Last updated on January 23rd, 2024 at 02:18 am
You can watch a DVD on a TV without a DVD player by connecting an HDMI laptop with a DVD drive to your TV. You can also rip your DVD, upload it to YouTube and watch it on your TV with a TV box.
Those are the ways to watch a DVD on a TV without a DVD player.
The best way to watch a DVD on a TV is through a DVD player.
These days DVD players come with HDMI connections. You can easily connect them to HDTVs.
Also, if you have a Blu-ray player, you’ll have no problem playing a DVD on a TV. Blu-ray players are backwards compatible with DVD
But what if you have a faulty DVD player or don’t have the budget to buy one?
Rest easy, as you can still watch a DVD on a TV without a DVD player.
Chances are you may already have the equipment as stated below.
Here are the ways you can do it.
Rip Your DVD
If your computer has a DVD-ROM drive, you can easily rip your DVDs to a digital format.
You can then copy the digital file, usually, MP4, to a USB flash drive and plug it into your TV to play the file.
You can always use a free DVD ripper program to do the job for you.
Ripping your DVDs to digital files is a good idea. DVDs don’t last forever. They’re susceptible to DVD rot.
When DVD rot happens, you risk losing your DVD content. You would not want this to happen with DVDs containing personal memories.
Upload Your DVD to YouTube
If you have a smart TV, you can watch YouTube videos over it.
So, after ripping your DVDs, you can upload your video files to YouTube.
Then using the YouTube app on your smart TV, you can watch YouTube videos.
Non-Smart TV Alternative
Even if you don’t have a smart TV, you can still watch your DVDs on YouTube.
For this, you would need a TV box.
You can easily connect an Android TV box to your HDTV.
Most Android TV boxes come with the YouTube app installed.
Check out the video below on how to connect a TV box to your HDTV.
Connect Your Laptop to Your DVD Drive
If you have a laptop with a DVD drive, you may try this method. Even if your laptop doesn’t have a built-in unit, you can still buy an external USB DVD drive for cheap and connect it to your laptop.
Your laptop must also have an HDMI out port. You can connect your laptop HDMI to your TV HDMI port with an HDMI cable.
When you do this, you can see whatever is on your computer screen on your TV.
All you’ll need is then play your DVD on your laptop through your DVD drive and watch it on your TV.
Watch the video below for guidance on how to connect your computer to your TV via HDMI to play DVDs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I plug an external DVD drive into an HDTV and play a DVD?
No, you can’t. An external DVD drive is meant to be used with a computer only. For an external DVD drive to work, a driver is required.
The driver can only be installed on a computer and not on a TV.
I Don’t Have a Laptop with HDMI. Can I Connect My Desktop Computer to My TV to Play My DVD?
Yes, you can if there’s a DVD drive on your computer. Also, you would need an HDMI card installed into your computer motherboard.
An HDMI card will help transfer video and audio from your computer to your TV screen.
