Nowadays, it is increasingly common for there to be interaction between our smartphone or tablet and the TV. After all, most homes have at least one smart TV. Now these televisions come with the option of transmitting images from an external screen. This without the need for an excessive tangle of wires or cables. In fact, a considerable number of smart TVs on the market are compatible with at least one of two features: screen mirroring or streaming from a device. But what is the difference between them?
Screen mirroring or transmission: what are the differences?
Contrary to what some users think, screen mirroring and transmission are not the same thing. These two functionalities can be similar and even be somehow linked to each other. However, there are some important differences between mirroring and broadcasting a screen that prevent them from being completely synonymous.
Cast to a smart TV
Broadcasting to a smart TV screen from an external screen is a function most commonly used with smartphones. Generally speaking, it is done via a wireless connection with both devices running on the same network.
Instead of simply casting the phone's screen to the TV, the act of casting is actually when the external device sends data for specific multimedia content. Typically a video of some kind – so it plays natively on the larger screen. For this reason, many major multimedia apps on smartphones, such as YouTube and Twitch, include dedicated broadcast buttons. This way they can easily identify and connect to smart TV screens. In most cases, streaming multimedia content will only play it on the smart TV. This is instead of playing them simultaneously on the external screen.
Screen mirroring on a smart TV
Unlike the one-way nature of data transmission to a smart TV, screen mirroring is achieved through a constant, extended connection between the external device and the larger screen. Mirroring is typically done via a wired connection between the two devices (usually with an HDMI cable) or a wireless connection.
While streaming is primarily used for the sole purpose of sending specific pieces of multimedia to be played on the TV, mirroring is more of a comprehensive function for sharing information from an external display. Living up to its name, it literally mirrors – or replicates – the entire screen of the sending device so that it appears on the receiving TV. As long as they are paired in this way, the TV will continue to display whatever is happening on the connected device. Most desktop PCs, laptops, and smartphones include built-in ways to mirror your screen via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. However, a wired connection is generally the option that offers the lowest latency between the two screens.
Screen mirroring is a versatile tool. It's particularly ideal for sharing things like PowerPoint presentations. This is because users can directly access and control what is shown on the TV through their smallest device. However, streaming is generally still the superior option for presenting multimedia content like videos. All because the data is sent directly to the television instead of being limited to replicating an image. As such, some brand-specific features, such as Apple AirPlay, mix the two options. This is by having screen mirroring as the default function and temporarily switching to a broadcast setting when selecting specific media content for playback.
Which should you choose?
For those who have a device capable of mirroring the screen and transmitting to smart TVs, there are specific times when it is more advantageous to use one mode than the other. Since mirroring allows users to present practically anything from their external device on the big screen, its use cases are quite abundant. This is the feature to use in cases where simply sharing the entire screen of a phone or computer is the desired option. This allows things like web pages or entertainment applications to be displayed on a much larger screen than usual. It's also the perfect solution for those who would like to share content on a smart TV, but still be able to view and control it on the source device.
Streaming to a smart TV, on the other hand, is much more limited in scope. Used to share specific pieces of media for viewing only on the big screen. However, as mentioned earlier, it is a much better option for streaming this type of multimedia than screen mirroring. Although smart TVs are technically capable of displaying videos through mirroring, this way of doing so potentially introduces problems such as inaccurate colors, audio delay and a low-quality image. Casting to a smart TV allows the hardware to properly optimize streamed multimedia content for high-quality playback, making it much closer to a native viewing experience.