Composite Video

• Purchase a special graphics card for your computer that not only improves the computer's ability to process images but also provides output connections that you can plug directly into your television. On the graphic card, look for a yellow connector that looks like the speaker connector on your stereo. Purchase an RCA, or "tulip," cable for composite video with three wires---one tagged yellow, another red and another white. (The white provides the video signal and the red and yellow the audio left and right.) On the back of the computer, connect the yellow wire to the yellow tulip connector on the graphic card and the red and white wires to the red and white outputs, respectively, on the sound card on the back of the computer. Run the cable to the back or side of your TV and plug the other ends into the red, white and yellow connectors on the television where it reads "In" or "Input." Select the appropriate input to view on your TV remote: Push the "Video" or "Input" button and cycle through until you see the computer's picture on the TV screen. Most TVs sold since the turn of the century have RCA/tulip inputs.
  
  

S-VHS

• Most TVs built since the '90s have a black four- or seven-pin connector called an S-VHS connector input on the back. The S-VHS input may or may not carry an audio signal; if not, run the audio through an RCA input from your computer's sound card to the audio input on your TV or to your home video sound system. Again, use your remote's "Video" or "Input" button to cycle through the inputs until the screen shows "S-VHS."
  
  

TV-Out

• Many laptops and computers have graphics cards with a "TV-Out" connector that uses a standard cable connection. The computer generally sends both the video and audio signals through the connection; simply hook up the cable to the cable input on the back of your TV, VCR/DVD player or satellite box.
  
  

Converter

• If your computer lacks some or all of the above connections, purchase a converter box that plugs into the regular monitor connection and converts the signal into a composite or S-VHS signal or cable connection that your television can process. Connect the computer's monitor plug to the converter box and then a composite, RCA or TV cable from the converter to the television. If necessary, connect the audio signal separately from the computer's audio outputs to the television's audio outputs.