There are several ways to connect a smartphone to a TV. Common options include wired methods, which require various adapters and set-top boxes, and wireless ones – via Wi-Fi. In this article, we will talk about how to display the image from the phone on the big screen.
How to display video from your phone to your TV using the Smart TV app
The easiest way is to figure out how to display an image from a smartphone on a TV with Smart TV support. Most manufacturers allow you to broadcast the gadget’s screen without additional wires and settings. Just download the Smart TV application for your TV to your smartphone. Samsung has AllShare, Philips has Philips MyRemote, Sony offers its Media Server, and LG has Smart Share. iPhones connect to TVs through the Apple TV set-top box and the AirPlay app.
Important: Before displaying a movie on your TV from your phone, make sure that they are connected to the same Wi-Fi router.
Using Miracast – Wi-Fi Display
If your TV is equipped with a Wi-Fi module, you can connect your smartphone to it via Miracast. It is supported by most smartphones with fresh versions of Android, so you do not need to install any additional applications.
Depending on which smartphone you have, you can enable Miracast in Settings -> Display -> Wireless Display (Broadcasting) or Wireless & Networks -> Advanced -> Wireless Display. To avoid difficulties searching for a menu item, it’s easier to drive in “Wireless Display” in the search bar for smartphone settings.
Through Broadcast to Android
Modern Android smartphones support the “Broadcast” (“Projection”) function. This allows you to quickly display content from the gadget on the TV screen with Smart TV. It is also important that the TV and phone are connected to the same Wi-Fi. Otherwise, nothing will work.
To display the smartphone screen on the TV, use one of two methods:
- Go to your smartphone settings. Find the item “Connected devices” – “Broadcasts”.
- Open the curtain and click on the icon with a square (it can also have a phone or waves drawn on it, like the Wi-Fi icon). Depending on the shell, it may have different names. For example, in Samsung smartphones, it is called Smart View.
Next, the smartphone will start searching for external displays. Select your TV from the list. After that, a notification will appear on it asking you to connect. Agree to pair. You can watch movies or YouTube from your smartphone on the TV screen.
If You Don’t Have a Smart TV
In this case, you will need to use a wired connection. It is most convenient if your smartphone is equipped with USB-C -. It will be enough to purchase an adapter for HDMI or VGA (depending on the available connectors on the TV) and connect the phone through it. As a rule, modern TVs are equipped with HDMI. This interface allows you to broadcast pictures and digital sound and displays games and movies on the big screen.
You can also find micro USB to HDMI adapters on sale, but they are already less common than USB-C.
After physically connecting the devices with a cable, go to the TV settings and change the signal source to the desired HDMI port. It will then display the picture from the phone on the big screen.
Chromecast, Apple TV and other smart TVs
If your TV doesn’t have Smart TV and Wi-Fi, you can connect a smart set-top box to it and then display the smartphone screen on the TV set through it. One inexpensive option is the Google Chromecast media player, which lets you watch movies from the internet and streaming services. The set-top box uses HDMI for connection, so it is not suitable for older TVs.
To set up screencasting of your smartphone via Chromecast, you will need to install the Google Home app on your gadget.
Add your Chromecast to your device list and select it as your video player. The gadget will automatically start broadcasting video from your phone to the connected TV.
However, even here, it is not necessary to buy a Google Chromecast. The fact is that many even inexpensive Smart TVs have built-in support for Chromecast. And in this case, you will only have to combine the smartphone with the TV using the Google Home application.
By the same principle, you can connect Apple smartphones to the TV. True, here you will have to buy an Apple TV.
By connecting the set-top box and the TV, you can use the AirPlay function to display the image from the phone.
