Hardware Connect Switch to laptop monitor?

[Kel_ven]

Hello, since I am living in a place with no TV for quite some time, is there any way to connect the switch to my laptop monitor? My laptop has a HDMI port but it's an output one, but I also have a vga port, displayport and a thunderbolt 3.0 one (I have no idea what the last 2 are, tbh). Are VGA port and displayport also input/output? Is there any method I could use to play on my monitor or am I stuck with handheld for a while? Thanks in advance!

 

[XabiPlayerPRO]

I don´t know so much about HDMI connections on a laptop, but I think it only is made for output (showing its screen on TV or others), and no for input, like TV. But I also have the switch and if anyone know any form to make it, it would be so helpfully.

 

[sarkwalvein]

You need an HDMI capture card, it will probably have a USB3 or Thunderbolt 3.
Unless you want to capture what you play I don't think it is worth it, those things are expensive.

 

[Kioku]

You need an HDMI capture card, it will probably have a USB3 or Thunderbolt 3.
Unless you want to capture what you play I don't think it is worth it, those things are expensive.

This. At this point you're better off buying a monitor/tv

 

[Deleted User]

You need an HDMI capture card, it will probably have a USB3 or Thunderbolt 3.
Unless you want to capture what you play I don't think it is worth it, those things are expensive.

Those won't work. Capture cards have an input delay of 3-5 seconds. The only capture cards that wont have that are PCIE ones..which you can't use on laptops for obvious reasons

 

[TheCyberQuake]

Those won't work. Capture cards have an input delay of 3-5 seconds. The only capture cards that wont have that are PCIE ones..which you can't use on laptops for obvious reasons

Certain usb 3.0 capture cards also have 0 latency.

 

[xile6]

But a tv.

You cant use laptop to play hdmi.
They only output.
Vga is no work without a convetor and by that time your still lagging and you could of just brought a tv

 

[Baoulettes]

Certain usb 3.0 capture cards also have 0 latency.

I agree
AVermedia LGX usb 3.0 does the work perfectly

 

[iceberg303]

Like sarkwalvein said, laptops have no input so unless you have a capture card you will never be able to use a laptop monitor to display an external video source.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

Like sarkwalvein said, laptops have no input so unless you have a capture card you will never be able to use a laptop monitor to display an external video source.

Unless you have some crazy custom laptop that has a capture card built in, but I've never seen that.
I do wish laptops included some way to use another input on the display, that would be super useful imo.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Laptop displays are connected via an eDP (or LVDS in older laptops) connection to the GPU. The GPU only outputs video to the display or to an HDMI/DVI/VGA port, but can't receive video feeds from an outside source such as the Switch. A capture card would introduce input lag as well as artifacts because the video feed is encoded. I can tell from experience it's not worth it to spin ones head around the topic. Laptops aren't monitors. If you don't want/don't have a TV and want to play Switch on a monitor, there are flat HDMI monitors available that use the same panels that laptops use, though they are not cheap. I have one of those myself. If you want one, you can find one on Amazon, but don't buy anything that is larger than 13.3 inches because all screens above 13.3 inches are poor 6-bit, undithered displays that would result in your games having serious color banding.

 

[driverdis]

Unless you have some crazy custom laptop that has a capture card built in, but I've never seen that.
I do wish laptops included some way to use another input on the display, that would be super useful imo.

Alienware M18X R2 has HDMI in, some of the larger older Alienware models do also. It seems it may have been removed from their newer laptops however.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

Laptop displays are connected via an eDP (or LVDS in older laptops) connection to the GPU. The GPU only outputs video to the display or to an HDMI/DVI/VGA port, but can't receive video feeds from an outside source such as the Switch. A capture card would introduce input lag as well as artifacts because the video feed is encoded. I can tell from experience it's not worth it to spin ones head around the topic. Laptops aren't monitors. If you don't want/don't have a TV and want to play Switch on a monitor, there are flat HDMI monitors available that use the same panels that laptops use, though they are not cheap. I have one of those myself. If you want one, you can find one on Amazon, but don't buy anything that is larger than 13.3 inches because all screens above 13.3 inches are poor 6-bit, undithered displays that would result in your games having serious color banding.

Or if you are more of a DIY type of person you can pull the screen from a laptop, buy a control board for it that has HDMI input, and go from there.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Or if you are more of a DIY type of person you can pull the screen from a laptop, buy a control board for it that has HDMI input, and go from there.

No, unless the display is a true 8-bit display, which is non-existent above 13.3 inches.

 

[TheCyberQuake]

No, unless the display is a true 8-bit display, which is non-existent above 13.3 inches.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

No, unless the display is a true 8-bit display, which is non-existent above 13.3 inches.

I never said it needed to be bigger than 13.3, plus you obviously won't pull it from your working laptop.

 

[Kel_ven]

Thank you all guys for all of your answers, even though you bring bad (and predictable ) news.
I'll just have to keep on handhelding until I'll find a monitor/tv to enjoy my botw in its full splendor!

 

[Thulinma]

For reference, most USB3 HDMI capture devices will work without any lag at all.

I personally have experimented with this one:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/VOX...ture-Dongle-Box-High-Quality/32707031794.html
Which is relatively cheap and has ~1 frame delay, both when recording and when watching it live. Bonus points: works without drivers on all major operating systems. Also will let you stream easily in high quality.

 

[Mr. Wizard]

Just grab a cheap monitor off craigslist, dime a dozen.

 

[Kel_ven]

Just grab a cheap monitor off craigslist, dime a dozen.

That's actually what I did yesterday. With 30€ I resolved my issues
Thanks anyway for the suggestions, I'm sure someone will take advantage of all those things!

 

[Hershey]

Hello, since I am living in a place with no TV for quite some time, is there any way to connect the switch to my laptop monitor? My laptop has a HDMI port but it's an output one, but I also have a vga port, displayport and a thunderbolt 3.0 one (I have no idea what the last 2 are, tbh). Are VGA port and displayport also input/output? Is there any method I could use to play on my monitor or am I stuck with handheld for a while? Thanks in advance!

Watch this video.


You said you have vga, so it should work. Me myself, have a question. Im thinking about taking the hdmi output on my laptop, and getting an adapter that will change it to a DVI. Then i could get another thing that will let me have hdmi for the switch on one side, and dvi on the other, so it can connect. I have no idea if this will work, and if anyone is still on this post, please tell me. Ill put the products down below in a link, and the dvi video. Thanks, and have a good day.



https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com...1499910040&sr=8-3&keywords=hdmi+to+dvi+female

https://www.amazon.com/Gefen-HDMI-C...d=1499910092&sr=8-3&keywords=hdmi+to+dvi+male