Hooking Surface Pro 3 to TV

[Gary Dietz]

What I want to do is use the TV as my monitor so that I can use Photoshop on my Surface.

Is it possible to hook up the Surface to a TV? If so what port do I use on the Surface? The Micro USB or the full size USB? Do I use the USB port on the TV or the HDMI port?


Gary

 

[hughlle]

Hi Gary. What you need to do is buy a mini display port to HDMI cable and connect it to the HDMI on your TV and the mini display port on the surface (the top port, above the full size USB port)

Something like this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Display-Ada...563&sr=8-1&keywords=Mini+display+port+to+hdmi

You will be able to duplicate the picture on both screens, use only the TV screen, or have the TV as a second monitor. Remember that you will require mouse and keyboard to make use of the TV unless you are duplicating the surface display onto the TV.

 

[Gary Dietz]

Hughlle,
thank you, I have one on order


Gary

 

[silkrooster]

Keep in mind the cable needs to be long enough so you can use the keyboard for shortcuts.
Otherwise you will need a wireless mouse and keyboard.
The other option is the wireless video adapter for the tv.

I have both cable and wireless video adapter. I prefer the cable as it does not require a power source, does not skip and guaranteed 1080 resolution.
Even though I have the keyboard cover, I plan on getting a Bluetooth keyboard, so I can use the cable and when I need to draw on tablet I can use the keyboard shortcuts.

 

[Gary Dietz]

Silk rooster

I have ordered a 15 foot cable, this will be plenty long to go between the TV and Surface. I take nature photography trips with our Travel Trailer and now I can edit out the bad shots at night so that I do not fill up my 128 gb SD card

 

[sharpuser]

Why aren't you using the Wireless Display Adapter for this? The Surface Pro 3 has special hardware just for this device. Works wonderfully for me.

 

[Markatlodge]

just tried using my SP3 and my Samsung TV which has this functionality built in the sp3 connects but after a few seconds it drops the connection again. Are there any diagnostics that can be run?

 

[hughlle]

Why aren't you using the Wireless Display Adapter for this? The Surface Pro 3 has special hardware just for this device. Works wonderfully for me.

I think the issue is that it doesn't work wonderfully for everyone. My WDA is a bit hit and miss with regard to stability and picture quality (picture quality is plain awful) so I figured to recommend something that should work each time every time without issue.

 

[sharpuser]

Agreed, @hughlle . Good call.

@Gary Dietz , You might try WDA sometime after using the cable to see if wireless freedom works out or even matters to you. Some of the problems people encounter with the WDA is 2.4GHz interference from WiFi and Bluetooth congestion. I use WDA for editing ngineering graphics on a big screen. Windows 10 on the Surface Pro 3 seems to have improved my WDA performance greatly. Under Windows 8.1 it was okay.

 

[hughlle]

Agreed, @hughlle . Good call.

@Gary Dietz , You might try WDA sometime after using the cable to see if wireless freedom works out or even matters to you. Some of the problems people encounter with the WDA is 2.4GHz interference from WiFi and Bluetooth congestion. I use WDA for editing ngineering graphics on a big screen. Windows 10 on the Surface Pro 3 seems to have improved my WDA performance greatly. Under Windows 8.1 it was okay.

Yeah, I do use a Bluetooth keyboard sans dongle, and also have a 2,gghz IPoP plug in the same room, but there is no wireless from neighbours etc. I am also connecting to a 720p display so the resolution/Bluetooth thing isn't an issue. I think it is a windows thing and not a WDA thing though, as text is illegible but media is clear as crystal. Maybe the WDA just doesn't like 720p displays and text scaling.

 

[BMWfreak]

Hi Guys,

Didn't want to start a new thread about the display options, since there are so many of them already...

Chose this topic, since it most closely relates to my question. I just got an i3 Surface Pro 3. I would like to connect it to my TV, however with three available solutions I am not sure which way to go. I could:

1. Get a miniDP to HDMI cable and connect this way. Does DP carry audio ? If it does, is it full HD audio signal or is it compressed in any way ?

2. Get a USB 3 dock and gain more connection ports, however I am not sure what quality I can expect from such a setup running Full HD resolution. And again, there is the question of sound !

3. Get a Miracast dongle (Microsoft or 3rd party) and try my luck with wireless display technology. They say it supports Full HD however I would like to hear from someone who actually has some experience with this. This seems like the most elegant solution for my needs, but will it work ?

Main usage scenario would be to watch streaming video and movies from external HDD. Also some web browsing and maybe occasional Civ 5 round.

Any help and suggestions much appreciated, I have had my SP3 for just one day, so many more (educated) questions probably coming ;-)

Thanks

DK

 

[hughlle]

Ha, hi DK

I went from 1 (kinda) to 3, to 2. Originally I used to use a mDP adaptor and then an HDMI to DVI cable/HDMI cable, and it worked just great, audio and everything (cannot tell you what the statistical quality of the audio was though, but it wasn't problematic for me in any way, same as i'm used to given it was coming out of my tv, and not through my AV receiver. I ended up replacing it as it was just a bit annoying having so many cables hanging out of the surface.

Then I bought a miracast dongle (Microsoft WDA) and it works just great, but had enough hiccups (possibly due to a 720p resolution, I don't know) that made it great as a quick way to watch a film, but was not adequet for web browsing etc, mine was just nothing but blury text (it is interesting to note that it doesn't simply mirror your screen, in that occasionally mine would display on the TV in its 3:2 aspect ratio, but then upon playing a film, it would then readjust the TV to play it full screen, so clearly it is doing more than simply mirroring the display).

Then I bought a Kensington DisplayLink dock because it was only £60 on amazon on their prime day, and I have a couple of issues with the usb (for some reason my MX anywhere mouse just doesn't work unless I move the dongle into a different usb slot each time I turn the mouse on) but this has been by far the best solution for me yet, albeit a more expensive one. If I had been able to justify it, I would have gone straight for the MS dock.

I'd say that something like miracast is good as a quick fix, but for long term steady use I would suggest either the cable or the dock. The dock killed many birds with one stone (Ethernet port, additional usb 3.0 and 2.0 ports, multiple display out options etc). the only downside that I am aware of regarding this kind of usb 3.0 hub is that it does place a small demand on the system, but nothing major. It still seems to run just fine and I'm still able to play the games I could prior to using it.