Laptop connected to TV does quality change?

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rtm85

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Hi All,

I have recently cancelled my DSTV subscription and I am looking to get either Netflix or Showmax.

Q1) I want to know if I run Showmax/Netflix off my laptop and I connect my laptop to my TV to view the show on a bigger screen (40" Samsung FHD) do you lose image quality eg like are the colours different , does it come through slow etc.

I was at Game earlier looking at those smart TV's and of course the salesman was doing his best to get me to purchase a top of the range smart TV and saying laptop to TV isn't recommended.

Q2) I am looking to get a new TV this month would you members say that this whole smart TV thing is just a sales ploy or would you recommend going forward buying a smart TV is better than buying a non smart TV.

Any help on this matter will be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Smart TV is a waste of money imo. It's also tedious doing everything with the remote if it doesn't have an app for your phone.

Get a regular tv with a chromecast or other media device (roku etc.) to stream with. Could even connect your pc straight to your tv with an hdmi cable.
 
It depends on the PPI and refresh rate of the TV and the supported refresh rate of the GPU.
 
My laptop( Mac ) plays perfectly thru my LG tv
People overthink things
Plug in and watch.
 
Ok, so I have a smart TV, Samsung, its already about 4 years old.

Needless to say:

- Netflix works fine (the app version for my TV is a bit unrefined)
- Showmax seems to be having all sorts of issues, losing connection etc.
- Youtube doesn't work well at all, always buffering (I think the TV's "RAM" is insufficient to buffer the content, I could be wrong)

I also connect my Laptop to the TV via HDMI, and then everything works very well as the TV is just a monitor, the Laptop does all the processing. So then I watch what I want via the browser.

In my opinion, Laptop to TV works well. And another thing I would consider is getting a proper Smart Media Player, one with enough juice to run all the apps and one that is properly compatible with all the streaming apps you will be using, then just buy a non-Smart TV. That will work well if you have kids using the setup, or an older person who is not comfortable with using a browser.
 
rtm85 said:
Hi All,

I have recently cancelled my DSTV subscription and I am looking to get either Netflix or Showmax.

Q1) I want to know if I run Showmax/Netflix off my laptop and I connect my laptop to my TV to view the show on a bigger screen (40" Samsung FHD) do you lose image quality eg like are the colours different , does it come through slow etc.

I was at Game earlier looking at those smart TV's and of course the salesman was doing his best to get me to purchase a top of the range smart TV and saying laptop to TV isn't recommended.

Q2) I am looking to get a new TV this month would you members say that this whole smart TV thing is just a sales ploy or would you recommend going forward buying a smart TV is better than buying a non smart TV.

Any help on this matter will be appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Lots of sales talk going on here. Check the PC specs for its video/HDMI outputs and verify compatibility with the TV. Better still call the sales persons bluff and ask him to allow you to connect your laptop to the smart TV and a normal one and see what the quality issues are. If he baulks, go somewhere else.

My personal view is Smart TVs are over rated pieces of expensive junk.
 
If your laptop has HDMI out it should be fine or else consider getting set top box like an Apple TV or something.
 
I prefer watching/streaming content from my PC/laptop to the TV over using the Smart TV's apps. Yes, it's a bit more convenient, but not worth the money, IMO.
 
I use Roku 3, NowTV Box, Notebook, and SmartTV, they all work well.

I do use them for different purposes, and I do need all of them.
 
Personally I use a MediaBox (.co.za?) to stream all content. Cost me a little over R1700 on special.
Hulu, Netflix, Showmax, Youtube, DSTV, Google Play and Amazon prime with no issues except the occasional lag with the international streaming providers.

The Samsung TV with the latest updates to software would often have buffering or speed issues indicating lack of processing power and/or memory to handle 720p and above content. Especially YouTube where 480p would be absolutely fine but going to 720 or 1080p video was disastrous.
Would also suffer similar issues with other streaming services.

Offloading TV streaming to another device is definitely recommended. Try get one that supports all the streaming services and can handle Kodi :)
 
DMNknight said:
Personally I use a MediaBox (.co.za?) to stream all content. Cost me a little over R1700 on special.
Hulu, Netflix, Showmax, Youtube, DSTV, Google Play and Amazon prime with no issues except the occasional lag with the international streaming providers.

The Samsung TV with the latest updates to software would often have buffering or speed issues indicating lack of processing power and/or memory to handle 720p and above content. Especially YouTube where 480p would be absolutely fine but going to 720 or 1080p video was disastrous.
Would also suffer similar issues with other streaming services.

Offloading TV streaming to another device is definitely recommended. Try get one that supports all the streaming services and can handle Kodi :)
Click to expand...

And is legal for use in South Africa
 
Don't buy a Smart TV. It's a waste of money. I connect my laptop to my TV with an HDMI cable and it works perfectly. There is no loss in either video or audio quality. If you wanna be smart, you can also invest in a wireless keyboard and mouse to make it easy to operate your laptop from your sofa.
 
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