How to Connect Your Laptop to a TV or Monitor: A Complete Guide

Whether you're setting up a home office, streaming a film on a bigger screen, or giving a presentation, connecting your laptop to a TV or external monitor is one of the most useful things you can do with your setup. In this guide, we'll walk you through every method available — from the most common to the most legacy — so you can find the right solution for your laptop and display.

There are plenty of good reasons to hook up a second screen:

• Working from home: A larger monitor — or dual screens — dramatically boosts productivity by giving you more space to multitask.
• Entertainment: Watch films, TV shows, or sport on your living room TV rather than squinting at a laptop screen.
• Gaming: Get a bigger, sharper picture and reduce input lag with a direct wired connection.
• Presentations: Whether at home or in the office, connecting to a larger display makes sharing content much easier.
• Creative work: Photographers, video editors, and designers benefit hugely from the extra colour accuracy and real estate a proper monitor provides.

Whatever your reason, the good news is that the process to connect a laptop to a TV or monitor is usually quick and straightforward — once you know which ports you're working with.

Before you buy a cable or adapter, identify what video output ports your laptop has. Here's what to look for:

Next, look at what inputs are available on the display you want to connect to.

• Modern TVs almost always have multiple HDMI ports. VGA and DVI are very rarely seen.
• Modern monitors typically offer HDMI, DisplayPort, and sometimes USB-C. Some budget monitors still include VGA.
• Older monitors and projectors may only have VGA, so you'll need an adapter if your laptop only has HDMI or USB-C.

Once you know what's on both ends, you can choose the right cable or adapter.

HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is the most widely used connection for laptops, TVs, and monitors. It carries both video and audio in a single cable, supports Full HD, 4K, and beyond, and is plug-and-play on virtually all modern devices.

Best for: Connecting a Windows laptop with a full-size HDMI port to any TV or monitor with HDMI input.

What you need: A standard HDMI to HDMI cable.

Resolution support: Up to 4K @ 60Hz (HDMI 2.0) or 8K (HDMI 2.1), depending on your cable and devices.

Most modern laptops — including MacBooks, Dell XPS models, Microsoft Surface, and many others — no longer include a full-size HDMI port. Instead, they rely on USB-C. With a USB-C to HDMI cable or adapter, you can connect these laptops to any HDMI TV or monitor.

This is made possible by a feature called DisplayPort Alternate Mode (DP Alt Mode), which allows the USB-C port to carry a video signal. Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 ports also support this.

Best for: MacBooks, ultrabooks, and modern Windows laptops with USB-C or Thunderbolt ports.

What you need: A USB-C to HDMI cable — Maplin offers 2m and 5m options, both supporting 4K Ultra HD at 60Hz.

DisplayPort is a digital interface designed primarily for monitors (as opposed to HDMI, which was designed for consumer electronics like TVs). It supports very high resolutions and refresh rates, making it the preferred choice for gaming monitors and professional displays.

A key advantage of DisplayPort is its support for daisy-chaining — connecting multiple monitors from a single port — and its compatibility with adaptive sync technologies like AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync.

Best for: Gamers, content creators, and professionals connecting to high-refresh-rate or high-resolution monitors.

What you need: A DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable. If your TV only has HDMI, a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter will bridge the gap.

If your laptop has a USB-C/Thunderbolt port and your monitor has DisplayPort, a USB-C to DisplayPort cable is often the best choice for maximum image quality — particularly for gaming or professional colour work.

Best for: Laptops with USB-C/Thunderbolt connecting to a high-performance DisplayPort monitor.

What you need: A USB-C to DisplayPort cable. Maplin's 8K USB-C to DisplayPort Cable supports resolutions up to 8K for future-proofed performance.

VGA (Video Graphics Array) is an older analogue standard that has been largely superseded by digital connections. It does not carry audio, and is limited to a maximum of Full HD — with some loss of sharpness compared to digital alternatives.

That said, many older monitors and projectors — particularly in offices and schools — still use VGA, so it's worth knowing about.

Best for: Connecting a modern laptop to an older VGA-only monitor or projector.

What you need: A VGA to VGA cable if your laptop has a VGA port, or a USB-C to VGA / HDMI to VGA adapter if it doesn't.

DVI (Digital Visual Interface) is another older standard, sitting between VGA (analogue) and HDMI (digital, with audio) in terms of age and capability. It's still found on some monitors and graphics cards. Like VGA, DVI does not carry audio.

Best for: Connecting to older monitors that lack HDMI.

What you need: A DVI cable or HDMI to DVI adapter depending on your laptop's output.

If your laptop has only one or two USB-C ports (common on MacBooks and slim ultrabooks), a USB-C multiport hub is one of the most versatile solutions available. A single hub can add HDMI output, VGA, USB-A ports, Ethernet, an SD card reader, and more — all from one USB-C connection.

Best for: Laptops with limited ports that need to connect to a display and other peripherals simultaneously.

What you need: A USB-C hub or multiport adapter. Maplin stocks several options:

• Maplin USB-C Multiport Hub — 4K HDMI output, 4x USB-A 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, USB-C PD, and SD card reader in one unit.
• Nikkai USB-C Multiport Hub — HDMI 4K, VGA, audio, and USB-A ports; supports mirror, extended, and SST modes.

Once you've connected your laptop to a TV or monitor, you'll typically be asked (or be able to choose) how to use the display:

Mirror (Duplicate): Your laptop screen and the external display show identical content. Useful for presentations.

Extend: The external display acts as a second, separate screen. You can drag windows between the two. Best for productivity and multitasking.

Second screen only: Your laptop screen turns off and only the external display is used. Good for saving power at a desk.

Press Windows key + P to open the projection menu and choose your preferred mode.

Go to System Settings > Displays to arrange and configure your displays. Hold Option while clicking "Arrangement" to toggle mirror mode.

No signal on the display

• Check the cable is firmly connected at both ends.
• Make sure your TV/monitor is set to the correct input source (e.g. HDMI 1, HDMI 2).
• If using a USB-C cable, confirm your laptop's USB-C port supports DisplayPort Alt Mode.
• Try a different cable or port.

The image is blurry or low resolution

• Check your display settings — Windows or macOS may have defaulted to a lower resolution. Set it to the display's native resolution.
• Ensure your cable is rated for the resolution you need (e.g. 4K @ 60Hz requires HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort 1.4 / USB-C with DP Alt Mode).

No sound from the TV or monitor

• Go to your audio settings (Windows: right-click the speaker icon > Sound settings; macOS: System Settings > Sound) and ensure the output is set to your TV or monitor.
• If using VGA or DVI, remember these don't carry audio — you'll need a separate audio cable.

The display keeps flickering

• Try a different, higher-quality cable — cheap or damaged cables are a common cause.
• Reduce the cable length or use an active cable if running a very long distance.
• Check for any loose connections.

The laptop doesn't detect the monitor

• On Windows: Right-click the desktop > Display Settings > Scroll down and click "Detect".
• On macOS: System Settings > Displays > Hold Option and click "Detect Displays".

Maplin stocks a comprehensive range of cables and adapters for connecting laptops to TVs and monitors, including own-brand and premium branded options from ALOGIC, Nikkai, and more. Orders over £35 qualify for free UK delivery.

• 🔗 HDMI Cables
• 🔗 USB-C to HDMI Cables
• 🔗 DisplayPort Cables & Adapters
• 🔗 USB-C to DisplayPort Cables
• 🔗 VGA Cables & Adapters
• 🔗 USB-C Hubs & Multiport Adapters
• 🔗 All Monitor Cables