How To Use A Laptop As A Monitor For Your Playstation 3

Both Sony and Microsoft have made their consoles capable of connecting to any TV set using HDMI cables. However, not everyone has an HDMI cable at home, that’s why you need the help of a laptop in order to display your Playstation 3 games on it.

There are many different ways that you can use a laptop as a monitor for PS3. But we will discuss the ways that work perfectly well.

Can I Use My Laptop As A Monitor For PS3?

Definitely yes. An average laptop has enough horsepower to run whatever game you want on your PS3. You can even play high-end PC games on your laptop.

The performance difference between a console and a PC is negligible at this point, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use your laptop monitor for gaming.

If you are playing Xbox360 you should consider reading How To Use Your Laptop As a Monitor For Xbox 360?

How To Use A Laptop As A Monitor For PS3?

If you want to use a laptop as a monitor for PS3, you have probably noticed that it cannot be done very easily. You cannot hook up your Playstation 3 to your laptop with a VGA cable and expect it to work. It will not work. There are ways to do it, but it is not very simple. Let’s discuss this below.

Connect PS3 To Laptop Monitor

To connect your PlayStation 3 console to your laptop display, you’ll need an HDMI cable that supports video output from the PlayStation 3.

It’s important to note that not all PS3 HDMI cables support video output, so you’ll need to make sure that it does before trying to use it for this purpose.

Some HDMI cables only support audio and power going through them, but won’t support video from the PS3.

If you’re not sure if your cable will work, check the product description or look for an HDMI cable that says it supports both audio and video output from the PlayStation 3.

Connect the HDMI cable or a Mini DisplayPort cable to the back of the PlayStation 3.
Connect the other side of a Mini DisplayPort, or HDMI cable to your laptop.
Turn on the laptop and make sure the input is set to your correct connection, if you used an HDMI cable, select HDMI 1 or 2 depending on what port you used.
Now turn on your PlayStation 3.

Change the Display Settings on the Playstation 3

Here is how you can change the display settings on PS3 to use a laptop as a monitor for your PS3:

Step 1: On your PlayStation 3, go to Settings, followed by Display Settings.
Step 2: Go to Video Output Settings and then select HDMI.
Step 3: Enable the HDMI feature on your laptop. If it does not work after enabling this feature, go back to the Video Output Settings menu and select when your computer asks you if it is okay to change the settings.
Step 4: Go to your PlayStation 3 and select HDMI as the output device.

Change the Display Settings on the Laptop

If you have an external monitor connected to your laptop, you will need to change the display settings in order for your laptop screen to be used as a monitor. Otherwise, your PS3 screen will be displayed on both screens instead of only on one monitor.

You can change the display settings on your laptop to use the laptop screen as a monitor. The advantage of this method is that you don’t need any cables or additional hardware, but it can only be done with laptops that have an HDMI port.

1. Right-click on the desktop and select Graphics Properties from the menu.
2. Select Graphics Options and then Output To to open a new window with a drop-down list next to Connector.
3. Select the connector for your laptop’s HDMI port from the list, which should be labeled as HDMI in most cases.
Click OK to save your changes and close the window.
This should turn off the laptop’s regular display so you can use the laptop screen as a monitor for your PS3 instead

Use HDMI Cable

The easiest way to use your laptop as a monitor for PS3 is to connect them via the HDMI port. This method is relatively easy and doesn’t require the use of any additional cables or adapters.

Connect one end of the HDMI cable to the laptop and the other end to the PS3.

You can use a laptop as a monitor for PS3 provided you have an HDMI cable. Here’s how you can do it:

Connect the HDMI cable to the HDMI port of your PS3.
Turn on your PS3 and press the power button for about five seconds.
Take the other end of the HDMI cable and connect it to the laptop’s monitor port.
Open your laptop and go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Display.
Click on Adjust Resolution under Display and find Display Settings.
Under Display Settings, check if you can see your PS3. If yes, then select the PS3 option and click Apply (the other options are redundant).
If everything works fine, then you’ll be able to view your PS3 screen on your laptop display.

Using a VGA Cable

You can also connect your laptop to your PS3 using a VGA cable to use it as a monitor.

Use a VGA cable to connect the two devices.
Plug one end into your laptop and the other into the PlayStation 3.
Set up the PS3 resolution.
Go to Display Settings on your PlayStation 3 and choose PC Mode (not HDTV).
Select 1024×768 for 480i/480p, 1280×720 for 720p, and 1920×1080 for 1080i/1080p resolutions.
Follow any additional instructions that may pop up on your screen.

Set up your laptop resolution.
Go to Control Panel on your computer, then go to Appearance and Themes.
Click on Adjust Screen Resolution under “See Also” in the sidebar.
This will open a window with more options, including “Resolution.”
Change this setting to match the resolution you chose for the PlayStation 3 in step 2 (1024×768 for 480i/480p, 1280×720 for 720p, or 1920×1080 for 1080i/1080p).

Using a DVI Cable and Audio Cable

Take an HDMI-to-DVI cable and plug it into the HDMI input of your laptop. Then, connect the DVI end of the cable to the DVI or VGA output in the back of your PS3.

If you have a DVI to VGA adapter, plug that into the DVI output in the back of your PS3, and then plug your VGA cable into that.
Take a 3.5mm male-to-male audio cable and connect one end to your PS3 controller and the other to your computer’s headphone jack.
On your laptop, go to Settings > Display and set both displays to duplicate; this will allow you to see what’s on both screens at once.

Last Words

Whether you are using a PC, Mac, or even a laptop, the computer can be used as a monitor for PS3. The terms we will use here is PC mode and PS3 mode.

Sony has said that their PlayStation 3 is technically like any other computer with the same functioning. You could use your laptop as the main television set and then connect your PS3 on the side.