Your digital camera can be connected to a television or VCR. This is a quick and easy way to look at your enlarged images and also to share them with friends and family. If your digicam has a video-out jack, as many digital cameras do, then you can connect to a TV using standard input or video-in terminals. This type of connection allows you to view your images on your TV or record them on videotape using your VCR.

When you display your images on a TV screen, you can see them a lot more easily and clearly than when you view them on a computer monitor. Because of the bigger screen, small imperfections become more readily discernible. If you have a group of people who would like to see your images, whether for business purposes or just for fun, this is one way to do it. By recording your images on video you can create your own slideshow, complete with sound if your camera provides the ability to record audio.

Many digicams sold in the United States output video in NTSC format, the format used by TVs in North America. European televisions use the PAL format, so you won't be able to display digital images from your camera on European TVs unless your camera has PAL capability. Some newer digicams offer the choice of NTSC or PAL formats. If you travel a lot and want to use the video-out feature in countries outside the United States, this feature is something to keep in mind.

To transfer images between your digital camera and a TV, typically you connect one end of an AV cable to the camera's video-out or AV-out jack and the other to your TV or VCR's video-in jack. If your camera has the ability to record audio, you will use a separate AV plug for the audio signal, inserting it into the audio-in jack.