Which devices can you use to display your Nintendo Switch’s screen on?

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Nintendo’s latest console, the hybrid Nintendo Switch, can be used either handheld or connected up to a TV. Now purists might say that handheld is the best, but I’m all about that docked life. What’s a big screen fan to do if another member of the household is using the TV to watch something? Sure, I could continue on my quest to save the Mushroom Kingdom in handheld mode, but there have to be options, right?

That prompted a search around our apartment to see just what else I could connect my Switch to and still get a video signal. The thing is, you can’t just plug your Nintendo Switch directly into a TV or other device, you’ll still need the dock, or a USB-C to HDMI adapter with the ability to convert DisplayPort over USB-C to HDMI, or the new Genki Stealth Dock.

That’s because the video output that Nintendo used, while still an official standard, isn’t a commonly used one.

So, exactly which devices can I dock my Nintendo Switch to?

Short answer: Well, that depends

Anything with an HDMI input can be used with the dock or adapters mentioned earlier. That could be your computer monitor, or a portable monitor, or the TV in your spare room.

If you want to use your laptop or Macbook as the screen, you can but you also need to add a capture card to grab the HDMI signal and bring it into the laptop over USB. It’s basically the reverse of the process the dock does with the video signal from the console, and will show you the output from the Nintendo Switch inside the software you’re using with the capture card.

Oh, and in case you have a monitor with USB-C input for video, like the BenQ SW270C we recently reviewed, you can just use a USB-C to USB-C cable to play your Nintendo Switch on the big screen.

What do you think? Do you prefer the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode or on a bigger screen? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Why are Nintendo Switch games still so expensive?
• Can you gameshare with the Nintendo Switch?
• Can the Switch play games from Nintendo’s other consoles?
• How many Nintendo Switch games are two-player?

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.