The transition of media from television to computer is happening
at a fast rate because of the rapid progress of information technology.
There are several Internet websites with movies and television shows
that could be downloaded into computers. Frequently, television shows
are made available by networks online once the show has finished airing.
Connecting the laptop to the TV enables users to watch shows in their
original format and at their convenience.
Materials Needed:
- High-definition multimedia interface (HDMI)
- Composite/phono plug (RCA)
- Digital video interface (DVI)
- S-Video
- Video graphics array (VGA)
Step 1
The first step to connecting the laptop to
the television involves identifying the connections located at the back
of both components. The five basic kinds of ports or jacks involved
include the composite or phono plug or RCA, video graphics array or VGA,
S-video, high-definition multimedia interface, and digital video
interface.
Step 2
Check if the television has the correct
connections. Older television sets do not have the connections required
to connect the laptop to the TV. The most common type of connection
employed is the S-video connection. S-video, also called Super-video, is
a more advanced analog video connector. It employs a round plug with
four prongs like the ones used in the installation of cable television.
The S-video is more commonly found in older television sets and a
number of laptops. With the S-video present on both the laptop and
television, connecting both components to each other is simple because
only one S-video cable is required. When the laptop has an excellent
sound system, audio cables will no longer be necessary.
Step 3
Check to make sure the laptop has video
capable of being connected to the television because not all laptops are
equipped with the TV-out video card. When the laptop does not have
connectors, install an Mpeg decoder card. The only drawback of
installing Mpeg cards is its inability to play .mov or .divx files.
Step 4
Get the right cable to connect the laptop
to the television. S-video cables are frequently the most common and the
easiest to connect. Other cable options include the VGA or video
graphics array cable which is a regular monitor cable capable of
carrying analog video signals and displaying graphics data. This cable
option is used only for HDTVs.
Step 5
Establish a connection between the laptop
and the television. Make sure that both components are turned off before
connecting them. Before turning on the television, make certain that
you have activated the correct video mode. For example, when the S-video
cable is employed, the television’s video option has to be set to
S-video. Afterwards, set the proper video output to the appropriate
source on the laptop computer. Always consult the manual because the
steps to setting modifications are different for each model of laptop
Sometimes,
smartphones can be a boon for your personal productivity, but other
times it's amazing how much trouble they have performing simple tasks.
Here are ten things your phone probably sucks at, and how to make it
work better.
10. Lasting Until the Next Charge
When you
have something that runs on batteries, it's inevitable that it'll run
out of juice. That's just the nature of the beast. But oftentimes, your
battery dies long before you want it to, and that's not good
(remember how long dumbphones used to last?). Luckily, there are two
things you can do to fix this: first; make sure your phone isn't wasting
its battery. Check out our guides to getting better battery life on Androidand the iPhone for more. Next, just make sure you charge it whenever you can. It's easier than you think—and we have strategies for that too. Image by Jaroslav Machacek (Shutterstock).
9. Understanding What You Type
This one
isn't really your phone's fault—it tries really hard—it's just that
typing on a keyboard that tiny is really difficult (even with the
sometimes-hilarious autocorrect helping you out). The best solution is
to improve your typing skills, but if you're on Android, you're also lucky enough to have your choice of keyboards. Here are the five best keyboards around, but if you don't like those, check out our guide on finding the right keyboard for you. With the right tools and some honed skills, you should make typing with your thumbs just a little bit easier.
8. Giving You Control
I don't want the Blockbuster app on my phone. Why can't I get rid of it? I want to use Google Maps for all my navigation. Why won't my iPhone let me?
Sure, you could root or jailbreak, but manufacturers are constantly
working against you to make that more difficult, and even the Nexus
phones come with some unnecessary apps these days. At least they're a
bit easier to root, but good luck finding one on your carrier of
choice—depending on the device, that's all luck. Thankfully, you can at
least make up for some of this by rooting, jailbreaking, unlocking, and getting rid of that crapware on the phone you do have—no thanks to the manufacturers and carriers, of course. Image remixed from myVector (Shutterstock).
