You can easily connect the PS4 or PS4 Pro to a computer monitor so you can play games wherever you are. In most cases, you already have what it takes to use the PS4 with a monitor, but depending on how old the monitor is, you may need to purchase an adapter.
This is a great way to play PS4 games at your desk; this might be a better setting for an FPS (First Person Shooter) where you want to be closer to the screen.
You can also set up a second monitor at your desk to quickly switch to gaming when you want to play after a long work session or finishing a task for work. If you live your life in front of a desk monitor, this may be the best solution for you.
Depending on the type of monitor you have, connecting a PS4 to a monitor is not as easy as a regular television.
Here’s a look at what you need to connect your PS4 to a monitor and how you can use it for gaming wherever there’s a handy monitor. There are many different types of monitors and monitor connections, so you may need to purchase an accessory or adapter to get this job done.
For the most part, it comes down to having a few accessories to choose from that allow you to connect your PS4 to any computer monitor.
before you start
First, before doing anything, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the connections of your PS4 and computer monitor. Make a note of the connections available on your computer monitor as well as the connection types the PS4 uses.
As for the video and audio connections, the PS4 has an HDMI port and an optical audio port. While HDMI can carry both video and audio, most computer monitors do not have built-in speakers; this means you will need an external audio source if you want sound or plug in headphones to your PS4 controller.
Cheaper or older computer monitors do not have HDMI but instead have DVI or VGA. This is important to note, as you will need an adapter to convert the HDMI port on your PS4 to one of the other video ports on your monitor.
Connecting Your PS4
The best case scenario is that your computer monitor has an HDMI port and built-in speakers. This is what you’ll find for most new monitors and especially gaming monitors. In this case, you only need an HDMI cable. You probably have one, but if you don’t you can get along fine from Amazon for $6.99. Plug one end of the cable into your PS4 and the other end into your computer monitor and start playing.
Your computer monitor can play PS4 audio through its built-in speakers with an HDMI cable, but this is not always possible. Check online reviews to see if your monitor supports this. The odds are good, you’ll want to use headphones or better speakers, so it’s not a deal breaker if it doesn’t work.
If your monitor does not have an HDMI port, you will need an adapter. This will allow you to plug the PS4 or PS4 Pro into a DVI port.
Buy HDMI-DVI adapter cable To plug your PS4 into your computer monitor via DVI connection.
If your monitor only has one VGA port, that probably means it’s really old and could still use an upgrade. If you are using VGA, you will see significant image quality degradation. Better than buying a new monitor like the Monoprice. Watch the deal on Amazon.
In any case, audio is a bit more complicated than video when connecting your PS4 to a computer monitor, because PS4 only supports digital/optical audio output. However, there are several ways to handle the situation, and most of them require a converter box to convert digital/optical audio to a connection that you can plug into regular speakers.
If your monitor doesn’t have built-in speakers, you’ll need some sort of external audio source, whether it’s a regular pair of computer speakers or a stereo system you can use. You will connect your PS4’s audio directly to these speakers.
However, seeing that there are multiple ways to connect audio to your speakers depending on the speakers you have, we’ll go over some common cases and what tools you’ll need for each.
If your speakers are connected using the 3.5mm headphone jack, you will need a few items: a digital optical TOSLINK audio cablea digital optical to RCA converterand one RCA to 3.5mm adapter cable. Once you have these, plug one end of the TOSLINK cable into the optical audio port on your PS4 and the other end into the converter. Next, plug the red and white ends of the RCA adapter cable into the converter, and then plug the 3.5mm male connector into your speakers.
If your external speakers are connected using the RCA red and white input jacks, you can use a digital optical TOSLINK audio cable, a digital optical to RCA converter and a RCA cable. Plug them all in as you did in the previous method, but on the other end you will have the red and white RCA plugs and then plug them into your speaker system to get PS4 sound.
If you only want to use headphones, this is probably the better option, as you won’t need all the converter equipment and you can plug them directly into the headphone jack on the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller. From there, you’ll want to hold down the PS button and then switch to the headset.
It’s important to note that if you’re playing your PS4’s sound via the digital optical output, you’ll need to change your PS4’s sound settings from the menu. Select From there and then select the type of connection you have set up for audio (digital optical audio) under it.
However, perhaps an easier way to change this setting is to select under the menu which will send audio to all connections regardless of what is plugged in.
Additional coverage by Craig Lloyd
Last update on 2022-03-08. This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to read our disclosure policy for more details. Images via Amazon API
