Please teach me how to use a flat screen tv

So after a three-year hiatus (two years overseas, a year back) we bought a 50-inch flat screen tv with a built in Roku. It works well--it's just some bargain TCL thing. There are a few things I can't figure out.

1. When I connect my laptop with an HDMI cable to the TeeVee, it works fine, but all of my menus are so tiny that it's hard to use.

2. I'm trying to set up a Plex or Emby server on our family PC but am starting to realize that this will only work for downloaded content, not for streaming, say, some crappy bootleg anime site.

Are there any nifty Roku hacks I should know?

Is there any easy way to mirror Android boardgames from a phone onto the TV?

Thank you wise scholars of media, for your gentle tutelage.

Is that picture a view from your house?

If so, turn off the TV and go outside!

I will be watching this thread. My 25-year-old tv set will probably expire sometime in the coming months, and I will be forced to buy a 50" flat screen that we can somehow watch Netflix on. Wirelessly, I'm hoping, because my computer room and internet cable are in the opposite corner of the house from where my tv exists.

We live in a post-television world. No need to commit a wall to a telly.

Anything I watch is on a laptop or Kindle Fire. Prop one up in the living room, the dining room, the kids room, the bed room....whereves.

(sorry, craniac for going way off topic...twice!)

cranaic wrote: 1. When I connect my laptop with an HDMI cable to the TeeVee, it works fine, but all of my menus are so tiny that it's hard to use.

Check your laptop's display settings for its own screen compared to what its set for the external "monitor". More likely the issue is there than with the TV.

50" flat screen that we can somehow watch Netflix on. Wirelessly

This shouldn't be a problem. You should be able to tell before buying if the TV has Netflix installed (was written on outside of my TV's box).

Mr. White wrote: We live in a post-television world. No need to commit a wall to a telly.

Anything I watch is on a laptop or Kindle Fire. Prop one up in the living room, the dining room, the kids room, the bed room....whereves.

(sorry, craniac for going way off topic...twice!)

You have a 50" laptop screen? Damn that thing must be heavy.

Lawrence of Arabia demands a 42" screen minimum.

Mad Dog wrote:

Mr. White wrote: We live in a post-television world. No need to commit a wall to a telly.

Anything I watch is on a laptop or Kindle Fire. Prop one up in the living room, the dining room, the kids room, the bed room....whereves.

(sorry, craniac for going way off topic...twice!)

You have a 50" laptop screen? Damn that thing must be heavy.

Lawrence of Arabia demands a 42" screen minimum.

Caught it at the Paramount Theater. I'm good.

Mr. White wrote:

Mad Dog wrote:

Mr. White wrote: We live in a post-television world. No need to commit a wall to a telly.

Anything I watch is on a laptop or Kindle Fire. Prop one up in the living room, the dining room, the kids room, the bed room....whereves.

(sorry, craniac for going way off topic...twice!)

You have a 50" laptop screen? Damn that thing must be heavy.

Lawrence of Arabia demands a 42" screen minimum.

Caught it at the Paramount Theater. I'm good.

Back when it was first released?

XD

cranaic wrote: 1. When I connect my laptop with an HDMI cable to the TeeVee, it works fine, but all of my menus are so tiny that it's hard to use.

What Mad Dog said. Play with the laptop's display settings.

cranaic wrote: 2. I'm trying to set up a Plex or Emby server on our family PC but am starting to realize that this will only work for downloaded content, not for streaming, say, some crappy bootleg anime site.

Plex can play downloaded media in a lot of different formats. There are guides online, but basically you point Plex to the media via its setup screen, and then it makes a nice menu for you to browse stuff. I have music and movies playing from my Plex box.

cranaic wrote: Is there any easy way to mirror Android boardgames from a phone onto the TV?

See if you can install and run the Chromecast (Google Cast?) app first. If you have a phone running a new-ish Android version you may not even need that. Many apps support Chromecast natively and new Android versions have "cast your entire screen" built-in. If you can figure out if it's possible to cast your entire screen then you can put anything up on the TV.

Mr. White wrote:

Mad Dog wrote:

Mr. White wrote: We live in a post-television world. No need to commit a wall to a telly.

Anything I watch is on a laptop or Kindle Fire. Prop one up in the living room, the dining room, the kids room, the bed room....whereves.

(sorry, craniac for going way off topic...twice!)

You have a 50" laptop screen? **** that thing must be heavy.

Lawrence of Arabia demands a 42" screen minimum.

Caught it at the Paramount Theater. I'm good.

I saw it once in 1988, a remastered version. I went with a friend who was female and it was awkward because I think she wanted to leave the friend zone but she felt like a sister. Later when I ran into her she didn't talk to me. That happened a lot. #aspergers

I watched the most recent remastering with my son. It was awesome. Then we moved to Qatar for two years.

Mr. White wrote: Is that picture a view from your house?

If so, turn off the TV and go outside!

That's the view from my front porch, but it was a few days ago. That snow has melted during the Native American summer weather.