If you want to set up a big-screen TV without spending much, a budget projector is a suitable option. Unlike TVs, inexpensive projectors don’t come with Smart TV-like features. As a result, most people view projectors as dumb devices and only work if you connect something to it.
While it’s mostly true; however, you can access Live TV on your projector without any hassles. Suppose you don’t plan on buying a Cable Top Box or Satellite TV. In that case, you can use your projector to watch TV at a lower price and without any confusing contracts.
Hence, in this article, we’ll answer how to watch TV on projector without cable box and set it up in a few simple steps.
How to Watch TV on Projector without Cable Box?
In only three 3 steps you can watch normal TV on projector without any fuss:
- Step 1: Make sure your projector has an HDMI port
- Step 2: Get streaming media players like Amazon Fire TV Stick
- Step 3: Subscribe to TV streaming services like Sling TV, YouTube TV, etc.
If you’re wondering, can you watch normal TV on a projector? Then here’s your 3-step answer.
Suppose you are not able to understand the above steps, then don’t worry. Below, I’ve explained how to watch TV on projector without cable box in detail.
How to Set Up a Projector to Watch TV?
In reality, projectors are very similar to modern TVs; however, they do not have a built-in TV tuner. Hence, it is enough to stop you from watching Live TV on a projector.
All you need to make sure is that your projector has an HDMI port. Older projectors don’t have HDMI port(s), which can be a little problematic for using a projector as a TV.
Suppose your current projector doesn’t have an HDMI port. In that case, you can get a brand new projector with multiple HDMI ports and superb display quality for less than $300. In other cases, you can use adapters to convert VGA or D-Sub connectors to HDMI input, but the result won’t be good.
Once you have a projector with an HDMI port, you can now get a streaming media player like Amazon Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, or Roku Streaming Stick. Using this player, you can watch cable TV content on a projector.
How to Connect Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, or Roku TV to projector?
The connection is very straightforward! No matter which streaming media player you get, you can easily connect them to your projector through the HDMI port.
For example, Amazon’s Fire TV Stick looks like an elongated pen drive. However, it has an HDMI male connector on one end, whereas your projector has a female port.
Line up the devices properly, and you can effortlessly connect Fire TV Stick to projector. The same goes with Chromecast, Roku Streaming Stick, or any other streaming media player available in the market.
There will be an initial setup process if you’re using a streaming media player for the first time. This setup takes hardly 5 minutes, and the device will be ready to use.
Also Read: How to Connect Cable Box to Projector in 3 Steps
How to Watch Live TV on Projector without Projector?
Once you set up your projector and streaming media player, it’s time to move on to our next step.
When everything is moving forward on to the internet, why should Live TV stay behind? You can watch numerous TV channels and consume hours and hours of live content without paying a single penny to your cable TV provider.
Similar to Netflix and Spotify, several services allow you to access live channels for a small monthly subscription fee. Having said that, there are also numerous services where you can watch Live TV for entirely free. You can watch live TV shows, sports, and news using such services without taking out any money from your wallet.
I’ll walk you through all the free and paid TV services you can access through Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, or Roku TV and watch it on your projector.
5 Premium TV Services to Watch on your Projector
There are hundreds of premium live TV services available; however, down below, we’ve highlighted a select few, which are popular among the masses.
- Sling TV
- Fubo TV
- Hulu with Live TV
- YouTube TV
- DirecTV
All 4 services are a great alternative to cable TV and offer similar features like cloud DVR, program guides, and save in numerous hidden charges.
Each service has its own distinctive pricing and tiers for you to subscribe according to your requirements. The good thing is, each service offers you a Free Trial to test drive each of them before you finalize one.
Sling TV is the cheapest cable TV alternative service and starts at $35/month. However, for the price, you also get limited features and lesser channels. You can choose Sling TV Orange or Blue package for $35/month or buy both for $50/month.
The orange pack offers 32 channels, whereas the Blue pack offers 43 channels. Plus, you cannot do simultaneous streams on the Orange pack, whereas the Blue pack offers 3 simultaneous streams.
