Watching video downloads on your TV (you only need to do one of the following)

If you'd prefer not to wait for a disc to be delivered, you can download our videos over the internet.

As well as watching a video download on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop, there are many ways to watch it on your television, depending on what equipment you have.

The simplest way is to send the picture from your computer, phone, or tablet to your smart TV, but possibly the 'most familiar' way might be to copy the video onto a DVD. Instructions for both are below.

Watching on a ‘smart’ TV

If you have the video on your tablet or smartphone: Make sure your device is connected to the same wifi network as your TV, then you should be able to send the video from your device to display on your TV.

If you have the video on your computer: Plug a Google Chromecast (a £30 device you can buy from Google, here) into your TV, and use the latest version of Google Chrome to show your computer screen on your TV.

On your computer, click the three vertical dots in the top right corner of Google Chrome, then click ‘Cast’ and select your TV from the list.

DVD player

Copy the video from your computer onto a recordable DVD (this is called ‘burning’), and then put the disc into your DVD player to watch, as you would any other DVD.

Make sure you burn the disc as ‘video’ so it can be played in a DVD player. If you mistakenly burn it as ‘data’ then it probably won't fit on the disc, and even if it does it is unlikely that it will play.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to successfully burn your video to DVD (follow 'method 2' for burning a video DVD, not a data DVD).

You can buy recordable DVDs (also known as ‘DVD-R’) from Amazon or many supermarkets.

Memory card or USB memory stick

Save the video file to a memory card or USB memory stick, then insert the card or stick into the media slot on your television or DVD/Blu-ray player (most modern TVs and some players have at least one slot on the back).

For video files over 4GB in size, there's an extra step to follow. You may find that it won't copy to your memory card/stick because the file is apparently too large, even if there appears to be enough space. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to reformat your memory card using 'NTFS' format so that it will accept larger files.

Apple TV

Save the video to your iTunes library, and stream it over your wifi to your Apple TV.

Alternatively, from an iPhone or iPad on the same wifi network as your Apple TV, use the screen mirroring option in the control centre to send it to your Apple TV.

Other devices, like games consoles

Generally, you can transfer the file on to the device and then watch it from there. But each device is different, so please read the manufacturer's instructions.

If none of these options are available to you, you can always watch your video on your computer, or on your tablet or smartphone.

Next: Watching on your tablet or smartphone →