Settings to use TV as an external monitor.

[dbd1]

I am trying to view my pc on my new flat screen but am unsure of the settings. I am using ubuntu 10.10. I have been trying (and on ocassion succesfully, but never really understood what I have done) to view my pc through the monitor option under preferences. Selecting the different monitor size but always find my external monitor (ie TV) is to the left, right above or under the screen I see on my PC. Also I am unable to hear my PC through the TV. I should say this is a good quality flat screen and all I am unsure of are the correct settings to use my TV as an external monitor.
Hope this is clear enough

[cybertron]

As a general rule, your tv will be either 1280x720, or since it's new, more likely 1920x1080 (if it's advertised as 1080P, then this is what it should be). If I understand you correctly, you want it to display the same thing as your regular monitor? If so you will need to change your display settings so the second monitor is in "clone" mode. Otherwise it will just be an extension of your desktop.

[dbd1]

thanx for getting back to me. But..............how do I put it in clone view. There does not appear to be a setting for this on the "monitor display" dialog box. Also how I can I get the sound to play through my TV instead of my laptop.

[cybertron]

Hmm, I guess you'll have to edit xorg.conf by hand then. Did I mention that I have not had good luck with the Ubuntu display configuration tools?

Try this thread, particularly the second post which shows the Clone option that I think you need. Unfortunately it might be a little weird now because X defaults things pretty well, so xorg.conf might have little/no content in it right now. You can probably skip the input device parts since they'll be handled automatically, but you may need to configure all of display/screen/server layout parts for it to work.

I'm not 100% sure about the sound part as I haven't done it myself, but I do know that (with the exception of HDMI, which you probably aren't using), video cables for computers don't include sound, so you'll need to run a separate audio cable. How you do that will depend on the inputs your tv has.

[opteron]

I am trying to view my pc on my new flat screen but am unsure of the settings. I am using ubuntu 10.10. I have been trying (and on ocassion succesfully, but never really understood what I have done) to view my pc through the monitor option under preferences. Selecting the different monitor size but always find my external monitor (ie TV) is to the left, right above or under the screen I see on my PC.

The settings will obviously be specific to your model of television. One thing you could try, is connecting the computer to the TV, and then booting up with a Live CD distribution. The Live CD should detect the display, and use the appropriate settings, which you can then copy from.

FWIW, I just installed Fedora 14 on one of my systems. I had it connected to the TV for the duration of the install, and it auto-detected everything perfectly and was using the TV as a 1920x1080 monitor. I was using the HD15 VGA port on my TV. My TV is a Sony XBR6.

Also I am unable to hear my PC through the TV.

How are you connecting the computer to the TV? If by VGA or DVI, those connections do not carry audio signals. If by HDMI or DisplayPort, those are audio-capable standards, but as implemented on most motherboards and video cards, they only carry video.