Trying to find the easiest way to work at home without your familiar office space? Find out how to turn your TV into an efficient second screen…. With mobile working becoming ever more mobile, many people have to be flexible in their approach and be prepared to work anywhere. The best way to get connected to a second screen at home is with your TV. There are a few ways to link your TV to your laptop. The easiest way to hook up your laptop is with a cable. All you need is a cable.
You can then choose whether to extend your display across both screens or duplicate your laptop display. That way, dragging programs between displays will feel more natural. Want to know how to connect a MacBook to a TV? Check to see what port yours has. A good way around it is to make use of wireless mouse and keyboard. This way, you can use your laptop much like a tower PC and use your TV as the main display.
Why not ditch the wires? Our wireless age means there are loads of ways to connect your laptop to your TV. You can place your laptop anywhere and stream to your TV. Most streaming and mirroring methods require you to use some kind of adapter a dongle. There are loads of different ways to connect wirelessly.
Here are three of the most common and easiest to set up. Chromecast casts your laptop Chrome browser to your TV screen. This one was developed by Microsoft to cast your Windows to the big screen. Of course, if you have a workspace all set up and ready to go, the best way to get a second screen is with a dedicated PC monitor.
That way, your family can still watch their favourite shows as you focus on productivity. How do you prefer to work from home without a desktop monitor?
The convenience of wireless or the reliability of HDMI? Let us know in the comments! Product name or item no. Sign in. Laundry Washing machines Washer dryers Tumble dryers. Again, this is an analog format, and will require a special converter box. Acquire an HDMI cable. Take note of the HDMI input number it is being connected to.
Plug the other end of the cable into your laptop's HDMI out port, or into the appropriate adapter for your computer. If you are using an adapter, connect that adapter to your computer. Make sure the TV and the computer are both powered on. Right-click on any empty space on your desktop, then select Display Settings. The Display Settings window will appear. The primary focus of this window helps identify the displays currently connected to the computer.
All screens currently detected will be displayed here. If the computer does not show two displays connected your computer's screen and the television , click the Detect button. Your computer will attempt to detect the presence of another screen connected to its output port. Once displays have been detected, clicking the Identify button will help determine which screen is which.
When Identify is clicked, each screen's assigned number will be displayed on-screen briefly. This will help you determine which screen to select when adjusting settings in the Display Settings window. Select the display that represents the television from the Display menu. Scroll down to the Multiple displays heading. From here, you can choose how you would like the television display to function.
There are two settings available for multiple displays within Windows: Choosing to duplicate the desktop will display the exact same image on both screens. Duplicating is most commonly used for presentations, where the goal is to share what's on your screen to a group or room full of people. Choosing to extend the desktop expands the work area across both displays.
Extending is most commonly used to get more workspace, allowing you to display different things on each screen, such as multiple programs, web browsers, etc. On the TV side, make sure you disable your TV's overscan. It might be disabled automatically, but if the edges of your desktop are cutoff, dig deep into your TV's menus for something like "size" or "zoom.
This should help reduce input lag, the delay between you pressing a button and that action showing up on screen. It's also a good idea to lower the sharpness control. I mean, in general this is a good idea, but here specifically it should help you make out fine details better, like text.
A TV's sharpness control usually just increases artificial edge enhancement, masking fine details and adding noise. Note the "halo" around the objects in the version on the right.
Speaking of text, if you're trying to work from your couch it's likely that despite the extra screen size, text is still too small. If that's the case, you can adjust text size on Windows and Mac. You can also use the zoom controls in certain apps, like Chrome browsers.
If you're not getting an image on screen at all, try unplugging the HDMI and plugging it back in with the TV on , and if that doesn't work, leave it all plugged in but turn the TV off then on. This is trite advice for a reason: it solves so many issues. Got a question for Geoff? Still have a question? He also thinks you should check out his best-selling sci-fi novel about city-sized submarines and its sequel. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read.
Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. CNET editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Geoffrey Morrison. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now playing: Watch this: Zoom responds to privacy concerns, Amazon and Apple get Wireless keyboard. Logitech K Wireless mouse.
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