V G A To H D M I On Television

[ChillDoubt]

Hoping for some form of definitive answer from you techies. I can usually solve these problems myself but this one has me stumped.
Recently bought a new LG 42" LED TV. I want to duplicate my laptop screen on said telly. Bought a VGA to HDMI cable for the purpose, however it doesn't seem to work.
Here's the rub: Many sites tell me that VGA to HDMI cannot be done and that I will need a VGA convertor, however when looking on youTube it's apparent that many have completed the task fairly easily with the same cable as myself. I've gone into Display Settings etc and gone through the correct procedure but am still having no joy.
Any ideas? Will I definitely need to get a VGA convertor?
Or can I alternatively use this lead?:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331123941607?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&var=540337182701&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

All help, advice/tips greatly appreciated!

[ChillDoubt]

This is the youTube vid I watched, pretty much followed that to the letter with the same equipment(different laptop and tv, obviously) but have had no joy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wTgqCS9ONM

[VHG]

Two things come to mind

First, have you changed your laptop settings so the screen signal is coming out the laptop VGA connector to go to the TV. You normally have to do this if you plug in an external monitor or a projector.

How you do it does vary from laptop to laptop but it often involves pressing one of the "F" keys at the top of the keyboard to switch to the external monitor. You may need to press an "Fn" key before pressing the F key. If in doubt check the documentation for your laptop.

Secondly, have you changed your TV settings so it is displaying what is coming IN via that HDMI connector.

Normally you have to press a button on the remote control so it goes through the various inputs on the TV (normal TV, HDMI1, HDMI2, external and so on).

So if you do a combination of making sure the signal is going OUT of the laptop and making sure you are viewing the right "channel" where the signal is coming IN to the TV it should work.

[VHG]

Simple question.

Has your laptop got a HDMI connector or only a VGA connector?

[ChillDoubt]

VHG,
It has both, however the HDMI port on the laptop is the one where one corner is not chamfered, whereas some laptops I see have the port that is doubly chamfered i.e. mirrors the port on the TV.

[VHG]

After doing a bit more research it seem JUST a cable will not work.

You DO need a VGA to HDMI converter.

This is because the signal OUT the VGA is analog, but the signal needed for HDMI is digital.

So you need to convertor box to convert the analog signal to digital signal.

I have never done VGA to HDMI, I have only ever done hdmi to hdmi which works straight away (because both ends are digital).

[VHG]

I think the one with the single chamfered port is NOT HDMI but a DisplayPort connector.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort

I have not got a DisplayPort on any of my PCs/laptops, but it looks like it is a digital connection.

So you could buy a DisplayPort to HDMI cable and use that.

Or just buy a DisplayPort to HDMI converter then use a standard HDMI cable to connect it to the TV.

Note I have never done this but from looking on the internet it should work.

[VHG]

Here is an example of a DisplayPort to HDMI converter.

It does not do anything "fancy" it purely converts the Displayport connector to HDMI so you can then use a normal HDMI to HDMI cable.

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

[Old_Geezer]

Not any real help I suspect but when I needed to go from HDMI to VGA I needed an adaptor not simply a cable that switched pins/signals.

[whiskeryron]

I have linked my PC to the TV by simply using a VGA cable from the PC to the TV. Can you not do this ?

[ChillDoubt]

I have linked my PC to the TV by simply using a VGA cable from the PC to the TV. Can you not do this ?
----------------
No Ron, as explained in the lengthy OP! LOL

[ChillDoubt]

Problem solved. I bought the cable from the eBay link in my OP and that has solved my issue.
Thanks to all for their input.