How Miracast can help you extend your Android phone to the Living Room TV

2023-05-27

2023-05-27

 

Introduction

Miracast is a wireless transmission technology, where the wireless signal is transmitted in a way that does not require any cables. This means you do not have to connect your phone to your TV with the help of a wire or cable. If you are an Android user and have a TCL smart TV, then this article is for you. If not, then maybe it's time to upgrade that old CRT set in the basement.

This post will explain how Miracast can help you extend your Android phone to the Living Room TV.

 

What is Miracast?

Miracast is a wireless transmission technology that has been adopted by many Android devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Miracast works by creating a direct Wi-Fi connection between your smartphone and TV. This allows you to mirror what's on your phone onto the bigger screen in your living room or bedroom.

 

The Miracast protocol is an extension of Wi-Fi Direct, a peer-to-peer communication protocol that allows devices to communicate directly with each other without requiring an access point or network infrastructure in between. The Miracast protocol adds additional features such as media streaming and display mirroring capabilities. The Miracast protocol supports three types of connections: peer-to-peer, client-server and hybrid. In a peer-to-peer connection, both devices communicate directly with each other without involving any third party such as a wireless access point or router. In a client-server connection, one device acts as the server by sharing media content and another device acts as the client by receiving and playing back the content. In a hybrid connection, both devices can act as either a server or client depending on what they want to do with each other.

 

Which Devices Support Miracast?

Miracast is available on a wide range of devices including smartphones, laptops, tablets and Smart TVs. Some of the popular Miracast enabled devices include:

 

Set Up Miracast to Cast from Android to TV

Before you begin, make sure that:

  • Your TV is turned on and set to the correct input source.
  • Your phone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your TV.

 

With these things in place, you're ready to cast from Android to TV! To do this, follow these steps:

  • Open the Miracast app on your Android phone and select Settings from the menu.
  • Select Cast Screen/Audio Sources from this menu and toggle Screen Casting ON by tapping it once so it's highlighted in green (you'll need to enter your PIN if prompted).

 

Common Issues of Miracast Android

There are several issues that can prevent you from using Miracast:

  • If your TV doesn’t support it, then you won't be able to use this feature. In order to check if your TV supports Miracast, simply search for it in its manual or the Google Play Store. If the result is "Your device does not support this option", then no worries! You can still watch videos on your smartphone screen by playing them in the Netflix app or on YouTube through Chromecast. Learn how to cast your screen to your smart TV using Chromecast.
  • If there's no Wi-Fi connection between your Android phone and the TV, then obviously neither device will be able to communicate with the other! Make sure both devices are connected to the same network (you can do this via Settings > Wifi) and then try again later when everything has settled down after setting up a new connection like the one that was just made today :)
  • And if the connection between the two devices is weak, that could result in the video does not play smoothly or has lags in it
  • This problem could also be caused by having VPN enabled on both phones simultaneously which may lead to some apps such as Netflix not working correctly.

 

How is Miracast Different from Chromecast or Airplay?

Chromecast, Airplay, and Miracast are all technologies that allow you to stream video from your computer or mobile device to a TV or projector. They each have their own unique strengths and weaknesses.

 

Chromecast is a streaming technology developed by Google that allows you to play content on your TV from phones, tablets and laptops with an HDMI port. It's very easy to set up and use, but does not allow for screen mirroring, so you can't use it for playing games or other applications that require the screen to be mirrored. It also does not support 4K resolution.

 

Airplay is Apple's proprietary technology for wirelessly streaming media from an iPhone, iPad or Mac computer to an Apple TV attached to a TV or speaker system. Airplay supports both 1080p HD video streaming and audio playback through AirPlay 2-compatible speakers. However, as with Chromecast, Airplay doesn't allow you to mirror your device's screen when playing games or using apps that require this feature.

 

Miracast is a different type of technology than Google's Chromecast because it uses Wi-Fi Direct rather than a home network, which means that it relies on ad hoc connections instead of routers, gateways, and other infrastructure. This makes it ideal for connecting two devices together without requiring an internet connection or running into any firewall issues. The main advantage of Miracast over the competition is that it's free and simple to use. With other products like Airplay and Chromecast, you need to download apps from Apple's App Store or Google Play respectively, then connect your devices via Wi-Fi in order for them to work together seamlessly (this can be a little tricky).

 

Conclusion

Miracast is a wireless technology that enables direct streaming from your Android phone to a computer or TV. You can wirelessly stream apps, games, videos, photos, and more from your phone to your TV without connecting through Bluetooth or any other wireless connection. Try now!

 

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