7. Being Durable
Remember
the days of Nokia phones that could survive a nuclear holocaust? What
happened to those? These days, it seems like dusting your phone wrong
could crack the screen, cause your buttons to stop working, or even just
wear on that darn battery cover. We understand it's all in the name of
design, and luckily you can fix most of these things yourself—whether
it's replacing the screen, making the most of your broken buttons, or just getting a case to protect it all.
6. Taking Good Pictures
This has
become less of a problem over the years, but smartphone cameras are
still far from the best cameras around—yet most of us have replaced out
superior point-and-shoots with the cameras in our pockets. Luckily,
while they don't always take the best of pictures, there's a lot you can
do to make the best of what you've got.
Take extra care to follow the basic rules of photography (like using
your light), tweak your camera app's settings, and even do a little
post-processing work to make those pictures usable.
5. Keeping You Focused
It's nice
to have a phone that gets email, browses the web, and entertains you
when you're bored. The problem? It also distracts you while you're
driving, keeps you from interacting with people, and all-around annoys
the people around you. You don't need to give up your smartphone to stay focused, though—you just need to change how you use it. Read up on the most annoying things you do with your phone that you should quit for more info.
4. Staying Up to Date
It's
amazing how fast a "modern" phone can start to feel out of date. The
iPhone 4 can't navigate using Apple Maps, and multiple Android phones
from the past two years have no hope of getting Jelly Bean (or even Ice
Cream Sandwich). As annoying as this is, a little ingenuity (and a few
good apps) can get around this problem nicely. We always try to keep you
up to date with the latest OS' features now, whether it be iOS 6 or Android Jelly Bean. Plus, with the right buying and selling tactics, you can upgrade to the latest and greatest every few months, without spending a fortune.
3. Giving You a Moment's Peace and Quiet
Out of the box, your phone probably vies for your attention a lot. All those notifications are annoying at best, and productivity-killing at worst. You could just put your phone on silent, but you're better off pruning your notifications and optimizing how you use them.
Turn off the notifications you don't need, keeping only the important
ones, and give them each a different tone so you know whether something
is important (and when it can be left alone). With a good system in
place, you should be able to keep your phone from going off every ding
dong second and keep your sanity in place.
2. Saving You Money
When did
having a phone get so gosh darn expensive? If your wallet's feeling a
little light, never fear—there are a few things you can do to keep the
cost down (that the carriers probably won't tell you about). First of
all, you can trim a bit off those bills by using free services like Google Voice to cut down on texting, or VOIP services to cut down on minutes usage. If you've lost your coveted unlimited data plan, you can reign in usage to make sure you don't incur overages (or, if you don't want data, you can get rid of it altogether). However, if you're really looking to save some dough, go prepaid. The average iPhone user can save over $1000 by switching to a prepaid plan, so if you're tired of paying up the nose for cellphone bills, that's one of your best options. Photo by Jason Rogers.
1. Being a Phone
Shockingly,
the thing your phone is worst at? Being a freaking phone. When we
polled you about your biggest smartphone annoyances, dropped calls were one of the most cited problems, and unfortunately, there's only so much you can do about it. We offered a few solutions,
but generally the best thing you can do is optimize your phone's
reception (and not just by holding it correctly). If you get
particularly bad reception in your home or office, there are a few ways to work around that, but if you seem to have it more often than not, you'll need to get to the bottom of why
before you fix it. In the end, the best thing you can do is have a
secondary phone line—whether it be a landline, VOIP on your computer, or
even VOIP on your phone—to make sure you're always connected. Image remixed from assets from PSDGraphics.
Obviously, not every
phone has these problems—some may have okay battery life, or get fewer
dropped calls, but we went a little tongue-in-cheek for the sake of
humor.
Seriously, though: does anyone else think it's amazing how modern
smartphones lack basic features we hold valuable? My phone can act as a
wallet, but it can't hold a charge for more than a day? I can download
10 different navigation apps, but I can't make any of them the default
over Apple's? Seems like maybe some priorities are a bit out of whack.
Can I get an Amen?
Its not easy for one to caught whether a phone he/she buying is
original or not. May be its stolen if you're buying a second hand phone
or may be its Korean. Many of my friends ask me about this and i used
to help them. So in this article i want to help my blog readers so that
they see no difficulty in buying any phone whether new or second hand. I
will try to cover all of the brand phones. Do read this and spread this
awareness.
