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A short guide on how to connect your PC to a TV

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
If you're here, this means you genuinely think you can't play PC games on a TV, that it's a feature only Consoles can use. YOU'RE WRONG!
Today, i'm gonna teach you how to connect your PC to a TV

Requirements: A computer, a TV, and an IQ higher than room temperature

Step 1: Just like a console, search for the HDMI port on the back of your PC. If it's capable of any sort of gaming it should have one. If your PC is currently connected to a monitor via displayport, unplug that wire

Step 2: Take your PC and put it close to your TV as you would a console

Step 3: Plug an HDMI cable into your PC's HDMI port.

Step 4: Plug the other end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI port on the TV

That's it, you're done. You can now officially use your PC on a TV
Related guides: How to connect a controller to your PC, How to play steam games, how to connect your console to a Monitor
 
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JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
If you're here, this means you genuinely think you can't play PC games on a TV, that it's a feature only Consoles can use. YOU'RE WRONG!
Today, i'm gonna teach you how to connect your PC to a TV

Requirements: A computer, a TV, and an IQ higher than room temperature

Step 1: Just like a console, search for the HDMI port on the back of your PC. If it's capable of any sort of gaming it should have one. If your PC is currently connected to a monitor via displayport, unplug that wire

Step 2: Take your PC and put it close to your TV as you would a console

Step 3: Plug an HDMI cable into your PC's HDMI port.

Step 4: Plug the other end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI port on the TV

That's it, you're done. You can now officially use your PC on a TV
Related guides: How to connect a controller to your PC, How to play steam games, how to connect your console to a Monitor
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BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Nobody on Gaf seriously thinks that it's impossible to connect a PC to your TV. But there are plenty of other reasons for why doing so is worse than using a console. And I do have my PC hooked to my TV.

For those of us with gigantic 4K HDR monitors with stuff like G-Sync support and variable refresh rates, hooking the PC up to some 4K TV, even if it's a really nice TV, is actually a lesser experience.
 

Jrecard

Member
For those of us with gigantic 4K HDR monitors with stuff like G-Sync support and variable refresh rates, hooking the PC up to some 4K TV, even if it's a really nice TV, is actually a lesser experience.

You know there are 4k TVs with HDR and VRR support right?
 

Lady Jane

Banned
I think it's less knowledge and more of people not wanting to do that. The PC is under the desk and the wires are neatly arranged. The living room has a well coordinated color scheme with the furniture, curtains, and flooring. Disconnecting the PC from the desk setup to sit on the floor next to the TV because it can't fit in the furniture is a lose-lose. Yes, I would rather spend $500 on a console than have that ever done, even once.
 
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THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I've started building a dedicated living room pc piece by piece. I have a nice compact itx, watercooler, sfx power supply, ssd and ram, and an itx board. All just waiting on a cpu deal and graphic card......
Nowadays I suppose I could even load steam os on it.....
 
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Kataploom

Gold Member
Nobody on Gaf seriously thinks that it's impossible to connect a PC to your TV. But there are plenty of other reasons for why doing so is worse than using a console. And I do have my PC hooked to my TV.
60fps on basically all games, almost infinite backward compatibility, the possibility of fixing anime style games to put Japanese voices if they're only on English, the possibility of streaming to my discord friends, run the best emulators on the market, etc. I understand the easy to pick and play of consoles but having to give up on all of that the very important thing that makes me overthink a little if I should give up PC gaming at all until the GPUs power consumptions go down a bit...

Loving satirical post, OP, hope it doesn't get locked by mods.
 
I use an Nvidia shield and it's cabled to the router which is linked to my comp. It's ok. Idk if it's good enough for me. Maybe I'll give it another shot.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
I think it's less knowledge and more of people not wanting to do that. The PC is under the desk and the wires are neatly arranged. The living room has a well coordinated color scheme with the furniture, curtains, and flooring. Disconnection the PC from the desk setup to sit on the floor next to the TV because it can't fit in the furniture is a lose-lose. Yes, I would rather spend $500 on a console than have that ever done, even once.



