How to make a normal TV a Smart TV within 20 seconds, at zero cost

By Ankita Garg: Are you using a normal TV without any smart features? Well, there are several ways to convert your normal TV into a Smart TV, but you also need to spend a few thousand rupees to achieve that. People who can spend some money can buy devices like Amazon Fire TV Stick or any other stick to convert normal TV into a Smart TV, or use a smart setup box like JioFiber's smart set-top box or Tata Play Binge+ set-top box. People who don't want to spend money can try the method that we have mentioned below.

It is pretty simple and you don't need to do much to make your normal TV a Smart TV. You should just have an HDMI cable and a laptop that has a port for this. A lot of people have these things at home and so, it should not be a problem for anyone. If you don't have an HDMI cable, then you can buy it via Amazon and it will cost you at least Rs 179 or a little more than that depending on the quality, features, and brand you are buying.

Note: Do make sure that your laptop has an HDMI port for this method to work. Most laptops have this port, but it is still better to check because there are several that don't offer the same because of maybe a slim form factor or other reasons.

Once you have both an HDMI cable and a laptop that has a port for this cable, you are all set. It will take less than 20 seconds to convert your normal TV into a smart one. We will be casting the laptop's screen on the TV, which will make your normal TV a smart television.

-Just connect your laptop with the TV using the HDMI cable. Attach one side of the cable to the TV's HDMI port and the other side to the laptop.

-After this, use the TV's remote to switch to HDMI in the inputs section. Every remote has an input button, so you just need to find that and your work will be done.

-The laptop's screen will appear on the TV and you can then stream any video on it. You obviously won't be able to control the TV from a remote as you can do that using your laptop. For example, if you want to watch Netflix, just open it on laptop, select a video, and make it full screen.

The picture quality is decent and clarity also depends on the resolution that you have chosen in the video streaming app. Since you are casting the laptop's screen on the TV, this will likely degrade the picture quality by certain levels, but not by a very big margin. And, yes, users will get slightly better picture quality with a Smart TV Stick or Smart Set Top box that we have mentioned above. But, if you don't want to spend a few thousand rupees on third-party devices to make the TV smart, then you will have to compromise somewhere. This laptop trick is great for many and gets the work done. People will be able to watch content on a bigger screen.