Today, I shall be teaching you how to convert your laptop and desktop computers to a normal TV. It is very simple and straightforward to use your laptop computer as TV and begin to watch live TV stations on PC. Certainly, it will be an advantage to use your laptop or desktop as both a regular computer and also as TV set. The great thing is that you will watch all channels as HD, with many more channels than you could get on regular TV with regular antenna. You don’t have to bother buying expensive smart TV in town as long as you have a laptop or desktop.
Furthermore, student who own laptops or PC can now enjoy watching live TV stations and channels in their hostels too. Therefore, follow us as we guild you through this simple steps to turn your computer into a TV. I will show you all the connection and settings, as well as the devices that make PC to function as TV. However, there is no danger or worries when you use your laptop computer as TV rather, it helps you a lot. You can watch the same TV stations and channels from anywhere your laptop is. no clumsy wiring as the arrangement is as compact as ever.
Devices you Need to Use your Laptop Computer as TV
I shall list the devices you will need to enable you successfully watch live TV on your laptop or other PC. Then I will explain their individual functions as well as how to connect them. Do not worry, I shall make these explanations very easy to understand. Furthermore, these devices are readily available in the open market. However, I advice that you purchase these devices from authentic sources by clicking on the devices as I mention them in this post. This is to ensure originality. The devices you require to watch live TV on laptop and desktop computers are;
- A laptop or desktop computer
- Digital TV Antenna (Gasobyte Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna)
- TV Tuner for Windows (HAUPPAUGE WinTV – Dual HD – Dual USB 2.0 HD TV Tuner)
The models of devices I recommended above are sure to guarantee a perfect working for TV reception and viewing on PC. However, DTMEDIA TECHNOLOGIES may earn when you use these links to buy these products. Let me explain these devices in details so you understand what they do and how to apply them.
Laptop or Desktop Computer for use as TV
Although you can use all modern computers of medium to high specification to watch live channels as TV, there are important factors you must consider. For this post, I highly recommend using a Windows Operating System Laptop or computer. However, other OS such as Mac may also function as TV but with the appropriate UHF/VHF TV Tuner. We shall focus on Windows computers for this article. Certainly, computers with Windows OS are most popular and widely in use all over.
PC Requirements to Use Laptop Computer as TV
For your laptop or desktop computer to function well as a TV, I recommend a PC with a 2.2 GHz Intel P4, a 1.8 GHz Centino, or an equivalent processor. Furthermore, a PC with a minimum graphic card of 64 MB and above will ensure best video picture quality. The essence of these high specifications in using a computer as TV lies in the fact that TV tuners and its software are processor-intensive. Similar to a Gaming PC, such high-end tasks require sufficient storage space, memory capacity and processor speed to handle these tasks.
TV Antenna to Use Laptop Computer as TV
Like I said earlier, there are many indoor and outdoor TV antennas that can potentially work to attract TV signals to your computer. Wherever you find yourself, there are TV signals on transmission all over the space around you. All you need is the right antenna to capture the signals and a tuner device to interpret it for your computer. For best result in OTA (Over-the-Air) Antenna TV signal capture, I recommend the Gasobyte Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna. It is available on Amazon at a very cheap price and is delivered to you straight on purchase.
Features of Gasobyte Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna
- Signal capture range covers over 250 miles radius
- Multi-directional indoor antenna. You don’t have to turn it to any particular direction.
- supports 4K smart TV 1080p Fire tv stick and older TVs
- Indoor smart switch
- Amplifier Signal Booster
- 18ft coax HDTV Cable / AC Adapter
- captures TV and Radio stations
- Full HD channels
Windows PC TV Tuner and Software to Use Computer as TV
For the antenna to communicate effectively with your laptop or desktop, you need an interface or software or TV tuner. This is where the HAUPPAUGE WinTV – Dual HD – Dual USB 2.0 HD TV Tuner, which I recommend for you comes in. it is also available on Amazon for cheap purchase and direct delivery. This device comes with an integrated software and has dual tuner or DVR. This means that you can watch two TV channels at same or record one while watching the other.Once you connect the device through its USB plug and play, the software installs automatically. Therefore, it is very easy to use even for a newbie.
Features of HAUPPAUGE WinTV – Dual HD – Dual USB 2.0 HD TV Tuner
- Built-in ATSC Over-the-Air (OTA) TV Tuner for capturing and watching local channels in states and regions around you.
- It is easy to install. Simply plug in to the USB 2.0 or 3.0 port on your Windows PC, notebook or laptop. The WinTV-dualHD works with Windows 10, 8 and 7 (plus Vista).
- Picture in Picture due to Dual Tuner capabilities
- PLEX Enabled
Let us now do the simple exercise on how to actually connect the computer, antenna and TV tuner to watch live tv on your PC.
Step by Step Connection Settings to Use Laptop Computer as TV
Once you have gathered these devices, you are ready to set up your computer to function as a TV. Therefore, follow these procedure to configure your computers and devices to start watching TV on your laptop or PC.
- Switch on your laptop or desktop
- plug in the TV Tuner into the USB port of the laptop PC using the USB side of the device.
- The built-in software for the TV tuner begins to install automatically on the PC.
- Afterwards, place your antenna at any indoor location of choice and connect it to the TV tuner using its coaxial end accordingly.
- After software installation completion and antenna connection, use the installed TV tuner app to scan for channels.
- Every other operation and use is for you to manipulate and try out the features to learn more.
Congratulations, you have successfully started using your laptop computer as TV to watch normal TV stations all round your region. When you purchase these devices from Amazon from the link s I recommended, their Engineers would maintain contact with you to help in any way you want. Therefore, it is most convenient to get your devices from Amazon, no mater where you might be on planet earth.
For how long can the TV antenna work
It really works