MetaChat - This is probably a dumb question but...

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28 January 2010

This is probably a dumb question but... Is there such a thing as a USB cable that would go from my computer to my TV and turn the TV into a computer monitor? So that, for instance, I could watch hulu on my TV?

post by: amro at: 21:08 | 10 comments

Like this, only longer. I don't know what the heck it would be called, though.

posted by amro 28 January | 21:14

If you can't find a long x-to-y cable, you can probably find either an x or y extension cable.

What kinds of inputs does your tv have, and what kind of outputs does your computer have? Is it a laptop, or, if it's a desktop, do you want to simultaneously use another monitor?

posted by box 28 January | 21:37

Lots of laptops have a VGA-out. This would probably be a better, or anyway easier, choice than USB.

posted by box 28 January | 21:38

Alright, so I have been googling since I posted and I figured out I have a 7-pin s-video jack on my laptop. I also have a VGA out I'm pretty sure. My TV has the inputs in front where you plug in the yellow and white thingies (and there's always a red one that just hangs out and doesn't plug in anywhere). I think these are called composite cables?

I am woefully ignorant.

posted by amro 28 January | 21:46

The red-and-yellow-and-white is called composite, or sometimes RCA. There's such a thing as an S-video to composite cable--is 12 feet long enough?

If you go this route, you'll probably have to follow it by either hitting Function-Fsomething on your laptop if you're lucky, or installing software/messing around in the options if you're not.

posted by box 28 January | 21:59

Sweet, thanks!

posted by amro 28 January | 22:02

Note too that S-video doesn't have audio in it, so you'll need to connect an audio cable (that's the greenish 1/8" jack in the cable in my link) to the headphone or speaker jack on the laptop.

But yeah, it's not too tough--I don't think you'll have any trouble.

posted by box 28 January | 22:17

If your tv has yellow and white but no red, that might mean that it only accepts monaural, rather than stereo, audio-in. If you connect your laptop to the tv, and it seems like you're only hearing some of the audio, you might want an RCA y-adapter, so as to connect both the red and white from the cable to the white on the tv.

posted by box 28 January | 22:24

is it an HD tv? If yes, and you care about it, the composite will only get you SD (broadcast analog tv quality), and the s-video will give you 480p (DVD quality). Which is the maximum that Hulu supports anyway.

But if your TV has a VGA input on the back, you'd be able to get the full TV resolution for other stuff (like youtube hd)

posted by qvantamon 28 January | 22:34

I have actually done this. How you do it depends on what kind of inputs your TV takes (and whether your computer has, say s-video out--mine doesn't). My TV is obsolete and I needed to buy a box for $25 to interface with it.

posted by Obscure Reference 28 January | 22:47

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