less than 3ft away from your samsung LCD, might be some settings on your laptop and your tv to get both audio & video working

good luck!

Looks like I need an hdmi connection on my pc :( So i guess that would mean a new video card then? Any idea what would be a good bet and how much? Is this something I can do myself?

And thanks for all the responses.

when your talking video ....... ATI is the way to go. Any card after the 4890 Series should pass both the video and sound. If you are concidering upgrading to a 3D tv in the future look at one of the new ATI 6850 or ATI 6870. The Saphire 6870 will set you back about 300 though. I have 1 and they work great. The 6850 is about 160+tax.

Need more info to actually answer your question. You almost certainly have a VGA video output port (probably already connected to your monitor). Unless your HP is relatively new, you probably don't have a HDMI output. You could purchase a male-male VGA cable (like this one http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4558928&CatId=73 ) and connect your VGA out to the VGA connector on your TV (assuming it has one!). Nearly all newer LDC/Plasma TVs DO have a VGA input for this purpose. It shouldn't be necessary for you to buy a new video card or the like. Good luck!

for real surround you do need a card. I have fake surround with headphone jacks. I am going to buy a mac. I love this thread.

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for real surround you do need a card. I have fake surround with headphone jacks. I am going to buy a mac. I love this thread.

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On a Mac mini there is an HDMI port. On most laptops there is a "mini display" port to which you can connect an adapter to get HDMI (without audio). Then use the headphone jack to plug audio into your TV.

Looks like I need an hdmi connection on my pc :( So i guess that would mean a new video card then? Any idea what would be a good bet and how much? Is this something I can do myself?

And thanks for all the responses.

Installing the card - yes, installing and configuring the necessary software maybe not as it can get quite complicated. You need a main media player software (XMBC or Windows Media Player). Then you need to configure them to use the right output cards. Finally you may need additional software to decode some of the audio and video formats out there which usually means installing fddshow, AC3filter and Haali Media Splitter (not typos).

This is why I strongly I agree with ottanon and recommend the Western Digital TV Live Media Player (about 130-140 at Best Buy). It has all this stuff done for you.

for real surround you do need a card. I have fake surround with headphone jacks. I am going to buy a mac. I love this thread.

Posted via Mobile Device

You only need a sound card for surround if you do not have a surround sound receiver. If you have such a receiver then you go HDMI to your TV and then your TV will have an optical output which will then take the sound part and pass it to your receiver for decoding and playing.

To pass suround sound ........ well your video card will possibly do it. At least ATI has since the 4980 Series card I had, maybe some prior to that but I can't say for sure though the Asus 4850 I had doesn't. I run my HDMI from the video card to the Sony am I have then pass it along to the TV from there. The amp just grabs the video on the way through and I only have the 1 cable running through the room. Something to keep in mind ....... the video resolution of your monitor will also be passed along to the TV so if you don't have an HD Monitor then you will not get a full HD signal to the TV. Some video cards will adapt this, a quite old NVidea card I had would do this but that was the only card that would let me have 2 different screen resolutions.

Anyone try TV media sharing vise a vis the Xbox 360?

Using Media Player 11 on a PC networked to the Xbox is described as possible.

Unfortunately, I cannot get the Xbox to 'connect' to my PC where the media files are. The Xbox doesn't seem to see my PC on the network, and I am not sure what the problem is - maybe my AVG Firewall?

You go the the 'Library' of WMP11 and Share Media w/ the Xbox 360, and then you put the files in your typical Windows (XP in my case) 'My Videos', 'My Pictures' and 'My Music' folders. The Xbox is suppose to be able to access those files and play them on the TV the Xbox is connected to.

FYI... Appears WD HD Live TV Media Sharing do-hick-ie is on sale or $89 and change from what I saw earlier today at amazon.ca

Already owning an Xbox, I would like to save the $100 and try and get it to connect to my PC (grrr).

GL!

think Ken has the best idea for u as u mentioned u just needed the sound to come out your tv, this would be the cheapest as a simple vga cord is like $10-15 for a short one

the small sacrifice with his idea is the sound part, vga cords are for video only, if your computer is close by just use your computer speakers if your have computer speakers have a sub or @ least sound half-D, if you still need the sound to come out your tv then u buy a 1/8th headphone jack to stereo rca adaptop $5-10

let me know how u make out

Check to see if your TV has DLNA support. If yes, all you need is to set up the Windows to stream media files directly to your network enabled TV. No wiring needed from computer to your TV. Very clean setup.

Anyone try TV media sharing vise a vis the Xbox 360?

 

Using Media Player 11 on a PC networked to the Xbox is described as possible.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot get the Xbox to 'connect' to my PC where the media files are. The Xbox doesn't seem to see my PC on the network, and I am not sure what the problem is - maybe my AVG Firewall?

 

You go the the 'Library' of WMP11 and Share Media w/ the Xbox 360, and then you put the files in your typical Windows (XP in my case) 'My Videos', 'My Pictures' and 'My Music' folders. The Xbox is suppose to be able to access those files and play them on the TV the Xbox is connected to.

 

FYI... Appears WD HD Live TV Media Sharing do-hick-ie is on sale or $89 and change from what I saw earlier today at amazon.ca

 

Already owning an Xbox, I would like to save the $100 and try and get it to connect to my PC (grrr).

 

GL!

Tried this with my PS3 and WMP 11, works great. @ the time I had AVG on my old computer and had to find out the MAC address or IP of the gaming unit, then add it to the AVG"s safe list to allow the PS3/Xbox to see the computer

now I just have my laptop on a little shelf under my LCD connected into my surround sound amp and LCD via HDMI and sit back on my couch with a bluetooth keyboard & mouse

I wanna throw another recommendation behind the Western Digital TV Live HD.

I picked one up this weekend at Costco for $99.00. It works wonderfully, and plays almost everything I throw at it.

Connect a PC with VGA output to work with an HDMI display or monitor:

http://ca.startech.com/product/VGAHD2HDMI-VGA-HD-with-Audio-to-HDMI-Format-Converter