On the other hand, services like Fubo TV, Hulu Plus Live TV, and YouTube TV are priced at $65/month. Each service offers 100+, 70+, and 85+ channels, respectively. Moreover, you also get extra channels, including ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC channels, which could be missing in Sling TV depending on your region.
8 Free TV Services to Watch on your Projector
There are countless free TV services available that allow you to watch your favorite TV shows, live news, and sports without paying anything. All the services mentioned below are legal and legit ways to watch live TV on your projector without cable box for free. It includes:
- Peacock TV
- Roku Channel
- Stirr
- Pluto TV
- NewsON
- Tubi
- Crackle
- FilmRise
As you can see, there are several Free TV services you can use to either watch your favorite TV shows, sports, news, and movies. However, you don’t always get your favorite TV channels with free TV services. You’ll need to work with newer or non-popular TV channels.
Although, services like Peacock and Roku Channel offer you a good amount of content for free. Peacock is a Freemium service, and within the free tier, it offers an extensive collection of TV shows, movies, news, and sports channel. The monthly pricing is also low as the premium tiers start at $4.99 and $9.99 a month.
The Roku Channel, as the name suggests, is only available on the Roku TV platform. It offers an extensive collection of TV shows, sports, live news, and movie titles for you to watch without paying anything extra.
If you aren’t particular about what to watch, then Roku Channel will be sufficient for you. It offers a whopping 150 live TV channels for your to watch and includes a program guide similar to premium TV services and your cable TV. The free channels offer you access to weather, sports, reality TV, kids’ entertainment, and more.
You can also stream live news channels from ABC News, NBC News Now, Reuters, Yahoo, and USA Today through the Roku Channel. You can also stream your local news channel, making the Roku streaming media player a valuable purchase.
Pluto TV is also a popular free TV streaming service. You get 100+ channels that are free to watch on the Pluto TV along with program guide. Moreover, the service offers more than 1000 movies on demand for free.
On the other hand, Tubi is like a free alternative to Netflix. While, the content library isn’t as vast, but you get to watch thousand of movies and TV shows for free.
Also Read: 7 Best Movies to Watch on a Projector
Frequently Asked Questions
How to watch Live TV on an Outdoor Projector?
Suppose your outdoor projector has easy access to your home Wi-Fi. In that case, you can connect Fire TV Stick, Chromecast, or Roku Stick and follow the steps mentioned above to watch Live TV on an outdoor projector.
Can you connect Cable TV to a Projector?
Yes, you can effortlessly connect cable TV to your projector. Modern cable TV boxes come with HDMI connectivity ports. If your projector also has an HDMI port, you can quickly connect cable TV to a projector through an HDMI cable.
Do projectors have HDMI?
Modern projectors come with an HDMI connectivity as standard; the same cannot be said about older projectors. In case your projector isn’t 10+ years old, then it will indeed have an HDMI port.
How to connect FireStick to Projector without HDMI?
By default, Amazon Fire TV Stick comes with an HDMI connectivity port. However, you can purchase an HDMI adapter and connect it to a preferred connectivity port, e.g., VGA, DVI-D, and D-Sub ports.
Can Projector be used as a TV?
Yes! A projector is just like a modern TV. It can connect to your Cable TV box and supports streaming media players. Few modern projectors like LG PF50KA, Wemax Dice, and Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS300 come with Smart TV-like features.
Do you need a Cable Box to watch TV on Projector?
No! You don’t need a cable box to watch TV on the projector. We’ve mentioned above in detail how to watch TV on projector without cable box.
How to Watch Cable Channels without a Cable Box?
You can use services like Sling TV, Fubo TV, or Youtube TV to watch cable channels without a cable box.
How to Watch Live Sports on Projector?
Suppose you’re using FireStick, Chromecast, or Roku. In that case, several free and paid services allow you to watch live sports right from your projector.
Conclusion
I hope this guide on how to watch TV on projector without cable box helped solve your query.
As you’ve seen, it is straightforward to implement, plus you’ll save a lot of money compared to a cable TV box.
If you have any queries, please make sure to leave your questions in the comment section below.
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