Today's mobile gadgets, including those on the Android platform, have come very close to the capabilities of ordinary personal computers. The only thing desktop devices certainly win over smartphones and tablets is visualization.
Any content, whether it’s photos, videos or some documents, on the large screen of the monitor looks much more spectacular than on a five- or even ten-inch mobile gadget. The same can be said about the TV. Information from him is perceived much better, thanks to the large diagonal of the screen.
And if with the synchronization of smartphones and tablets on a personal computer, as a rule, there are no problems, due to the debugged procedure, then things are somewhat different with TV. Therefore, many users are wondering: “How to connect the TV to the Android phone?”. Moreover, even owners of smart TV devices, where such an opportunity seems to be implemented, are experiencing serious problems.
So, from our article you will learn how to connect “Android” via a TV and make it as painless as possible for both the user and the equipment. We will analyze the main methods of synchronization and subtlety settings for each specific procedure.
Micro HDMI
Let's consider how to connect “Android” to the TV via a Micro-HDMI cable. Some manufacturers still equip their gadgets with such ports. For example, LG at one time included a micro-HDMI interface in the design of almost every Optimus series smartphone.
In addition, the gadget firmware had separate tools for synchronizing with TV devices of the same brand. In this case, to connect the “Android” to the LG TV, simply connect the two devices with a micro-HDMI cable and the rest will be done by proprietary software.
The picture on the TV screen turns out to be original, that is, the same as on the smartphone, without losing any quality. But there are very few telephone gadgets with such ports in the mobile market, so you have to look for alternatives.
Mhl
Some manufacturers have adopted the MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) standard . It also allows you to connect “Android” to the TV. This standard works in conjunction with micro-USB charging: it takes a video signal from a port and transmits it to a TV. But in this case, you need a special MHL adapter.
There are no content restrictions here. The user has the ability to view photos, videos and other materials. In addition, on the big screen you can work with gaming applications. Nevertheless, there are some features of such a connection.
In addition to the adapter itself, a separate 5V power supply is needed to amplify the signal. At the same time, the smartphone, despite being connected to the network, is slowly discharging. It is also worth noting that only MTK processors on the one hand and smart TV equipment on the other can work with the MHL standard. Otherwise, connecting “Android” to the TV will fail.
Connection Features
As such, configuration at the time of synchronization is not required. The smart TV shell automatically detects the mobile device and offers several options for interaction: broadcasting the screen, working with applications, installing programs, etc.
It is also worth keeping in mind that low-cost smartphones and tablets for the most part do not support the MHL standard. So before buying a mobile gadget it is worthwhile to pay attention to the availability of such an opportunity. Otherwise, connecting “Android” to the TV in this way will fail.
Supported Devices
As vivid examples of low-cost devices, where there is such an opportunity, you can bring “Galaxy S5” from “Samsung” and “Xperia Z2” from “Sony”. The latter works with the MHL standard version 3.0 and is capable of broadcasting in a UHD scan at 30 frames per second, and also supports Blue-Ray audio formats.
Slimport
SlimPort became the next standard after MHL. But you can see it mainly on mobile gadgets of Samsung and LG brands. Actually, with the filing of the latter, this information transfer technology was developed.
So if you have a smartphone and TV from these manufacturers at your disposal, then you can easily connect your Android phone to your Samsung or LG TV. This standard provides a better picture due to the lack of decoding. This approach also eliminates lags during image transmission.
Connection Features
In order to connect Android to Samsung or LG TV, a special micro-USB-HDMI adapter is required. And if in the case of the MHL standard an external power source was needed, then here it is unnecessary. In addition, during the broadcast of the image, the mobile gadget is not discharged, but on the contrary it is fueled. Protocol setup is also not required. Both devices begin to synchronize immediately after connecting, and the master assistant on the TV will offer broadcast options.
