How do I stream video from my PC to my TV?
Community Forums/General Help/How do I stream video from my PC to my TV?
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| Hey, folks! My parttime employer, who owns a small yogurt business, wants me to set up his PC so it can stream videos from the internet to the big TV that's mounted on the wall. He'll be e-mailng me the stats of the TV later, so I have more of a clue as to what it's capabilities are, but is this a matter of simply connecting the TV and PC with some HDMI cables, or is it more complicated than that? What software might I need on the PC, if any? Thanks! |
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| What format are the videos in? If they are mpegs or wmv you can use media player in win 7, set them to repeat and switch to fullscreen (you can create playlists too although I haven't tried this for videos) ... Here's some other ways of connecting TVs to PC ... hdmi cable is another way of connecting tvs if they are HD tvs and the PC has HD outputs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9P3iulnN4Y You can also use set top boxes (Media Centre they call them) for streaming but they will add up to the cost, my assumption is you are looking for a simple setup. Last edited 2011 |
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| I just switch my PC to 1024x768 and turn on my TV. My NVidia control panel is configured so that I see the same display on my PC and my TV. That way I can watch all FullHD 640x480 YouTube videos on my TV. My TV is still a 26" CRT TV though, that's why even smaller resolution videos look excellent. I have also a FullHD LCD TV in stock, but haven't seen any need to use it yet, especially because I would need then much higher quality videos, like BluRay quality, and I don't have a BluRay player at the moment, because Sony killed my PS3, so I have to buy a real BluRay burner for my PC, and throw the PS3 to the garbage. Last edited 2011 |
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| Keep the ideas coming, and thanks for the two posts so far. I have no idea what format they're in. Mainly what my employer wants to do, is log into those lovable and mildly illegal websites (which shall not be named) that offer free tv programs. Primarily, he wants to stream the sports games through this option, instead of paying for them. And he doesn't want to download them, but stream them live directly from the site if possible. Hopefully I'll have some tv stats soon, but if HDMI cabling looks like the easiest way, then I'll go for that. We both want a simple solution. |
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| Streaming sportsgames live still requires a license if you have it showing in a place of business, even if it's an internet feed... Normally they only allow you to view it in a residential setup, if it's a commerical property it could be considerd a public showing or re-broadcast, which is typically not permitted without paying an additional fee. And depending on where you are, the networks and such DO audit bars and the likes to make sure they comply. But anyway, from a technical point of view: Yes, it can be as easy as hooking up a PC to a TV over HDMI, since a HD TV really is not much more than a glorified HD monitor. Depending on your audio setup, you either run the PC speaker outs to your surrouind sound system, or if your PC supports it you can run the PC audio over the HDMI cable straight into the TV. |
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| @Dodo: Hepta-post, that's a new one for me. @Thread: if his on-board graphics card doesn't come with an HDMI output, it's simply a matter of getting a video card that does, as this is the standard connection nowadays. There are some pretty interesting options, namely the AMD All-In-Wonder hardware. Then you'll need a cable extension if you plan to keep the computer in a separate, hidden room. Last edited 2011 |
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| For those wondering: The edit function of this forum is broken at the moment. Editing a post creates a new one. http://blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=95797 |
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| Most TVs have a normal VGA socket plus an audio input for non-audio formats like vga. Of course HDMI is the -prefered- option if said TV and PC supports it. In which case you need no software at all, your hardware should just detect it like a second monitor. Failing that, if the PC or laptop does not even have an old composite port (a yellow phono looking thing or sVideo which looks a bit like ps2), or TV has no VGA then you are left with a large price for a VGA to composite/scart converter. Which is not only nasty but probably quarter of the price of a new TV. Last edited 2011 |
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| oops Last edited 2011 |
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| what the hell ?!?!? Last edited 2011 |
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| If the TV's near the PC, then HDMI or whatever will connect... If not, he probably needs some sort of device such as an Xbox 360 plugged into the TV, or a small PC such as the Acer Revo (has HDMI output), which streams over a network from his main PC, using something like... http://tversity.com/ |
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| I'll try HDMI I think. Or is there some kind of wireless option that I could use, where you don't have those nasty cables trailing all over the place? (The Tv is fairly close to the PC, but it's mounted on the wall. The cables would likely have to trail along the ceiling to reach the Tv). |
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| Another quick question. The computer will still need to be used while streaming. I.e, he needs to be able to browse the web or whatever on his computer, while still streaming the video on the TV. Would they be able to do that easily? I've never worked with multiple monitors before (which is essentially what I'm turning the tv into), and am clueless :) |
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| You can do it with a dual monitor setup, but it is massively inconvenient to keep things straight... worse, you're going to have issues with the audio getting mixed up: your browsing sounds are going to he mixed in with your streaming video sound. Trying to have the pc do both at the American time is going to be a big mess... and agaij, just because you CAN stream something from the internet doesn't mean that its legal to do so in a commercial establishment... |
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| Moving to General Help. (Werdna, please remember next time!) |
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| Sorry Simon ;( I always forget that General Help even exists, lol. |
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