Xiaomi’s modern Smart TVs have powerful hardware, but smartphone screens are often more convenient for navigating content. The question is: how to move an image from a small display to a large one without losing quality? Fortunately, the Android TV and PatchWall ecosystem offers many built-in tools for doing so.
There are several basic data protocols, each with its own characteristics: you can use the standard Miracast feature for full screen cloning or the Chromecast protocol for streaming video from apps, and the choice of method depends on whether you want to show a presentation to colleagues or run a movie in 4K.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available connectivity options, troubleshoot issues, and give you tips on how to improve connectivity stability. To stream video to 4K HDR without delay, using a 5GHz Wi-Fi network is critical. Let's start with the basic principles of wireless interfaces.
Wireless video technology: Miracast vs Chromecast
Before you start setting up, you need to understand the difference between the core technologies. Miracast (or Wi-Fi Direct) creates a direct connection between devices, effectively duplicating everything that happens on the smartphone screen. This is ideal for showing a photo gallery or games, but can land the phone's battery faster.
Unlike mirror display, Chromecast built-in technology works differently. The phone acts only as a remote control, sending the TV a link to the video stream. Xiaomi Mi TV independently downloads and decodes the video, which ensures the highest quality of the picture and allows you to use the smartphone for other tasks while watching.
Both methods require devices to be on the same local network, but for Miracast, channel stability is more important, since video streams are transmitted in real time without buffering on the TV side, and when the signal is weak, artifacts or sound dissynchronization can be observed.
⚠️ Warning: Make sure your router does not use guest network mode for one of the devices.In this mode, customer isolation prohibits interaction between the phone and the TV, making detection impossible.
Preparing Network and Devices for Synchronization
The foundation of successful broadcasting is the correct network configuration: both the smartphone and the Xiaomi TV must be connected to the same router. Often users mistakenly connect the TV to the wired network and the phone to Wi-Fi, or use different frequencies (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), which in some router settings can prevent detection.
Check the software version on your TV. Go to Settings menu → About TV → System information. If the Android TV version or PatchWall shell is outdated, the streaming features may not work properly. System updates often fix DLNA and Google Cast protocol errors.
It’s also worth checking your smartphone’s energy saving settings. Aggressive battery optimization algorithms can kill the background video transmission process by interrupting the viewing in half-word. Add the app you’re streaming through to exceptions or select High Performance mode.
☑️ Checking before connection
Broadcasting method via built-in Chromecast
The most popular and energy-efficient way is to use the built-in Google Cast feature. Virtually all modern video-watching apps, such as YouTube, Netflix, Kinopoisk or ivi, have a special broadcast button. It looks like a rectangle with waves in the corner.
The algorithm is simple: open the video on your smartphone, click on the Cast icon and select your Xiaomi TV from the list of available devices. The TV will find the stream on the Internet and playback will begin. The quality of the picture in this case is adjusted automatically depending on the speed of the Internet.
The advantage of this method is that you can fold the app or even lock the phone — the playback on the big screen will not be interrupted. Also, the phone does not heat up, because the decoding video is done by the processor of the TV.
What to do if the Cast button does not appear?
Screen mirroring (Screen Mirroring)
If you need to show screen content that isn’t in apps (like the Safari browser on your iPhone or files from your Explorer), Miracast is used. On Xiaomi TVs, this feature can be called Translation, Wireless display, or Screen Duplication.
On Android smartphones, this feature is often built into the notification curtain and is called Translation, Smart View (Samsung), or Projection. iPhone uses AirPlay technology, which is also supported by many Xiaomi models natively or through the installation of the AirScreen app from the Google Play Store.
To activate, go to Settings → Connected Devices → Broadcast on your phone or find the corresponding app on the main screen of the TV. Once paired, you will see an exact copy of the smartphone interface on the big screen, which is convenient for viewing photos, surfing the web or running mobile games.
⚠️ Attention: When you mirror the orientation of the phone screen, you copy it to the TV. If you hold the phone upright, you'll see black bars on the sides of the TV. For movies, always turn your smartphone horizontally.
Using DLNA to play local files
If you have a high-quality movie downloaded on your phone and you don't want to waste mobile traffic, use the DLNA protocol, which allows you to transfer media over a local network without compression, and for this, you need to have a media player installed on your TV, such as VLC for Android or a built-in Media Player.
In the TV player settings, activate the Renderer or DLNA function. Then on your smartphone, open the file manager, select the video file, click Translate or Cast, and select the TV. The file will start transferring directly from the phone's memory to TV.
This method is ideal for watching video with bitrates that are difficult to pull over the Internet, or for files in formats that do not support online services, but the speed of transmission is limited by the speed of your Wi-Fi router.
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Use the file manager «CX Explorer or X-plore on Android – they have a built-in feature DLNA-server, allowing you to see phone files directly in the TV menu without unnecessary actions.
Comparison of methods and troubleshooting
To make it easier for you to choose the right way, we have compiled a comparative table of the main characteristics of connection methods.
| Characteristics | Chromecast (Stream) | Miracast (Mirror) | DLNA (Local File) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video quality | Up to 4K HDR (auto) | Depends on the power of the phone. | Original (without compression) |
| Phone battery consumption | Low. | High-pitched | Medium. |
| Possibility of multitasking | There is. | No (screen is busy) | There is. |
| Stability | Tall. | Medium (depending on Wi-Fi) | Tall. |
If you're faced with the TV not seeing your phone, try restarting your router. IP-Addresses or network resets, and check if the antivirus on your phone is blocking your local connection.
If there are jerks of the image, try to reduce the quality of the flow in the application settings or get closer to the router. 4K-film-making LAN-A cable to connect a TV to a router instead of Wi-Fi could dramatically improve the situation.
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The most stable way for movies is Chromecast, since the load falls on the TV, and the phone acts only as a remote control, saving battery power.