Streaming Media

When we talk about casting, it is important to distinguish between streaming and mirroring. With streaming, the media should be already on your device, and you just want to play it on another screen. Not everything that’s going on on the laptop, just the media. Mirroring, on the other hand, mirrors what’s going on on the screen unto another screen. Technically these two are different problems.

Here are some options to go wireless and stop using HDMI cabels.

Chromecast

Chromecast is for streaming and mirroring and is now integrated into Android TVs. To use it on a computer, open either Chrome or Chromium and then select Cast.. from the options. You will have two options, cast the current tab (mostly a Youtube video) or the whole screen. To use it on the phone, use the drop down menu Screen Cast. You need to of course have both the TV and the device you are streaming from on the same network.

The difference between casting a tab or the screen is the following: when you cast the tab, it contacts the Youtube app in the TV, and it actually downloads there and plays it. So there is no lag between video and audio. If you cast the whole screen, I wasn’t even able to get the audio to work on my laptop. On the phone, there is a clear lag between the video and audio.

Use Chromecast if you are streaming a Youtube video, or if you are mirroring something

VLC Player

Use VLC player if you are streaming any audio or video media in any format on your laptop or phone. It is straight forward to use. It can also be used to play media streamed from another device on your network.

mkchromecast

gerbera

Gerbera is a media server.