Laptop to TV

"Norman Wells" wrote in message news
Graham. wrote:
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to the
TV, namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in the
comfort of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I
couldn't get the picture to display full screen on the TV. Although
I set the player to full screen mode, the TV display still had about
a 2 inch black border all the way round. Is that normal, or should
I be able to view a bigger picture? If so, how please? In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and
the laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home
Premium.. Thanks for any advice or information.

There are many ways you can connect a PC and a TV together. At this
point we don't even know if the interface is digital or analogue.

OK, understood. I've replied more fully to News reader's post, but it's via the small D-shaped connector on both usually used for
monitors. So, I guess it's digital?

Wrong ;-) it's analogue, 15 pin "VGA" socket. Very similar to an RGB connection
over a SCART in fact, but a wider range of horizontal and vertical frequencies are possible.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Norman Wells said...

it's via the small D-shaped connector on both the laptop and the TV, and
I'm using a standard computer to monitor cable. Not sure what the technical
name is.

It's a VGA cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector

You should be able to set the resolution for the laptop screen and the
external display separately.

Connect the TV to the laptop and then...

Right click on the desktop

Click personalize

In the tasks list on the left click "connect to projector or other
external display" which should either bring up either the standard
Vista dual display dialogue or possibly a Compaq or Intel version of
such which allows you to set up the two screens as you wish.


--
Ken O'Meara
http://www.btinternet.com/~unsteadyken/

On 18/03/2010 21:13, Kellerman kellerman snot wrote:
On 18/03/2010 18:12, Norman Wells wrote:
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to the TV,
namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in the
comfort of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I couldn't
get the picture to display full screen on the TV. Although I set the
player to full screen mode, the TV display still had about a 2 inch
black border all the way round. Is that normal, or should I be able to
view a bigger picture? If so, how please?

In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and the
laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home Premium..

Thanks for any advice or information.

Update to the latest driver for your graphics chipset.
Set the laptop screen resolution to the same as the resolution of the TV
screen.
Some graphics chipset drivers handle this better than others.
The ATI chipset on my Acer laptop works very well.
Dave
Yes this normally works...make sure you download it directly from the
Intel site though, they are genrally up to date. Those on the
Compaq/HP sites are not.

Rob.

On 18/03/2010 18:12, Norman Wells wrote:
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to the TV,
namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in the
comfort of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I couldn't
get the picture to display full screen on the TV. Although I set the
player to full screen mode, the TV display still had about a 2 inch
black border all the way round. Is that normal, or should I be able to
view a bigger picture? If so, how please?

In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and the
laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home Premium..

Thanks for any advice or information.

There could be many causes for this...

Firstly, what is the native resolution of the Panny television? (1280 x
768, 1366 x 768, 1280 x 720??).
Also consult the TV's manual to see what resolutions are available via
the VGA input - some older TVs do not offer the full res on the VGA in,
only via HDMI).

Secondly, what is the graphics chip in your laptop? (Control Panel,
system, device manager, display adapters)? Make a note...

Next does the Laptop detect the Panny TV when it is connected ( via a
'fully wired' VGA cable)?
You need to toggle the second output from the laptop (Function + f5 or
similar - correct f key is marked with two displays logo).
(Toggling gives internal display, both displays, external display only
options).

Laptop should do its 'bing bong' found a new device thing...
Laptop should read EDID from TV and show it is connected to a Panasonic
TV and offer its native resolution.

In the display driver you can select either 'clone mode' or 'extended
desktop' - set to extended desktop for now. Set internal display to its
native res' and second display output to the Panny TV's native res.

If the laptop does not do its 'bing bong' thing then I suggest updating
the graphics chipset drivers to the latest version (this will be
specific to your laptop model, downloaded via the Compaq website)

Once you are outputting the native res of the TV, any other display
problems can be fixed via the TV's setup menus...

Guy

"The dog from that film you saw" wrote in
message ...


"Norman Wells" wrote in message
...
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to the TV,
namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in the comfort
of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I couldn't get the
picture to display full screen on the TV. Although I set the player to
full screen mode, the TV display still had about a 2 inch black border
all the way round. Is that normal, or should I be able to view a bigger
picture? If so, how please?

In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and the
laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home Premium..

Thanks for any advice or information.




have you set the laptop resolution to that of the tv ?

On new kit, this usually happens automatically.

The fact that it has got close to the right size suggest that it has happend
automatically, but got it wrong, rather then it not happing automatically at
all.

tim

Kellerman" wrote:
On 18/03/2010 18:12, Norman Wells wrote:
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to the
TV, namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in the
comfort of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I couldn't
get the picture to display full screen on the TV. Although I set the
player to full screen mode, the TV display still had about a 2 inch
black border all the way round. Is that normal, or should I be able
to view a bigger picture? If so, how please?

In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and
the laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home
Premium.. Thanks for any advice or information.

Update to the latest driver for your graphics chipset.

OK.

I updated the driver for the chipset through Windows update that told me a
better one was available. I then went to the Intel site and found there was
an even later update, so I then downloaded and installed that as well.

Set the laptop screen resolution to the same as the resolution of the
TV screen.

No can do, sadly. The option for the TV as a monitor, set through the
computer, defaults to 1024 x 768 (the native resolution of the laptop
screen), and does not even offer 1366 x 768 (ie the native resolution of the
TV) as an option.

Some graphics chipset drivers handle this better than others.
The ATI chipset on my Acer laptop works very well.

