How to Connect a Smartphone to the TV
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| How to connect the smartphone to the TV |
Wired Connection
Connect the smartphone to the TV or monitor with a wire in at least three ways. And the choice of species for the old gadgets is determined by their capabilities, and for modern flagships – only by your preferences. Consider everything in order.
MHL
To date, the most common way to connect a smartphone to a TV or monitor is the rather confusing MHL standard. The reason for the difficulties lies in the fact that MHL determines only the method of transferring data to the HDMI input of an external monitor, but not the requirements for the physical interface. As a result, in addition to the four versions of the MHL standard, there are at least four physical interfaces. Fortunately, an ordinary user doesn’t need to know about it – just purchase an adapter.
The only thing to worry about is finding out in advance whether your device supports MHL in principle. With most of the flagships and devices close to them in characteristics and positioning, there will be no problems. But it would be useful to verify this on the manufacturer’s website or to find out if there is support from smartphone owners.
There is no need to worry about the USB Type-C connector on your smartphone or vice versa Micro USB: cables and adapters for both types of connectors are on sale in Chinese platforms. It should be remembered that most MHL adapters need external power to operate. Despite the existence of “passive” adapters that do not require the connection of additional cables, they must also be supported by the TV and not widely used
SlimPort
SlimPort – the same MHL, but not based on HDMI, but on the DisplayPort standard. However, you may not even notice this: there is a huge number of SlimPort adapters that have an HDMI connector at the output. Historically, this standard was used without any alternative basis in Nexus smartphones, primarily due to the lack of the need for Google to pay license fees. Now the standard is almost extinct, and if it is found in new devices, then, as a rule, together with MHL. View a list of compatible devices on the official website of the developer standard.
USB Type-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode
One of the features of the new USB 3.1 standard and USB Type-C connector was the ability to programmatically use some of the connectors of the latter for other data transfer protocols – the so-called Alternate Mode (alternative mode). DisplayPort Alternate Mode (abbreviated as DP Alt Mode) became popular in smartphones. As you might guess, the mode provides direct transfer of DisplayPort signals to the USB Type-C connector. The main advantage of using DP Alt Mode is the absence of the need for external power. On the other hand, this may be a drawback: you can connect the smartphone to the TV and charge at the same time only through special docking stations, or you have to take a wireless charger.
Despite the name, DP Alt Mode is also compatible with HDMI standards and even DVI – it all depends on which cable you choose. Well, it will be possible to use it not only with a smartphone but also with any laptop that supports Thunderbolt 3.
Smartphones with support for DP Alt Mode can still be counted on the fingers: these include Huawei Mate 10, Samsung Galaxy S8 / S9, Microsoft Lumia 950, and LG G5. In short, all the new items that are equipped with USB version 3.1, and the number of such gadgets will only grow over time.
Wireless Connectivity
Despite the development of USB and Thunderbolt interfaces, the future is considered by many to be wireless technologies. There is no need to buy a simple cable or adapter: if your TV is “stupid”, you will have to fork out for a special dongle
Miracast
This independent standard was developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance and uses Wi-Fi Direct technology to connect a smartphone to a TV. Android natively supports technology from version 4.2 KitKat. However, depending on the gadget manufacturer, the corresponding application may be called differently. For example, in the Honor smartphones, the name MirrorShare is used. The standard is widespread: it is supported by all modern Android devices and most smart TVs.
Even if you have a “stupid” TV at home (or even a regular monitor), you can easily add Miracast support to it by connecting one of the many specialized dongles or a set-top box with the Miracast server function. We tested the work of Miracast with a smartphone Honor P9 Lite and Prestigio PMD-1 dongle
Prestigio PMD-1
The cheapest Miracast dongles cost no more than special cables. But in order to avoid problems, it is better to pay attention to gadgets of proven manufacturers.
Chromecast
Google sells its own dongles for broadcasting content on TVs – Chromecast. This technology is closed and radically different from Miracast. If the latter is a simple “mirroring” of the smartphone screen on the TV, then Chromecast requires the support of specific applications. However, among them, there are a lot of audio and video players and, importantly, the Chrome browser – this should be enough for most users. To be fair, the broadcast of the smartphone’s display has also been supported for some time in the Chromecast, but it’s not perfect at all.
But with Chromecast smartphone becomes multitasking. So, having started broadcasting the video from YouTube, you can open any other program or even block the gadget – playback will continue anyway.
Unlike Miracast, which uses Wi-Fi Direct, Chromecast requires a Wi-Fi router to work, which somewhat limits the scope of the device.
Conclusion
Each of the proposed ways to broadcast pictures from a smartphone to a TV has its own advantages and disadvantages. If you need maximum quality for a small price, you should choose a wired method, if you care only about convenience – Miracast, and for maximum flexibility and the ability to broadcast Ultra HD – Chromecast. However, in the latter case, the budget will exceed 5,000 rubles, so everything depends on your needs.
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