As you know, Mobile Market
is now filled with fake phones and many people selling phones as
Original even with Branded tags. Besides this factor, there are replicas
available in the market like Korean phones that looks similar to the
original phone and there is quite hard for one to spot at the moment
whether phone is original or a copy. So following are the ways to check
your phone.
IMEI:-
IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. It is a
15 digits number and found on the box of your mobile phone. You can
also find in by removing back cover and bettery, other way of finding
IMEI is dial *#06# and your IMEI will pop up. You can also find your
IMEI by going in settings->about phone->status.
Nexus 5 Users:-
If you're planning to buy Nexus 5 then before you buy, please
check its imei and originality. After copying IMEI, go to link
http://csmg.lgmobile.com:9002/csmg/b2c/client/auth_model_check2.jsp?esn=123456789123456
and replace your imei number at the end of the link in place of
counting. After hitting enter, you will see Nexus 5 information. If this
information matches its phone box then your mobile is original else
not.
Samsung Galaxy Users:-
If you have Galaxy phone in your hand and you want to check its
originality, dial *#0*# and you will be displayed with a menu which is
called as General Test Mode. There, you can test your device's LCD,
color test, touch test, sensors test, vibration test, camera test, sound
test etc. If your device pass all of these tests then its a Samsung
device. You can also dial *#7353# which will take you to Quick Test
Menu.
You can further check Samsung's Secret Codes and their working HERE & HERE.
Spot Galaxy by Physical Looks
1) Screen is made of cheap glass material.
2) Screen is too far from the edge.
3) Screen is not as bright and vibrant as the original device.
4) Some of the sensors are not available.
5) Home button is not of the exact same size as that of genuine.
6) Samsung logo is not smoothed out and can be removed by rubbing.
7) Device's proportions is different than that of genuine product.
8) Gaps between parts like home, power and volume buttons are obvious.
9) Battery specifications are not the same.
Sony Users:-
If you want to test Genuine Product Verification for Sony then
it's pretty easy. Go to Sony's official site for Product Verification HERE and enter your imei number to check your device's originality.
HTC Users:-
HTC users please proceed to this LINK to check your devices.
Best Way to Know Your Phone Better:-
Look at the 7th and 8th digit of your IMEI. These two digits will ensure your phone's quality.
If 7th and 8th digits are 01 or 10, this indicates your cell phone is manufactured in Finland which is high quality.
If 7th and 8th digits are 13, this indicates your cell phone
is assembled in Azerbaijan which is too bad and also dangerous for
health.
If 7th and 8th digits are 02 or 20, this indicates your cell phone is assembled in Emirates which is very poor quality.
If 7th and 8th digits are 03/30 or 04/40, this indicates your
cell phone is made in China but its quality is good but not good as
00,01 or 10.
If 7th and 8th digits are 05 or 50 this indicates your cell phone is manufactured either in Brazil or Finland or USA.
If 7th and 8th digits are 06 or 60 this indicates your cell phone is manufactured either in Hong Kong or China or Mexico.
If 7th and 8th digits are 08 or 80 this indicates your cell phone is manufactured in Germany which is fair quality.
NOKIA IMEI number *#06# Software version *#0000# SIM lock info *#92702689# Enhanced full rate *3370# Enhanced half rate *4720# OFF #3370# To know the manufactring date dial *#0000#
ALCATEL IMEI number *#06# Net monitor *#0000#
BOSCH IMEI number *#06# Default language *#0000# Net monitor *3262255*8378#
MOTOROLA IMEI number *#06# Net monitor ON ***113*1* Net monitor OFF ***113*2* To know manufacturing date dial #02# . Dont send. Only available on C117,C115,C116,C118,C119,C126.
PHILIPS IMEI number *#06# SIM lock info *#8377# Security code *#1234# OR *#7489#
SAMSUNG IMEI number *#06# Software version *#9999# OR *#0837# SIM lock info *0324# Changing LCD contrast #0523# Memory information *0377# Reset memory (SIM lock revovery) *2767*3855# Battery state *9998*228# Alarm beeper *998*289# Vibra test *#9987*842#
SIEMENS, LG, SAGEM, TRIUM, NEC IMEI number *06# Software version #6276421#
HUAWEI
mobile phones
Enter the following codes as you
will dial a phone number: To get the version number:
·##745698
To test your phone:
Enter the following code
##497613
and press
the send button
Select the "RF test" option
Select "Enter FTM mode" option
The device will reboot.
