Using PC to game on Smart TV

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juliant

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#275677 3-Sep-2020 14:08

Have a LG Oled TV and was thinking it would be nice to use a xbox controller or similar to game from the couch console style from time to time

However I want to keep the PC in the other room. I have managed to get the TV and PC to see each other wirelessly via miracast so I get the PC screen on the TV.

However I dont see how a controller can be connected to the TV (USB cable or dongle?) and control the game - does it not have to be seen by the PC in the other room?

I dont have a controller to try at the moment. I did connect my Logitech K400 wireless keyboard to the TV and this works to control the TV functions/apps, but it won't work with the windows desktop.

For example I wanted to be able to run skygo from my PC, mirror it to the TV and have the K400 work within Skygo to change channels etc within Skygo without having to go back to the room with the PC to do it. I do have Skygo running on the TV but have to go back to the PC to change channels etc. Anyone done this sort of thing?

trig42

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#2556368 3-Sep-2020 14:15

The controller needs to be connected to the PC, not the TV.

If it can work wirelessly to the PC in another room (very doubtful) then all good.

Some bluetooth devices will work up to about 10m. Not sure about controllers and keyboards though.

juliant

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#2556375 3-Sep-2020 14:34

I have an older PC currently connected by HDMI to the Smart TV. Can I connect a controller to that and have the older PC networked to the gaming PC in the other room and do it that way?

ShinyChrome

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#2556382 3-Sep-2020 14:45

juliant:

I have an older PC currently connected by HDMI to the Smart TV. Can I connect a controller to that and have the older PC networked to the gaming PC in the other room and do it that way?

If it is capable of interfacing with your controller over bluetooth/cord/whatever, and you can run some sort of game-streaming app from your gaming PC, maybe. That would be at the mercy of the latency of the connection in-between though. It will be much the same story with anything making a direct connection to your PC in the other room as well.

I haven't looked too much at it myself, but Nvidia's GameStream app is an option, albeit one requiring a Shield and compatible Nvidia GPU.

The easiest way by far would be to hook it up all up directly. I have used an Xbox controller over bluetooth with a PC hooked up to my TV to play games on Steam etc.

toejam316

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#2556578 3-Sep-2020 16:46

Steam in home streaming, or Parsec both fit the bill.

https://store.steampowered.com/remoteplay#anywhere

https://parsecgaming.com/

Join Quic Broadband with my referral - no sign up fee and gives me account credit

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

Edwood

218 posts

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#2573157 24-Sep-2020 07:05

I've used a bunch of methods to do this including Steam Link App on my Samsung Frame TV.

Connection from PS4 controller -> TV

Streaming from 'gaming pc' -> TV

Performance was a bit blah with a low spec gaming pc and wifi connection (May have also been this issue). Somewhere, Valve says you can stream 4k @ 60fps like this. I'm keen to try it all again just for shiggles, but right now I just move my laptop and plug it in to the TV via HDMI. I also purchased a nice gaming laptop to make this easy, but that turned into a nightmare due to unrelated retailer problems and now I'm back to square 1 and working out a desktop solution.

The 2-PC option also works with Steam Link / Remote Play.

I use PS4 controller, but Steam treats it like an XBox controller so games always give me Xbox button hints. It's a PITA even after your brain learns to quickly convert X - > [] and B -> O etc...

gcorgnet

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#2573158 24-Sep-2020 07:08

I second the Nvidia Shield option. It can be a tad clunky to set up but once it works, it works well.

Note: getting your PC and your TV to talk wirelessly might not be the best idea to do that and I'd suggest trying to get them both wired into the network.

I had both TV and PC on 1GB ethernet and could't really see any issues with conenction or latency.

Only drawback, as you can guess is that you're PC is essentially displaying the game at the same time and therefore cannot be used to do other work/web browsing or anything.

Hope this helps.

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Edwood

218 posts

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#2573218 24-Sep-2020 08:26

I've had a bit of a play with Remote Play / Steam Link this morning and the biggest conclusion is, again, don't use a PS4 controller.

Steam Link doesn't support DS4 and forum searches indicate something in Sony BT implementation is odd (anti-competitive?). Either way, DS4 wired is fine, or wireless to your host machine if it's close enough... but if it's close enough, just use HDMI!? I remember now, that last time I did this I had the controller connected to the host machine and the controller lag became unbearable.

Aside from that, I think my other quality issues are just because my laptop is a low spec office worker.

Dairyxox

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#2573274 24-Sep-2020 10:00

I do this using my xbox controller, Apple TV streamed from my PC using steamlink.