Guides · October 30, 2026
No streaming box? Use your TV as the family's biggest screen
Many TVs end up in the same place: nobody watches broadcast TV much, the smart TV apps show ads at startup and want yet another subscription, and nobody wants to buy another box or plan. So the TV sits there.
Think of it differently: a TV is first of all the biggest screen in the house. Don't install anything on it; use it as a display, and whatever you can connect to it, it can do. Here are a few uses that cost nothing extra.
1. Connect a PC: play your own videos
If you have a spare laptop or desktop, one HDMI cable turns the TV into its big screen. Home videos, the kids growing up, video files that came with courses you bought: all play directly, at full quality, in almost any format, with sound over the same cable.
- After connecting, press
Win + Pand choose Duplicate or Second screen only; - no sound? Click the speaker icon at the bottom right and choose the TV as the output device;
- turn off Sleep in the power settings so the PC doesn't nod off mid-show;
- it doesn't need a powerful PC; smooth 1080p playback is enough. What to prepare: turn an old PC into a TV media player.
2. Connect a phone or tablet: photos and video calls
Cast or cable your phone's photos and videos to the TV and the whole family can watch together, much nicer than crowding around a phone. Video calls with faraway grandparents can go on the TV too, so they're easy to see and the kids can join in.
If family videos keep piling up on your phones, gather them on the PC in folders by year and event to play any time: organizing family videos to watch on the TV.
3. A fixed channel for the kids
Put what the kids may watch into one folder on the PC and let the TV play only that: no recommendations, no ads, and nothing else starts after an episode ends. Far more control than handing over a tablet, and their eyes are further from the screen.
How to prepare the library: make a TV that only plays what you chose; how to decide daily time: ways to limit screen time, compared.
4. Controlling it from the sofa
The main hassle with a PC on the TV is walking over to click. Common options:
- Wireless keyboard and mouse: cheapest, but clicking small text from a few meters away gets tiring;
- Remote-desktop apps on your phone: they work, but the whole desktop on a phone screen is hard for kids and grandparents;
- A dedicated playback remote: the phone or tablet shows only a row of video covers; tap one and it plays full screen on the TV, then the next episode. The friendliest for kids and grandparents.
A detailed comparison: use your phone or tablet as the remote.
5. Game consoles and a second screen
A console just plugs in. When working from home, the TV can also be the computer's second screen: long documents, video meetings or showing photos to the family are all easier than on a laptop screen.
Summary
No box and no extra subscription doesn't mean a useless TV. See what you can connect: a PC, a phone or a console can all turn the TV into a big screen, playing your own videos and photos, without ads, and without a subscription for one or two shows.