Can I Use A Tv As A Second Monitor

TV instead of a computer monitor

I've been working from a home office for over a decade now. I'thousand pretty happy with my setup. All the same, with the motion by many organizations to have employees work remotely starting a few months ago, my wife joined me. My office couldn't easily be adapted for two people, then we had to create a space for her in the living room. And she's an accountant who is accustomed to having multiple big monitors to piece of work with. That gets expensive, and takes upwardly a lot of space. So we decided to take an alternative approach: using a 4K Idiot box instead of a computer monitor.

There were several key advantages to this plan. I could easily wall-mount the Television receiver at the platonic ergonomic height for whatsoever desk was adopted for the workspace. Even a small-scale 4K TV is huge compared to most PC monitors, and costs considerably less, and so she'd be getting plenty of workspace at a very reasonable cost. The TV won't exist taking upward space when not in use the way a monitor would, since it tin can exist used to really lookout man Television. And once she returns to the part, we have another TV to place in the house instead of an extra reckoner monitor that has to be stored.

It'south worked very well, simply in that location are several key points to proceed in heed.

You need to sit close to the TV

At one fourth dimension I had the idea of sitting back in my armchair and using the big Tv set in our family room every bit a monitor. I've experimented many times over the years with wireless connectivity between a laptop and TV using Casting from Chrome, and Apple AirPlay.

This worked corking for streaming video, merely was a terrible experience for really working. Text is tiny! Increase the size and you lot're decreasing the resolution to the point where ane due east-mail is taking upwardly the entire screen. You lot can't work effectively using a TV on the wall and sit on the burrow across from information technology whatever more than you lot could set your laptop at one cease of a coming together table, and work at it sitting at the other finish of the table with a wireless keyboard. Yes, the applied science is there, but the practicality isn't.

Then you'll need to arrange a workspace very close to the Tv set. and while you're at it, the TV needs to be at head peak for the person sitting in forepart of information technology, or they'll develop a potent neck very quickly.

Choose your cables wisely

Video cables tin be a fleck of an arcane scientific discipline, peculiarly when you're going betwixt a laptop and a Television set. Dissimilar a calculator monitor, TVs aren't usually designed to accept an assortment of unlike calculator video outputs. Most TVs these days are all HDMI inputs.

Depending on the laptop's output, that means you may have to deal with HDMI adapters. In our example, my wife was using an older MacBook air, with a Thunderbolt/Mini Display Port output. The showtime adapter I tried simply supported 1080p output (which looked pretty bad on a 43-inch screen), but that laptop is actually capable of 4K to an external monitor. I paid closer attention the 2nd time and the next adapter worked like a charm, plugging into the Idiot box's HDMI port to evangelize a 4K image. New laptops and Chromebooks might need a USB-C to HDMI adapter.

Optimize the settings (on the PC and the Television)

As function of this whole setup, information technology pays to optimize the settings on both your laptop (or PC) and the TV.

TV instead of a computer monitor

If using a laptop, you'll need to decide whether to mirror the display on the TV, or use the Idiot box equally a 2nd brandish. We opted to mirror, as this means the laptop could exist airtight up and moved out of the way. However, there can exist real productivity wins to using multiple monitors. You also need to select the resolution that will be sent to the TV—obviously, you want the highest resolution available, specially on a large Tv screen. These settings will exist found on your computer.

Your Tv will also take settings for the input and so you can optimize what's displayed. You lot may demand to fine-tune colour, brightness and sharpness. The fist thing I did was reduce the brightness—the TV's usual setting is quite bright to accept blasting in your optics all day from 2 anxiety abroad.

Extras make the setup even ameliorate

TVs typically have better audio that calculator monitors (some PC monitors these days don't even have built-in speakers), and then you should exist good on that forepart. A wireless keyboard and mouse make the setup much more useful, and nosotros added a desk lamp for additional lighting. Some sort of desk with an actual workspace is a skilful idea (we chose a cart-style that tin can hands be moved when not in use), and a good task chair makes working from home a lot more pleasant.

Because my wife is in a lot of Zoom video meetings and we arranged her setup with the laptop airtight, a webcam was added to the elevation of the Goggle box—it connects to a USB port on the laptop.

Next upwardly is cablevision management. As you lot can meet from the photos, I haven't quite gotten around to tidying that upwards all the same …

TV instead of a computer monitor

Not perfect, but it works

With a TV, you'll miss out on some of the features many estimator monitors offer, like eye-saving low blueish low-cal technology, colour accuracy, a choice of dissimilar video inputs, adjustability, USB hub capability, and loftier refresh rates. At the cease of the solar day, a figurer monitor is going to provide a superior experience.

However, when you lot need to put together a functional working from home setup, and you lot don't want to spend a lot of money on a large 4K monitor, a 4K TV does a pretty decent job. If you happen to have a TV that can be repurposed, that's even better, merely in that location are some 36-inch to 45-inch 4K TVs that are surprisingly affordable. If you're wondering, nosotros used this 43-inch TCL 4-Series TV and have been very happy with it.

Would this work for remote learning?

Absolutely! If y'all have kids and they will be taking online courses, the same setup will work just as well.

And speaking of school, if you lot still take dorsum to school shopping to do be sure to check out Best Buy Canada's hub. Everything you lot need for dorsum to school from backpacks, to laptops—and yeah, great deals on TVs—all in ane place.