Has anyone successfully done this? If so please guide me ^ ^

My TV recognizes the laptop and opens the correct HDMI channel but says "no video signal".

Go to nvidia control panel / catalyst control center / whatever equivalent for intel card and check the second monitor.

Make sure your laptop is using the hdmi output, my laptop, a xps 15, has a special button for this.

how do i check this? i think it isn't because when i go to screen resolution it only allows me to choose VGA displays from either Nvidia Geforce or Intel Graphics HD.

You might have to enable it as a secondary output on the laptop, just like you would do with a second monitor on a desktop system. Are you running a Windows OS?

yes windows 8. How do I enable it?

the laptop should see the tv if you configure your screen resolution(assuming windows here), make sure it's enabled as a second montior. most laptops also come with a button on the F keys that provide such functionality as well.

I tried configuring the screen resolution but only VGA is allowed through the graphic adapters (Nvidia and Intel). I tried win+P to change modes (duplicate screen, extend) and Fn+5

Go to nvidia control panel / catalyst control center / whatever equivalent for intel card and check the second monitor.

It's already enabled for "multiple displays". There are two: monitor & built in display.

I am writting a program to programmatically change the 2nd monitor(a LCD TV connected via HDMI) to extended display. So I've had a lot of experience with doing it non-programmatically lately lol. The program is a pain in the ass but almost there.

In Windows 7 you go to Control Panel -> Appearance & Personalisation -> Display -> Click 'Change Display Settings' on the left menu -> In the 'Multiple Displays' dropdown menu select 'Duplicate these displays' to show your laptop. If you click 'Extend these displays' it will extend your desktop window so its wider and when you drag your mouse to the far right of the screen(off screen) it will appear on your TV. Extend is good for playing movies on the TV whilst doing work on your laptop.

FYI if you want to change the display programmatically and are on Windows 7 or up you can easily do it using these functions:

// Extend
SetDisplayConfig(0, NULL,0, NULL,(SDC_APPLY | SDC_TOPOLOGY_EXTEND));

// Duplicate
SetDisplayConfig(0, NULL,0, NULL,(SDC_APPLY | SDC_TOPOLOGY_CLONE));