My chipset is 'Mobile Intel 965 Express', and the laptop is no less than 2
years old. So, it should surely recognise and be able to handle 1366 x 768,
shouldn't it?

Graham. wrote:
"Norman Wells" wrote in
message news
Graham. wrote:
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to
the TV, namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in
the comfort of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I
couldn't get the picture to display full screen on the TV. Although I
set the player to full screen mode, the TV display still had
about a 2 inch black border all the way round. Is that normal, or
should
I be able to view a bigger picture? If so, how please? In case
it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and the
laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home Premium..
Thanks for any advice or information.

There are many ways you can connect a PC and a TV together. At this
point we don't even know if the interface is digital or analogue.

OK, understood. I've replied more fully to News reader's post, but
it's via the small D-shaped connector on both usually used for
monitors. So, I guess it's digital?

Wrong ;-) it's analogue, 15 pin "VGA" socket. Very similar to an RGB
connection over a SCART in fact, but a wider range of horizontal and
vertical
frequencies are possible.

OK, so it's analogue. Does that make a difference as regards the problem I
outlined?

UnsteadyKen wrote:
Norman Wells said...

it's via the small D-shaped connector on both the laptop and the TV,
and I'm using a standard computer to monitor cable. Not sure what
the technical name is.

It's a VGA cable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector

You should be able to set the resolution for the laptop screen and the
external display separately.

Yes, but not to the native resolution of the TV, ie 1366 x 768. It's just
not available as an option.

Connect the TV to the laptop and then...

Right click on the desktop

Click personalize

In the tasks list on the left click "connect to projector or other
external display" which should either bring up either the standard
Vista dual display dialogue or possibly a Compaq or Intel version of
such which allows you to set up the two screens as you wish.

Done, but no possibility to set to 1366 x 768 unfortunately. Could that be
a problem associated with the connection being VGA?

According to the TV manual, under 'Displaying PC screen on TV' it says:

"PC Setup - Input resolution:
Switches to a wide view
* VGA (640 x 480 pixels, WVGA (852 x 480 pixels), XGA (1024 x 768 pixels),
WXGA (1280 x 768 pixels, 1366 x 768 pixels)
* Options change depending on signals"

Now, I'm apparently making a VGA connection, but the laptop's native
resolution is 1024 x 768, and that same resolution is offered as the default
option (and works) for setting up the TV as a monitor, which would imply
XGA, wouldn't it? What can I do to make it understand that I want
everything in 1366 x 768, which I imagine would allow me to view BBC iPlayer
full screen on the TV? Is that possible via a 'VGA' connection?

brushhead wrote:
On 18/03/2010 21:13, Kellerman kellerman snot wrote:
On 18/03/2010 18:12, Norman Wells wrote:
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to
the TV, namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else
in the comfort of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I
couldn't get the picture to display full screen on the TV. Although
I set the player to full screen mode, the TV display still had
about a 2 inch black border all the way round. Is that normal, or
should I be able to view a bigger picture? If so, how please?

In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and
the laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home
Premium.. Thanks for any advice or information.

Update to the latest driver for your graphics chipset.
Set the laptop screen resolution to the same as the resolution of
the TV screen.
Some graphics chipset drivers handle this better than others.
The ATI chipset on my Acer laptop works very well.
Dave
Yes this normally works...make sure you download it directly from the
Intel site though, they are genrally up to date. Those on the
Compaq/HP sites are not.

Nor are those via Windows update. But thanks for the tip, which I've
followed.

Bigguy wrote:
On 18/03/2010 18:12, Norman Wells wrote:
Yesterday, I finally found a good reason to connect my laptop to the
TV, namely watching something on BBC iPlayer with someone else in the
comfort of my living room. That worked OK-ish, but I found I couldn't
get the picture to display full screen on the TV. Although I set the
player to full screen mode, the TV display still had about a 2 inch
black border all the way round. Is that normal, or should I be able
to view a bigger picture? If so, how please?

In case it helps, I have a current model Panasonic 26" LCD TV, and
the laptop is a Compaq Presario 700 running Windows Vista Home
Premium.. Thanks for any advice or information.

There could be many causes for this...

Firstly, what is the native resolution of the Panny television? (1280
x 768, 1366 x 768, 1280 x 720??).
Also consult the TV's manual to see what resolutions are available via
the VGA input - some older TVs do not offer the full res on the VGA
in, only via HDMI).

Secondly, what is the graphics chip in your laptop? (Control Panel,
system, device manager, display adapters)? Make a note...

Next does the Laptop detect the Panny TV when it is connected ( via a
'fully wired' VGA cable)?
You need to toggle the second output from the laptop (Function + f5 or
similar - correct f key is marked with two displays logo).
(Toggling gives internal display, both displays, external display only
options).

Laptop should do its 'bing bong' found a new device thing...
Laptop should read EDID from TV and show it is connected to a
Panasonic TV and offer its native resolution.

In the display driver you can select either 'clone mode' or 'extended
desktop' - set to extended desktop for now. Set internal display to
its native res' and second display output to the Panny TV's native
res.
If the laptop does not do its 'bing bong' thing then I suggest
updating the graphics chipset drivers to the latest version (this
will be specific to your laptop model, downloaded via the Compaq
website)
Once you are outputting the native res of the TV, any other display
problems can be fixed via the TV's setup menus...

Much appreciated. I've done what I can to follow all this, but, to avoid
repetition, have set out what I've done in other replies. Please do let me
know if you have any ideas.