HDMI Enabled Laptop

I’ve seen a lot of questions in forums lately regarding HDMI laptops. For several years manufacturers have been producing laptops that have HDMI outputs. If you’re laptop already has one, there is no need to look into any sort of converter for connecting directly to your HDTV. There are a few settings you might need to play around with in order to get it working exactly the way you want.

Resolution

Up until a few years ago, computer resolutions rarely matched the resolutions of TVs. Because of the 4:3 aspect ratio of most computer monitors, the image would have to be stretched to display properly on a standard 16:9 HDTV. More recent laptops have the same aspect ratio as high definition TV’s. This makes displaying videos, pictures, or presentations on your TV much easier. But some laptop resolutions are much higher than what an HDTV can display. It is not uncommon for a laptop to have a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels. This is slightly higher than what your average HDTV is able to display. 1920×1080 is the standard for high definition, so you’ll need to adjust the display settings on your HDMI laptop to match this resolution.

Refresh Rate

Refresh rate is another setting that you might have to adjust to get your laptop’s screen to display properly on your HDTV. Most new LED TV’s advertise refresh rates of 60Hz, 120Hz, and 240Hz. For our purposes, these refresh rates are not important. The TV will accept a 60Hz signal from a laptop or other device. It then uses internal circuitry to upgrade the signal to the higher refresh rate. Speaking from experience, most of these higher refresh rates suck. They are essentially adding information to the picture that isn’t there. So the image comes out looking VERY unnatural. This is true with any sort of source material including HD Cable, DirecTV, and even BluRays. I find that it makes almost any image look like the cinematography used for soap operas. It is most noticeable during panning during a scene. Most of these enhanced refresh rates can be disabled from the TV’s settings menu.

But for our purposes as long as your HDMI laptop is set to output 60Hz you should experience no difficulties in displaying your content on your TV. The only caveat might be for a projector. Some data projectors are a bit more finicky about the refresh rate. By changing and applying the settings, you should be able to find a setting that works.

Cables

Just a quick word on HDMI cables. You can spend as much money as you want on any kind of audio/video cable and this especially applies to HDMI. After having installed about a thousand HDTV’s with every level of quality component on the market, I can attest that cables make little or no difference. So long as you get one that is current for the newest HDMI standards you will be fine. I’ve never been able to see the difference between a $15 HDMI cable and a $5o0 cable. If you feel compelled to spend more money, spend it on the source equipment, TV, or your HDMI laptop.

Got something to say? Click here to reply