When you want to play video games but someone else in your house is watching their favorite shows on TV, it can be annoying.
So, you might be wondering if you can use your laptop’s screen as a replacement.
Find out how to do it by reading on.
Using Your Laptop As A Monitor
Unfortunately, all you have to do to use your laptop as a monitor for your PS4 is plug in the HDMI cable. This is because both laptops and PS4s have HDMI outputs, but neither is made to take HDMI input.
But the good news is that you can still use your laptop as a monitor—just it’s a little trickier than you might think.
You can connect your PS4 to your laptop in several ways, but the two easiest are to use a capture card or a streaming service/Remote Play.
Using a video capture card to connect your laptop and PS4
A video capture card is a small piece of hardware that lets you watch and record content from your console on another device. Some devices aren’t too expensive, and you can buy them through Amazon.com.
Most people who stream or record console games use a video capture card.
Unfortunately, they aren’t the best for direct gaming because the input delay usually causes lag, but if you don’t mind recording your games on the screen, they should work fine.
You will need
Laptop
PS4 Console
HDMI cable
Video Capture Card
S-Video Connection cable
Step 1
Plug your video capture card into your laptop’s USB port, and use the installation suite to set up the program.
Step 2:
Connect the video capture card to your PS4 using an S-Video cable, which you can buy online. Next, connect the HDMI-in to the video capture card and the HDMI-out to the PS4.
Step 3:
Turn on your PS4 and run the software for your video capture card on your laptop. Your console should now show up on your screen, and you are ready to play.
Remote Play lets you connect your laptop and PS4.
If you don’t know what Remote Play is, it is a streaming service that Sony offers.
Remote Play lets people with PCs or Macs play PS4 games on their computer monitors. It can also work on laptops.
For remote play, you’ll need
a laptop
a PS4 console
a PS4 Account
an Internet connection
and a USB cable.
Step 1:
Go to Sony’s website on your laptop to get the latest version of the Remote Play app. Make sure you choose the version of the app that works with either your Windows or Mac OS.
Step 2:
Once everything is set up, turn on your PS4 and go to the settings menu. From there, you should be able to do the following to allow a Remote Play connection:
Settings > Remote Play Connections > Enable
To use Remote Play, you’ll need to keep your console on but to save power, it’s best to leave it in “rest mode.” To do this, you can go to:
Settings > Power Save Settings > Set Features Available in Rest Mode > Allow Turning on PS4 from Network.
Step 3:
Once you’ve downloaded Remote Play to your PC, go to Settings and change the fps and resolution to match your screen for the best gaming experience. The more powerful your laptop, the higher you can set the graphic settings.
Step 4:
You can use the USB port on your laptop to hook up your PS4 controller. You can also connect it wirelessly by holding down the Share and PlayStation buttons on your controller at the same time.
Once the LED lights start flashing, use the USB controller to connect your controller to your laptop. It will take about four to five seconds to pair, but you can do it again if you need to.
Step 5:
Now, open the Remote Play app on your laptop and sign in with your PlayStation Network account information. Make sure your PS4 is on, even if it’s in rest mode, or you won’t be able to connect it to your laptop.
You should now be able to use your laptop to play PS4 games.
Using PSNow To Play PS4 Games
Sony’s PSNow is a cloud gaming service that lets you play PS4 games from a PC or laptop over the internet.
You don’t need a physical PS4 to use it. It works through the PlayStation Network, and the media is sent to you directly.
The quality will depend on how fast your internet connection is, and if it’s not very fast, you’ll notice a lag with input delay.
PSNow is great because you don’t need a real PS4 or any other console to use it. But it can be pretty expensive because you have to buy the games, which isn’t great if you already have them on your console.
FAQs on How To Use Laptop As Monitor For PS4
Do I need Remote Play for PS4 games on my laptop?
You don’t have to use Remote Play, but it is by far the easiest and cheapest way to use your laptop as a monitor for your PS4.
How well will my PS4 work on my laptop?
You will need an HDMI cable, a video capture card, or Remote Play to use your laptop as a monitor.
For these things to work well, you need a good internet connection. If you don’t, there will be a delay between your controller and your laptop.
Also, if your laptop isn’t very good, it might have trouble running your PS4 well. If your laptop is on the lower end, make sure you set the frames per second (fps) and resolution to match its specs so it can handle it.
How do I know if my laptop can accept or send HDMI?
It’s hard to find a laptop with an HDMI input because it can be hard to set it up correctly.
Most laptops have HDMI output, but they can only get a video signal from their own motherboard. This means you can’t usually plug other output devices into your laptop.
Check your laptop’s specs to see if it can send or receive HDMI signals. If it has an HDMI port, you should be able to use the HDMI cable to connect your PS4 to your laptop.
Can I play PS4 games on my laptop without using Remote Play?
No, it’s not necessary to use remote play. As was said above, you can use HDMI or a video capture card to play games on your laptop’s monitor.
When you connect through HDMI, you have to use the remote play app.
But you don’t have to download the Remote Play app if you connect the video capture card. You can follow the steps in the first method we talked about above.
One last tip to Avoid Premature Laptop Blues
We’d like to remind you of something else now that you know how to use a laptop monitor to play your PS4. So, it doesn’t have anything to do with how to play PS4 on a laptop. Still, it has to do with your favorite rig.
We’re sure that your portable rig is glad that you’re finally paying attention to it. But what good is a pet owner who doesn’t care about their pets’ health? So give us a minute to explain.
Even though you might not be able to see the load on your laptop when you use it as an external monitor to stream your PS4 games, it is there. Because of this, you should buy a good cooler to keep the parts inside your rig from giving up on you.
Also, don’t play for hours on end without stopping. It is bad for both your laptop and your health as a whole.
How do you hook up more than one monitor? What if 2 people aren’t enough? Then check out our guide on how to connect three monitors to your laptop. It’s three in one!
We hope that whether you use an HDMI connection or Remote Play to play PS4 on your laptop, you have a great time.
We would give you a platinum trophy for going the extra mile and doing the research, but that would be against the rules of the game.
Let’s Recap
So, if you were wondering how to use a laptop as a monitor for a PS4, we’ve got you covered. We’ve talked about two easy ways to do this. Each step in either process takes less than two minutes, so you won’t have to wait long before you can run, play, and enjoy your PS4 games on a desktop screen.
You can connect your PS4 to your laptop using a Video Capture Card or a Remote Play. Both ways are easy to use, but we recommend using Remote Play because Sony has made it an official alternative way to stream games.
In conclusion How To Use Laptop As a Monitor For PS4
PS4 has always been a big part of a gamer’s entertainment, but the current pandemic and its rules about social distance have made this console even more fun to play at home than it was before.
Because it’s a safe way to talk to people, we encourage everyone to use these instead of going out.
Still, have queries or confusion? Tell us what you think in the comments.
