Miracast: What it is, how it works and how to use it on my devices

It is undeniable that with the passing of time technology surprises us more, the great progress that we have observed in the field of telecommunications and entertainment is so great that every day has something new to show, in this sense, transmit or connect the screen Nowadays, from a mobile phone to a smartTV is a very simple task since we have USB or WIFI connections that allow us to enjoy these benefits.

Currently there are applications, programs that help establish the necessary connection for the transmission of what we see on our mobile to a larger screen, Miracast is a useful protocol to project content from one electronic device to another that we can also use with Windows and Android. If we don’t know much about it, in this article we will talk a little about Miracast, its function and the way we can use it on our device.

Miracast: What it is, how it works and how to use it on my devices

Index( )

  1. What is the main function of the current Miracast?
  2. How does Miracast work for screen projection?
  3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the Miracast of our devices?
  4. Procedure to activate the Miracast of any device
    1. From Android
    2. On iOS devices
    3. From Windows
    4. With macOS
  5. What problems usually arise when interacting with the Miracast?

What is the main function of the current Miracast?

As we have mentioned before, Miracast is a protocol that allows the connection between two devices, achieving that the screen of one is reflected in the other, which gives us the privilege of being able to observe the visual material that we have in the video library of our mobile or in our laptop, on the television screen, this being possible only if both devices are compatible with Miracast. This is focused solely and exclusively on the projection of the screen of one device on the other , which means that if we want to send an HBO series to the Smart TV using this technology, the screen of the mobile device must be on all the time. the duration of the programming.

This happens because what the protocol really does is show on the big screen what we are supposed to be seeing on the small screen, so basically Miracast becomes an effective and wireless alternative to connecting devices via cables such as HDMI.

How does Miracast work for screen projection?

The way Miracast works is very simple, what it does is send the content through WIFI Direct, a technology designed to facilitate direct communication between devices, which also performs exchanges at a much better speed than if we used Bluetooth, up to the point that the sending of data can reach a speed 10 times higher. It should be noted that even when we are using a technology that bears the name WIFI, it does not mean that it is necessary for both devices to be connected to the same network .

It is not necessary since when we use Miracast on a mobile or PC to transmit content on a compatible Smart TV we have to create an Ad-Hoc network  that has many advantages and uses WIFI for the connection between both devices. If the connection is successful, the delay is almost non-existent, so everything we see on our mobile can be seen on TV.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the Miracast of our devices?

Of course, everything has its pros and cons, so Miracast also has them, first of all, speaking of the advantages, this protocol has a copyright system , it has a WPA2-PSK protection level , which is no more that a security system qualified as one of the safest at the moment, Additionally, we can reinforce it with a password of up to 63 alphanumeric characters added to a shared key that, as if that were not enough, generate new passwords to avoid the malicious actions of Hackers.

Finally, unlike other protocols like Google Cast that we can easily configure , Miracast was designed as a cross-platform standard. Now, not everything can be good, if we have to mention the disadvantages, we must highlight the fact that it is only useful for mirroring the screen of one device on another and not for sending content as it happens with other protocols, another drawback it has not managed to be a reliable protocol because in many opportunities it does not work as it should.

Procedure to activate the Miracast of any device

It is well known that many Android manufacturers for multiple reasons have stopped supporting Miracast on their phones, instead they have replaced it with Google Cast , although some still include it within the Send Screen option that we can easily locate in the options. quick.

From Android

As mentioned, we can activate it from the quick options of our Smartphone to which we have access when we slide our finger from the top of the screen downwards, there we discover the options, what we must do is look for the option or the button ‘ Send Screen’, we activate it and carry out some other configuration if necessary, such as granting permissions for the transmission of content.

On iOS devices

Since the Miracast service for iPhone is quite a mystery , what we can do is to use the service to mirror content from Android to Smart TV of any known and unknown brands.

From Windows

In the case of Windows, the procedure, as in Android, is quite simple, once we open the Windows notification center we can click on the ‘Project and Connect’ option, if the computer is compatible with Miracast, it will be a of the different technologies that we can use to connect two electronic devices and thus be able to project the content of one onto the other.

With macOS

The tool that Apple uses to share content is called Airplay  and it allows different devices to connect to each other to play any type of multimedia material from one another using a signal through a network.

What problems usually arise when interacting with the Miracast?

There are several problems that can occur when interacting with Miracast, one of the most common that we can find in the problem of adding or connecting a wireless screen that we can solve by restarting the computer or the adapter, another frequent problem They are blurry texts or stuttering images that we can solve by changing the screen resolution.