AV Troubleshooting - Laptop Not Displaying
How to troubleshoot laptop connection problems
- Ensure that all cables between the laptop and the system are connected correctly
- Some input panels have two VGA jacks, make sure you are plugged into the Input or Computer In jack and not the Output or Monitor jack
- If there is a monitor/no-monitor switch on the input panel, ensure that it is in the No-Monitor position
- Use as few adapters as possible (ex, use the built-in VGA port instead of using an HDMI-to-VGA adapter)
- Cycle the display settings to make sure the PC is duplicating (or extending, if desired)
- On Windows PCs, cycle through projector/display settings using Windows+P
- On Macs, check the display arrangement on the Display settings pane
- Navigate to the Display settings pane using ⌘ + F1 (Command + F1) or Apple Icon > System Preferences > Displays
- All connected displays will have a Displays window open, click Gather Windows to bring them all to the active display
- Macs extend the desktop by default when connecting a new display, you may need to find the Mirror Displays check box in the bottom-left corner of the Displays window
- Check the display resolution
- many VGA only rooms use 4:3 aspect ratio displays at 1024x768
- HDMI and HDMI/VGA rooms use 16:9 displays at 1280x720 or 1920x1080, you may need to try multiple options to find the best resolution option
- Note: Some projectors may display an error if the resolution is wrong, others will just ignore the source
- Check the display refresh rate, they should be 60Hz or 59.9Hz for all projectors
- This is more likely to be a problem on laptops brought here from outside the country
- Try closing the laptop and re-opening it
- With the laptop connected to the system, try restarting the laptop