Even the most modest first-generation adapter is capable of transmitting pictures in 1080p quality. Among the minuses of the standard, high requirements for the technical qualities of an HDMI cable can be noted. The latter should be in good braid with shielding. Otherwise, noise, artifacts and other interference will occur.
Supported Devices
As examples where this standard is applied, one can cite LG G2 / 3/4 phones, almost the entire Galaxy series starting with S6, as well as Nexus versions 4, 5 and 7. It is also possible to connect Android to a TV and some Chinese gadgets. About a third of mid-budget models from Huawei and Xiaomi use this standard. The latter should be indicated in the specification for the device. So it would be worthwhile to pay special attention to this moment.
USB interface
You can also connect “Android” to the TV via a USB interface. That is, as it happens with a personal computer. In this case, the TV should be in Smart format. The only negative of this connection is the lack of broadcast support.
The smartphone or tablet here acts as an external drive. You can open photos, videos and documents as ordinary files, but there is no possibility to broadcast the screen. There are special programs for implementing this function, but in this case it is necessary to take into account the model of the TV, mobile gadget, version of the platform, etc.
Connection setup is similar to PC. We connect the two devices with a regular USB cable, with which the device is recharged. On the smartphone itself, you need to specify "Connect as an external drive" in the settings. In the TV menu, in the section on working with content (or something like that), a third-party hard drive should appear, where, using the dispatcher, a file is selected for viewing.
Wireless protocols
Manufacturers of equipment do not see prospects for a wired connection and prefer to develop “air” connection protocols. One of the clear advantages of this method is the lack of wires. To transfer data from phone to TV, it is enough to synchronize the platforms of the first and second via Wi-Fi or through a home router.
But there is also a fly in the ointment. Wireless connection differs noticeably low image quality during broadcast. This standard implies a strong compression of content, so full-fledged streaming has not taken root here.
The situation is being changed for the better by special wireless adapters. They provide a pretty decent broadcast of video materials, but it still can not be called high-quality. Even on the most modern 4K TVs, lags, brakes, and soap are observed.
So there are no wireless alternatives for broadcasts, especially if you want to see a high-quality picture on your TV. However, for some users, this is the only way to synchronize the mobile gadget with the TV.
Wi-Fi Direct
This standard is implemented in all Smart TVs and equipped with a Wi-Fi module. If your smartphone also has this module, then connecting to a TV is not difficult. The version of the Android platform does not play a role. Each has support for such functionality.
The essence of tandem configuration is to organize a connection without an access point. That is, the smartphone should be recognized by the TV as a multimedia device, and not as an external drive. To do this, you need to enable the Wi-Fi Direct mode in the gadget settings, and the Share function on the TV. All this is in the wireless section.
With this connection, you can broadcast the desktop and view photos, but in low resolution. Higher quality 4K images will take a very long time to load. Naturally, it is normal not to watch video content on such a standard. You can organize the broadcast of video files in the old 3GP format, but on a TV with a large diagonal, pronounced pixelation will be viewed, due to the low quality of the clips.
Miracast
This standard came about thanks to Intel’s efforts and was originally conceived as Apple’s competing alternative to AirPlay. Many smart TVs support this protocol and successfully connect with it to mobile gadgets. Starting with version 4.2, the Android platform has such a broadcast mode.
In this case, it is already possible to play not only photo content, but also video files, and with a solid resolution of 1080p. However, in this case, many users complain about lags, artifacts and other interference. So this standard does not reach the capabilities of AirPlay. With the playback of content in the 720p scan, there are noticeably fewer problems.
To configure the connection, you must enable the corresponding modes on the TV and smartphone ("Settings" -> "Screen" -> "Wireless Monitor"). If the smart TV does not have such an opportunity in the stock firmware, then sometimes flashing the device to a more modern and functional one helps.
Here we are talking about models from Chinese manufacturers. The latter are very willing to write proprietary software for their tandems (Xiaomi TV <-> Xiaomi smartphones), but if your mobile gadget is from a different brand, then some synchronization problems may occur.