How to make a TV from a laptop

The range of useful features of modern mobile technology is incredibly wide. For example, laptops nowadays have replaced a whole range of equipment, from a calculator to a cable TV. This article is about how you can "turn" your laptop into a full-fledged TV, and watch TV programs on it.

What is needed

In order to watch TV channels directly from the display of your laptop, depending on the connection method, you may need:

1. Cable TV access point and cable of desired length.
2. External tuner and a set of drivers for it.
3. High speed internet access.

Reference!Without an internet connection, none of the above methods will be possible.

DIY TV from a laptop

Experts distinguish only three ways to use a laptop as a TV. They are carried out through:

1. Connections to Internet TV.
2. Connect cable instead of antenna using specialized software.
3. Switching through an external T2 tuner (as in the previous case, specialized software is required.

In order to understand how this or that method is implemented, it is necessary to dwell on each in more detail.

Connection Methods

The easiest way and not requiring any special equipment is to connect to Internet TV. All that the user needs to do in this case is to connect to the Internet, open any search engine in the browser, find the desired channel and enjoy online viewing.

Attention!For online broadcasting of television channels, you need not only high speed Internet, but also uninterrupted operation of the modem, and unlimited traffic is also desirable, because constantly switched on broadcasts can very quickly "eat" all gigabytes when it comes to limit traffic.

If we are talking about digital television, then most providers provide two or more access points to broadcasts. In this case, the cable transmitting the signal is connected directly to the laptop. After the cable is connected, you must:

1. Download a special utility from the site of the service provider that will manage the broadcast.
2. Launch the application and go through authorization.
3. Using the utility, start the broadcast and select the desired channel.

Providers usually try to provide their customers with a large selection of channels and uninterrupted access to television broadcasting, which distinguishes this type of broadcast from watching TV channels over the Internet.

In order to enjoy watching TV broadcasts using an external tuner, you must correctly connect it and configure it to work with a laptop. It is noteworthy that for some models of laptops such a tuner is integrated into the case, which allows them to combine the functions of a laptop and a mobile TV, however, not all models are equipped with such a device, so most often you have to connect the tuner “manually”.

A modern TV tuner is connected via a USB connector, which can be found on every modern laptop. The signal quality will often be better than when viewing via the Internet, and the picture will be more pleasant.

Many users may wonder why they might even need to use a laptop as a TV. In order to answer this question, it should be noted that:

1. A laptop, in comparison with most TVs, is much more mobile, which opens up the possibilities for its use in the country or outdoors.
2. Using special software and cable, you can enjoy digital broadcast quality.
3. And the corresponding software can record the necessary broadcasts directly to the laptop for further viewing.

All of the above pluses prove that using a laptop as a TV is fully justified.