Many owners of plasma TVs are interested in whether it is possible to connect a laptop or desktop computer to it. If the size of the laptop screen is not enough for you, or you want to expand the functionality of the TV at the expense of a laptop, then a wifi connection will be an excellent option.
Benefits of connecting a laptop to a TV
It is more comfortable to watch interesting movies and photographs stored on the hard disk on a plasma TV screen, as well as play games and just surf the Internet.
Wireless connectivity has clear advantages in terms of:
- aesthetics - the absence of unnecessary cables in the room is more pleasing to the eye;
- mobility - the laptop can be placed in absolutely any convenient place, there is no need to move it as close to the TV as possible;
- safety - no risk of accidental damage or breakage of the cable;
- financial savings - there is no need to buy a cable if it is not available.
How to connect a laptop to a TV via wifi
To connect to your TV via wifi, you need your TV to be already connected to the same subnet as your laptop / PC. In other words, they must receive traffic from the same router. But if your panel is capable of supporting Wi-Fi Direct technology, then a router is no longer necessary. You just need to connect to the network that is created by the TV. Next, you need to set up your own DLNA server. For these purposes, switch the value of your Wi-Fi network to "home" (on a PC).
The most popular wi-fi adapters include the following modifications:
- Miracast;
- Google Chromecast;
- Android Mini PC;
- Intel Compute Stick.
Thanks to these devices, you can significantly expand the functionality of an outdated TV modification. They will allow you to display files of different formats on the screen, be it video, image, and so on.
TV settings
The setting can be done in two ways:
On an existing router with a functioning network to which both the TV and laptop are connected, create a common access point. To do this, call the menu by pressing the button on the remote control (‘Menu’). In the pop-up window, find and select the "Network" tab and go to the settings section. Here you will see a list of available internet networks. Select the one with the name of your router and connect to it by clicking on the icon.
The second method is to connect via Wi-Fi Direct. If you have such a function on your TV, this means that it is equipped with a router itself and does not need additional network equipment. You can see the availability of this function through the menu in the tab with network settings. If, after going to the desired section, you find the item "Wi-Fi Direct", activate it and write down the security password that you will see on the screen after connecting the function.
After setting up the equipment, find the item in the menu of your TV that is responsible for displaying the files of the devices connected to it. This section may be called "SmartShare" or otherwise. Through it, you can access files from your laptop.
