Dear Paul,
There are a few ways of doing this:
You can send video from your laptop directly to your TV, or you can send it via your amplifier, which will then convert the signal to HDMI and send it to your TV. (assuming you are using HDMI)
The advantage of sending all the sources through the amplifier then to the TV are:
-Wiring is simpler if TV is wall mounted
-TV can be left on the same input and amp does switching.
Laptops and PCs sometimes use different output connections to the ones found on your AV receiver, typically VGA or DVI. This is because they are normally designed for business, which requires the connections to be screwed into place for improved reliability.
If your laptop is intended more for home use you may find that it has a HDMI or S-video output. If this is the case, connecting it to your amplifier is straightforward, as it will have the same connections on the back. Use HDMI if you can, as S video isnt compatible with High definition signals.
Alternatively, if your laptop has the business style connections, you can send the video via the VGA output on the laptop to the VGA input on your TV. However if you want to send the video via your amplifier, you can purchase a VGA - Component Y,Pb,Pr cable. Similarly, for DVI, you can buy a converter to be used with a HDMI cable.
To connect the sound, all soundcards have a 3.5mm jack output which is intended to send stereo audio to a set of headphones or desktop speakers. Use a 3.5mm to 2 phono cable to connect this to your amplifier. If you have a 5.1 or 7.1 soundcard, you will either have an optical output or a set of 3.5mm jack sockets. Use the optical out if you can (See notes), however if this is not available connect each of the 3.5mm jack sockets to the corresponding pair of phonos on the multichannel input on your amplifier using 3.5mm to 2 phono cables.
Notes
-You may have to press a combination of buttons to enable dual screen (eg. Fn+F5 see the laptop instructions)
-If you choose to conect the laptop via your amplifier you will need to group the audio and video inputs that you have used using the amplifier's on screen menu so they are switched together.
-Both your amplifier and laptop will have independent volume control. Bare this in mind if you have no sound when they are both connected.
-It may not be possible to group the multi channel inputs with a video input. If this is the case, you will have to send the video directly to your TV in order to get surround sound from your laptop.
Regards, Lewis