You keep the PC in one room and the HDMI cable can go through the wall to and out in the living room behind the TV (so nobody even sees the cables). The cable I showed was on the expensive side as it is an in-wall rated HDMI cable, it is 50' in length, and it is a 48 Gbps cable that supports 8k@60Hz. You could save money by either getting an 18Gbps HDMI cable, shortening the length (if the distance from your PC to your living room TV through the wall is only 10' to 20' then there would be no reason to get a 50' HDMI cable), or both.

And for ease of moving back to the room where your PC is, have an HDMI switch so you can toggle between which monitor it outputs the signal to.

Need to extend the range of your wireless accessories?


Run that through with the HDMI cable. That would be small enough to have whatever is plugged into it sitting on/in your TV stand. If you need more than one USB port then you can get a USB hub to plug into it. Then you can fit a bluetooth adapter, a mouse/keyboard dongle, and an Xbox Wireless Receiver all at the same time. All of these parts combined are less than (and in some cases, less than half) the price of a console.
 
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supernova8

Banned
LOG920007119.jpg



All I do is couch PC game with a controller. This is the best wireless keyboard with touchpad I've used so far. The only games I use a keyboard to play are cRPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Pathfinder: WOTR

All well and good unless you're left handed :D I wish they had a modular design where you can put it on either side and it has little covers (similar to the joy-con shoulder cover things) to make it look even.
 

mxbison

Member
To be fair, not too long ago some TV's still had issues with PC's. I've had plenty of annoying experiences in that regard.

Guess those days are over though. My new TV even has a PC mode and it's really just plug in the HDMI and go.
 

Denton

Member
I have been PCTV gaming since 2013. Best of both worlds. I still remember vividly the first game I finished on my plasma, Bioshock Infinite. It looked so fucking good compared to monitor. I am typing this on logitech K400 posted above.
 
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Graciaus

Member
I've had my pc hooked to my TV for 10+ years and played from my couch the whole time. You do want to do some research and read reviews if you plan on playing over 60 hz.
 

DavidGzz

Member
How are people gaming in their living rooms when they have a family? I connect my PC to a tv but it's in a separate gaming room. Screw waiting for the wife and kids to free up the tv to game. I'd never have time.
 

Fredrik

Member
I think it's less knowledge and more of people not wanting to do that. The PC is under the desk and the wires are neatly arranged. The living room has a well coordinated color scheme with the furniture, curtains, and flooring. Disconnection the PC from the desk setup to sit on the floor next to the TV because it can't fit in the furniture is a lose-lose. Yes, I would rather spend $500 on a console than have that ever done, even once.
Kinda the same here but nothing is neatly arranged or have well coordinated color schemes. I just don’t want to crawl under the desk to unplug the cables and carry the PC to the living room and then have it be the noisiest thing in the living room.

I could invest in a proper and silent HTPC as a secondary PC though. But I don’t feel like I need it for so many games yet, would only be interesting for games which play better with a controller. And then I would have to upgrade two PCs. Expensive.
 

GymWolf

Member
I just connect my tv to the gpu via hdmi and then decide in the nvidia panel what is the main screen between my monitor and my oled tv, easy peasy.
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
This is way too advanced for the average Joe, computer manufacturers should be ashamed for not making this more accessible. Why should only computer nerds and rocket scientists be allowed to play on their TVs?

It's much like the outrageous requirement of being capable of handling a screwdriver to install an SSD in the PS5.
 

Fredrik

Member
How are people gaming in their living rooms when they have a family? I connect my PC to a tv but it's in a separate gaming room. Screw waiting for the wife and kids to free up the tv to game. I'd never have time.
Yeah it’s a problem…
And it’s not just about freeing up the TV, kids love to watch me play games, it’s about how AAA devs can’t make games without violence anymore, zero creativity compared to the 80s and 90s. So all I can play during day time is low budget kids games.

So in short I can use my consoles from 21:30 at the night. Work days I should be in bed 23:00, 23:30 at the latest. Gives me 1.5-2 hours of gaming.

😕

PC gaming is less of an issue, separate room, door to close so the little ones don’t come in when I play something violent.

Steam Deck is awesome too, I played at least 20 hours of Elden Ring that way.
 
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