To restore your phone (all data will be cleared):
·##258741
Further, visit imei.info to get details about your mobile model by entering your imei number.
How you can get free HDTV with higher quality than available on your cable or satellite provider.
(Free after initial start-up costs, if you do not have an antenna
already - generally, a complete setup can pay for itself in the cost of 2
months of cable or satellite)
First, I will dispell a few myths about digital TV, and then I will give you the basics on how to get things running.
First: I hear you need a whole new antenna set up to view digital tv.
Digital tv runs alongside analogue tv in the exact same spectrum. It
uses the same channel frequencies, and the same antennas. (any antenna
called HD antenna is marketing BS)
The only difference in broadcasting is the content of the signal and the decoding process.
Second: I need a whole new TV to view digital (and HD) tv.
Partially true, but not for every circumstance. You can use your
same TV to view digital TV, but if it is an older TV is will not be
capable of displaying the true quality of an HD signal, and it will
require a converter box (roughly $50). This would be like a digital
cable box, or a vcr that does the current analogue decoding for you.
If you own a new LCD/plasma TV, chances are it includes a digital tuner already (ATSC/DVB-t, depending on your location).
Check its specs before you go looking for a converter box.
(Note that some converter boxes are SD only, look for a converter box that outputs in HD if you have an HD ready tv)
Third: All DTV is HDTV.
These terms are commonly mixed up.
Digital TV is the same as the ordinary analogue broadcast television
today, just in a different signal/processing format. (480i). Because of
the superior nature of digital TV, you will get a perfect picture every
time. (Or below a certain signal level, no picture at all. Much around
the distance that analogue tv gets too fuzzy to watch)
HDtv is also purely digital (perfect picture every time), however it
can go up to much higher resolutions, such as 1280x720 progressive
(720p) or 1920x1080 interleaved (1080i).
1080i has roughly double the pixels of 720p, but half the framerate.
Also, just because a channel is broadcasting at an HD resolution,
does not mean the picture is HD. For example, a show from the 90's
cannot be broadcast in HD without remastering it, so it is probably
standard definition (SD) stretched to fit the HD resolution.
("upconverted")
Fourth: Antenna TV? are you kidding me? Cable/satellite is far better! I haven't used an antenna for 20 years!
Cable and satellite used to be better than antenna simply because
analogue broadcasts degraded quickly as distance increased from
transmitters, and cable/sat companies could get optimum reception and
send it to everyone.
With new digital broadcasting, you get perfect picture with as low
as 20% signal (with a new tuner) - roughly about the same point when
analogue broadcasts were too fuzzy to watch.
Cable and sat may have it beat in terms of offering quantity, but
antenna tv now has them beat in quality. Generally the cable/sat
companies will take the exact same broadcast stream and compress it to
send over their network to you. The result? Decreased quality. With an
antenna, you get the pure broadcast, exactly as it was intended to be
viewed.
Fifth: My country is switching to dtv! Now I have to sign up for cable or satellite!
NO! This is exactly what the sable or satellite providers WANT you
to think. You can continue to use your antenna (yes, even "rabbit ears")
as long as you have the proper conversion box.
That's it for rumours/myths for now, on with how you can get your FREE tv (after initial set-up).
(If you have any more questions, ask them and I'll add to this.)
Step 1: Check your availability.
You can get FREE (after initial "build") high definition
television in most areas. In fact, if you're within 120 miles of a tv
station, chances are, you'll be able to get their channel.
The first thing you need to do, is consider your location:
What TV stations are around you, and broadcasting.
If you're in a semi-urban area, you're probably in an excellent area.
If you have very little around you, unfortunately, this will not work for you.
If you're in an area like Toronto or Buffalo, you can access two market's worth of channels, giving you 25 or more channels.
So, to begin our first step:
Visit http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp and put in your latitude and longitude to see what TV stations are around you, and their approximate distance away.
