Smart TVs are becoming very popular. Their biggest advantage is functionality – in addition to transmitting the image of television stations, they allow, among others browsing the internet, listening to music and operating YouTube applications. Additionally, they can be connected to a whole range of peripherals, such as modern smartphones. Thanks to this option, we can share all multimedia stored on the Android directly to the TV screen . In addition, special applications allow you to connect Android to TV: Connect Phone or Tablet … a universal remote control.
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Do I have a Smart TV?
At the beginning it is worth answering the question “Does my TV have Smart TV features?”. Simply put, Smart TV is a combination of a traditional TV set with Internet access. This feature significantly expands the capabilities of the receiver itself. It also requires TV equipment with special software, enriched with applications – each of them has a different purpose.
How to Connect Android to TV ? Wi-Fi only ?
WiFi is available in virtually every home. When buying your first Smart TV, you should pay attention to the possibility of connecting to the Internet using radio waves, because some of them do not have this very useful function and require the traditional network cable to be pulled up. In this case, synchronization with the smartphone will be extremely simple. The matter gets complicated when there is no WiFi module in our TV. Then it becomes necessary to use a special HDMI connection cable . Below you will find the three most common ways to connect a Android with a TV.
Also Read : How to sync YouTube videos with your Smart TV
1. Connecting a smartphone to the TV with an HDMI cable
If the TV we bought does not have a WiFi function, then we need to reach for a more traditional solution – HDMI cable . Each smartphone currently manufactured has a Micro-USB connector. Most of them support MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) mode , enabling the transmission of uncompressed video with a maximum resolution of 1080p, 8-channel sound and the protection of transmitted content using the HDCP protocol. All information regarding our device can be found in the attached operating instructions.
To connect the phone with an HDMI cable, you must purchase a special MHL Micro-USB – HDMI adapter . The price of the original accessory is about $ 120, but cheaper substitutes are available on the market, which we will purchase from about $ 20. The difference in performance and image quality was not observed, so the choice becomes obvious.
This type of connection allows you to copy the image displayed on the smartphone screen, but absorbs some system resources , so that the device (depending on the modem) can run slower – especially when generating advanced three-dimensional graphics in mobile games.
The connection consists of inserting the signal cable into the Android and TV:
Some adapters have a built-in ability to connect a power source for a smartphone – it is worth using it if you use the phone for a long time. This excludes the need to disconnect devices to charge the battery.
2. Connecting the phone to a TV – WiFi-Direct
Miracast technology is becoming increasingly popular – it is beginning to displace traditional content sharing via Wi-Fi. In a nutshell, Miracast works on the principle of a virtual HDMI cable. This protocol allows you to share content between two connected devices. In addition, we can duplicate the screen of our smartphone directly to the TV screen – thus avoiding the tedious process of searching for content.
The first step we need to take is to check whether our phone supports the synchronization function. To do this, go into options and search for the following phrases:
- Smart View
- Screen Mirroring
- Fast connection
Then – in accordance with the television’s instruction manual – we activate the possibility of connecting peripherals . A good example are LG receivers offering Smart Share, i.e. a protocol for multimedia transfer via Wi-Fi.
Above we presented a screenshot of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge phone , where you can find the Smart View icon. Click on it and choose the name of our TV (e.g. LG SMXXXX SmartTV, where X is the model number). If your receiver does not appear on the list, you may need to restart both the TV and the mobile phone . After successful synchronization, the screen of our smartphone should appear on the TV screen. From now on, you can perform all actions – watch YouTube, enable videos recorded with the phone’s camera, as well as play music. Note – every action we take will be shown in the same form on TV!
What to do if our smartphone does not have the Smart View option? In this case, you need to install a special application called Miracast:
Thanks to the built-in tutorial, even novice users of modern phones will be able to synchronize their device with the TV.
3. Controlling the TV by phone? It is possible!
A mobile phone can be used as a TV remote control . What’s more, our smartphone does not have to have a built-in infrared port – control is via a WiFi network. Of course, some models – such as Samsung Galaxy S6 – have been enriched with the IrDA function, which significantly simplifies the whole process – just run a special application, point the device towards the TV and enjoy the possibility of control. Below is a list of the best programs to operate Smart TV via Wi-Fi:
- Universal remote control ( manufactured by ZaraDesigns )
- Universal tv remote control (from Computer Geek )
- Remote control (by Tools4TV )
How to set up your phone with a TV?
Each application requires appropriate configuration. There are two options – automatic and manual. The first is to synchronize with the old technology of “trial and error” using a special wizard, while the manual allows you to choose the specific TV model we have.
Also Read : How to display saved Wi-Fi passwords on Android
