Connecting an HDTV to laptop

[Dan Cook]

I'm trying to connect my laptop to my HDTV via the HDMI port. When I switch it to HDMI mode on my TV, it keeps saying "unsupported mode". My camera works fine via the HDMI port on the TV though.

Not sure what's causing this; I've tried various screen resolutions and none have fixed it.

 

[Skip Talbot]

How about the refresh rate? I had a similar problem with my TV and it only worked on one particular refresh rate. You can right click Monitor 2 in your display settings and goto the monitor tab and change the refresh rate.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

You may need to use the Fn+F8 key (or try WINDOWS_KEY+P). This is sometimes necessary when connecting an external monitor or video display via the DSUB/VGA and DVI ports, so I don't know if it's necessary when using the HDMI port. It's probably worth a shot, though.

If you don't get audio out, you may need to make the HDMI audio connection the "default device". Right-click on the sound icon in the lower-right of the taskbar (near the clock), then click "Playback devices", right-click on the HDMI item, then choose "set as default device".

 

[Dan Cook]

I think it's something with the TV. I hooked the laptop up to a different HDTV and it worked just fine.

 

[Mark Blue]

What mobile graphics card does your laptop use?

 

[Dan Cook]

Nvidia Geforce 9600M GT

 

[Trey Atterbury]

I had the same problem. When connecting laptop to the tv you must turn the monitor off on the laptop and make the tv the primary monitor. Hope that helps

 

[D. Hayes]

Windows 7?

You shouldn't need to turn off the laptop monitor. Laptops can dual screen just like a desktop. Then you can either mirror the image or stretch the desktop across them. You can also pick which is the primary. Soon as I hook my laptop up to my HDTV I can view it in the display properties and adjust the output to match my 1080i TV settings. I'd just guess your laptop's resolution is too high and you need to drop it down a bit if your TV isn't a 1080. I think the 720's are 1366x768.