If you don't know your latitude and longitude, visit this site: http://www.gorissen.info/Pierre/maps/googleMapLocationv3.php
which will give the latitude and longitude of anywhere you click.
Just move around and zoom in to your location to get the most precise value.
Make
a note of which stations are closest/you want to pick up, and what
direction they are from your place. (Just general direction, for now.)
Step 2: Obtain an antenna and required materials
Despite what popular marketing wants you to think these days, ANY
ANTENNA WILL WORK FOR DTV/HDTV BROADCAST RECEPTION. (Yes, even that 50
year old antenna you havent touched for 30 years!)
The only antennas
which will not do much good are VHF-only, if digital broadcasts are
mostly in the UHF spectrum for your area (Channel number above 13 from
the broadcast search in the previous step means it is in the UHF band).
Some popular (good reception) antennas are below:
The
Channel Master 4221, Channel Master 4228, and an example of an antenna
you may very well have already on your house and you never use.
To go with the antenna you will need coax cable to reach your tv, a grounding block, and depending on your area, an amplifier.
A key part of low cost investment is having an appropriate tuner.
Almost
all HDTV's (LCD/plasma) ship with a built in digital tuner. (ATSC for
North America and a select few countries, DVB-t for the majority of the
rest of the world).
If you do not (i.e. you have an old CRT tv or a
new tv, but it doesnt have ATSC/DVB-t), no problem: you can get
converter boxes for about $50 for a CRT tube, or many dvd
recorders/DVR's are including ATSC or DVB-t tuners if you wish to go
that route.
Note that a converter box which does not have HDMI/component will most likelt not output in HD, but downconvert the picture.
Another option is a PC-tuner, which can be as low as $40 these days.
Alternatively, you can build your own antenna which performs just as good as the commercial ones, if not better!
Check out the Gray-Hoverman antenna: http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/
It's
designed to be free and "open-source" welcoming people to make their
own tweaks and get the best antenna possible. You can find the official
plans at the site above, or you can read the antenna development forums
at Digital Home Canada to see what changes people have made and what's
the best type for you to make.
Step 3: Hook everything up.
Once you have your antenna, mount it where you will get best reception -
The higher the better. If you already have an old antenna, leave it
where it is and you can test how well it works later on. (skip to the
next step)
I wont go into details for mounting antennas here, but there are three main methods:
Tower: freestanding tower holds up the antenna, sometimes attached to house for more stability.
Tripod - a tripod holds a mast, attached to the roof
Chimney - A mast is strapped to a (brick) chimney
There are also other ways you can mount an antenna, such as wall-mount (like I did, picture below).
Once the antenna is in place, you want to run your cable from the
antenna to your TV, inserting a grounding block before it reaches the tv
(to prevent problems from static electricity or lightning.
You will also want to ground the antenna/tower itself, according to
local municipality standards to prevent damage to your home in the event
of a lightning strike.
Step 4: Tweak your reception.
Depending on the positioning of your antenna, you will find some
stations are not quite at their best until you tweak the position for
best reception of all stations.
If you desire, or the layout of
stations requires, you can include a rotor, which rotates the pole
holding the antenna to pick up various stations.
You can do this
systematically (aka move it a little bit and see what happens) or you
can do it precisely, using online measurements and values and a compass.
I found it easier to just do trial and error until it was perfect.
(A compass to put you in the general direction wouldn't hurt, however.)
If you are in a low reception area (usually because of distance) an amplifier will help.
There are two types:
a
pre-amplifier ("preamp") - this connects as close to the antenna as
possible, providing amplification on the cleanest signal it can. This is
generally the best option, but often quite expensive.
The other type
is a distribution amp, commonly used for cable systems - you plug it in
somewhere along the line and amplify before you split.
Splitting the signal is possible, but you will need a tuner at each end, and signal will be reduced to both.
It
is best to get one line up and running and see how things go before
splitting. You may need to amplify to get even one line running.
Step 5: Enjoy your new subscription free TV!
Sit back and watch your new digital TV. It may only be a few channels
for some people, but if you're in an area like me, you can enjoy 25+
channels, 20 of them in high definition.
The best part of it all? Once it's set up, there is NO monthly fee. And hey, the superior picture doesn't hurt either.Enjoy, and I'll be happy to answer any questions in the comments.
