Miracast: Wireless Display Explained - What You Need to Know
Miracast: Wireless Display Technology
Miracast represents a wireless display standard that enables screen mirroring. This technology allows users to project the screen of a smartphone, tablet, or computer onto a television without the need for physical HDMI cables.
Growing Adoption of Miracast
The prevalence of Miracast is steadily increasing as more devices integrate this functionality. Its convenience and ease of use are driving its wider acceptance among consumers.
Device Compatibility
Support for Miracast has been recently added to popular streaming devices. Both the Roku 3 and the Roku Streaming Stick now feature compatibility with this wireless display standard.
Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick also incorporate Miracast technology. This broadens the range of devices capable of utilizing wireless screen mirroring.
Microsoft's Involvement
Interestingly, Microsoft is also actively involved in the Miracast ecosystem. The company currently offers two of its own Miracast dongles for sale.
These dongles provide a simple solution for adding Miracast capability to televisions that do not natively support the standard.
Miracast: A Wireless Alternative to HDMI
Related: Understanding Wireless Display Standards: AirPlay, Miracast, WiDi, Chromecast, and DLNA
Miracast represents a technology aiming to eliminate the necessity of HDMI cables. Instead of a physical connection between your laptop, smartphone, or tablet and a TV – as is typical with HDMI – Miracast establishes a wireless connection. This allows compatible devices to locate each other, pair, and then wirelessly duplicate the device’s screen content.
A key distinction of Miracast lies in its intention as a cross-platform standard, unlike protocols such as Apple’s AirPlay (utilized with Apple TV) and Google’s Chromecast (found in Chromecast and Android TV devices). For a detailed comparison of these technologies, refer to our analysis of AirPlay, Miracast, WiDi, Chromecast, and DLNA.
How Miracast Operates
Miracast functions solely as a screen mirroring protocol. For example, initiating a Netflix stream on your phone and displaying it through Miracast requires keeping your phone’s screen active throughout playback. The TV will display an exact replica of your phone’s screen.
Due to its focus on direct screen mirroring, and lacking the advanced capabilities of protocols like AirPlay and Chromecast – which can delegate streaming and present distinct interfaces – Miracast is effectively a wireless equivalent of an HDMI cable.
The simplicity of Miracast makes it a straightforward solution for quickly sharing your device’s display. However, it’s important to understand its limitations compared to more sophisticated streaming technologies.
Miracast Compatibility: Operating Systems and Devices
Miracast streaming is enabled on computers with Windows 8.1 installed, as well as mobile devices running Windows Phone 8.1. Furthermore, Android-powered smartphones and tablets with Android 4.2 or later versions are also capable of streaming content to Miracast receivers.
Because Amazon’s Fire OS is based upon the Android platform, it inherently includes Miracast support. Currently, compatibility is largely confined to the Windows and Android ecosystems.
Operating Systems Without Native Support
Linux-based personal computers may require unofficial workarounds to utilize Miracast functionality. Chromebooks lack built-in Miracast capabilities. Apple’s macOS and iOS platforms utilize AirPlay as their proprietary wireless streaming solution, and do not support the Miracast open standard.
Miracast Receivers and Devices
The Roku 3 and Roku Streaming Stick are among the devices that now offer Miracast compatibility. Microsoft provides two Miracast receivers: the Microsoft Screen Sharing for Lumia Phones (HD-10) and the Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter.
Amazon’s Fire TV and the newer Fire TV Stick, priced at $39, both have integrated Miracast support. A wide variety of other dedicated Miracast receivers are also available for purchase.
Future Outlook
Wider adoption of Miracast is anticipated, potentially leading to its direct integration into television sets. This would facilitate effortless wireless streaming to TVs without the need for external adapters.
Miracast Challenge 1: Limited to Screen Replication
The concept behind Miracast is fundamentally sound. It aims to be an universally compatible standard for wireless display transmission, enabling seamless connectivity between devices from different manufacturers. The vision includes effortlessly mirroring your device’s screen onto a hotel television or establishing a wireless connection to a TV for presentations without the hassle of cables.
However, even with flawless execution, the inherent design of Miracast presents a limitation. While eliminating the need for HDMI cables is advantageous, Miracast lacks the advanced capabilities found in competing technologies.
Both Apple’s AirPlay and Google’s Chromecast offer screen mirroring functionality – a Chromecast can even replicate your entire Windows desktop and running applications. Crucially, they also provide more intelligent features. For instance, initiating a Netflix stream directly from your phone to a Chromecast bypasses the need for screen mirroring.
You can select a movie within the Netflix app on your phone and instruct the Chromecast to stream it directly from the internet. This allows you to disengage your phone, conserving battery life. In contrast, Miracast requires your phone’s screen to remain active and continuously stream the video throughout the entire movie.
Furthermore, these alternative protocols enable independent display content on your device and the TV. You could enjoy a Netflix video while controlling playback solely on your phone, avoiding on-screen clutter. Or, while gaming, you could view only the game itself on the TV, managing controls separately on your phone. Miracast, however, simply duplicates your phone’s entire display on the TV.
While Miracast offers a potential wireless alternative to HDMI cables, it proves less practical for many common use cases enjoyed with Chromecast and AirPlay in a home entertainment setting.
Miracast Issue 2: Inconsistent Performance and Frequent Failures
However, a significant drawback of Miracast lies in its reliability. Despite being an open standard, with Miracast-certified devices intended to seamlessly interact, consistent functionality is often absent.
Device manufacturers, such as Roku with their Roku 3, frequently publish compatibility lists detailing tested devices. This practice is unnecessary for a truly standardized technology; users shouldn't need to verify compatibility between their phone or laptop and their Wi-Fi router.
Related: Understanding Wi-Fi Direct and Its Functionality
Numerous tests, both controlled and real-world applications, have demonstrated the difficulties in establishing a stable Miracast connection. Attempts to utilize the Screen Sharing feature on a Roku 3 proved unsuccessful, even with a Nexus 4 (Android 4.4.4) and a Surface Pro 2 (Windows 8.1) – both officially supported devices.
These devices consistently stalled at a "Connecting" message, ultimately timing out without providing informative status updates.
The issue isn't likely attributable to Wi-Fi network problems, as Miracast leverages Wi-Fi Direct. This allows devices to connect directly, circumventing the conventional Wi-Fi network and router, even in the absence of a network.
While conceptually appealing, Miracast essentially functions as a wireless HDMI cable. In many scenarios, a direct HDMI connection proves more dependable than contending with potential connectivity issues and streaming interruptions.
Future iterations of Miracast receivers and operating systems hold the potential to resolve these shortcomings and establish Miracast as a reliable standard. It is hoped that improvements will be made to enhance its overall performance.
Image Credit: Sam Churchill on Flickr, John Biehler on Flickr