How to show a photo on a Xiaomi TV: all the ways with settings and tips

Turning Xiaomi TV into a photo album: why it is necessary and what will be needed

You've taken hundreds of photos from your vacation, but looking at them on a small smartphone screen is not the same as looking at them on a big Xiaomi TV with 4K resolution. Or you need to quickly show your colleagues an image presentation, and only a TV is on hand, so streaming them to a TV screen becomes not a luxury, but a necessity.

Modern Xiaomi TVs (Mi TV A2, P1, Q2 and others) support several ways of transmitting images, from wireless protocols to wired connections. The main thing is to choose the method that suits your situation. For example, Miracast is ideal for instantaneous broadcast from an Android smartphone, and DLNA will allow you to create a home media network with access to photos from all devices.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to transfer photos to the Xiaomi TV in the 2026 year, including rare methods (for example, through the FTP- server on a TV) and solutions for older models without Smart-features.

1. Wireless broadcast via Miracast (without router)

Miracast is a wireless media standard that works without an internet connection, and is built into most Xiaomi TVs (starting with Mi TV 3) and modern Android smartphones, with the main advantage of no latency and fast transmission speeds.

To stream the photo via Miracast:

• 📱 On a smartphone: open Settings → Connections → Screen Transfer (on Xiaomi/Redmi the path may differ: Settings → Screen → Wireless Display).
• 📺 On TV: Go to Settings → Connection and sharing → Wireless display (Miracast) and activate the option.
• 🔗 In the list of available devices on your phone, select the name of your Xiaomi TV (e.g., MiTV-P1-1234).
• 🖼️ Open a gallery on your smartphone and select a photo, which will automatically appear on your TV screen.

⚠️ Note: If the TV is not displayed in the list of devices, check:

• 🔄 Is the firmware updated on both devices (TV: Settings → About TV → Software Update)
• 📶 Is the power saving mode on the smartphone turned off (it can block wireless connections).
• 🔒 Are there any restrictions on MAC- addresses in the router settings (if connected to the same network).

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If Miracast works with stuttering, try reducing the resolution in your smartphone settings (for example, from 1080p to 720p) to reduce the load on the TV processor.

2. Broadcast via Google Cast (Chromecast built-in)

Xiaomi Android TVs (such as Mi TV Q1E or Xiaomi TV A Pro) support Google Cast technology, which allows you to “send” photos from your phone or computer to the TV screen. Unlike Miracast, it does not duplicate the entire screen, but only broadcasts selected content.

Instructions for the smartphone:

1. Make sure your phone and TV are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Open the Google Photos app (or any other Cast-enabled app, like Galery Go).
3. Select a photo and click on the Cast icon (the icon of the screen with waves in the upper right corner).
4. In the list of devices, select your Xiaomi TV.

For computer (Windows/macOS):

• 🖥️ Install the Google Cast extension for the Chrome browser.
• 🌐 Open the web version of Google Photos or any other image service.
• 🔍 Click on the Cast icon in the extension bar and select the TV.

⚠️ Warning: If the broadcast is interrupted, check:

• 📡 Wi-Fi signal: TV and phone must be in the area of confident reception (not further than 10 meters from the router).
• 🔋 Smartphone battery charge: At levels below 20%, Android can pause background processes, including Cast.

3. Transfer of photo via USB or external drive

If wireless methods don’t work or you need to show photos without a network connection, the most reliable way is to use a USB- drive or external hard drive. All Xiaomi TVs (even budget models like Mi TV 4A) support reading images in.jpg,.png,.bmp and.webp formats.

Step-by-step:

1. Copy the photo to a flash drive (recommended file system format: FAT32 or exFAT).
2. Connect the drive to USB-TV port (usually located on the side or back).
3. On the Xiaomi remote, press the Media button (or open the Applications → Explorer).
4. Select your storage device and folder with photo.

⚠️ Warning: If the TV can't see the flash drive:

• 🔌 Try another USB- port (on some Xiaomi models, only one port supports USB 3.0 with high read speed).
• 🖥️ Check the file system: NTFS may not be supported (especially on older TVs).
• 📁 Make sure that the photos are not hidden in the archive (.zip,.rar) - the TV can't unpack them.

4.Using DLNA/UPnP for the Home Media Network

The DLNA protocol allows you to stream photos from any device on your home network (smartphone, PC, laptop) to your TV without a direct connection, which requires that both devices be connected to the same router and support the technology.

Setup on the Xiaomi TV:

1. Go to Settings → Network → DLNA and activate the option.
2. Enable Shared Media Access (if required).

Setting up on your smartphone (Android):

• 📱 Install a media server application, such as BubbleUPnP or LocalCast.
• 📂 Select the folder with the photo and click Translate.
• 📺 In the list of devices, select your Xiaomi TV.

For Windows:

• 🖥️ Enable Media Streaming in Control Panel → Network and Internet → Network Management Center → Additional Shared Options.
• 📁 Place the photo in the Shared Images folder or any other one with permissioned sharing.
• 📺 On your TV, open Media → DLNA and select your PC.

⚠️ Warning: If the TV cannot see the device on DLNA:

• 🔄 Reboot the router — sometimes the DHCP- server misassigns IP- addresses to DLNA- devices.
• 🛡️ Turn off the firewall on your PC or smartphone (it can block streaming).

5. Stream from iPhone or iPad (AirPlay on Xiaomi TV)

Owners of Apple devices may face a problem: Xiaomi TVs do not support AirPlay out of the box.

Method 1: Use of a bridge application

• 📱 Install the ApowerMirror or LetsView app on your iPhone.
• 📺 On your TV, open your browser and go to the service site (e.g. apowermirror.com).
• 🔗 Scan QR- code from the TV screen in the iPhone app.
• 🖼️ Select a photo in the gallery and click Translate.

Method 2: Connect via Apple TV (if any)

• 📦 Connect Apple TV to the HDMI- port of Xiaomi TV.
• 📱 On your iPhone, swipe down to open Control Point and press Screen Duplicate.
• 📺 Select Apple TV from the list of devices.

⚠️ Attention: When using bridge applications:

• 🕒 There may be delays of up to 1-2 seconds (depending on internet speed).
• 📶 For stable operation, a 5GHz network connection is recommended.

6 Advanced methods: FTP- Server and Local Area Network

For experienced users who want to organize permanent access to photos on the TV, the method with the creation of FTP- server directly on the Xiaomi TV is suitable. This will allow you to download images over the local network without using cloud services.

Instructions:

1. On the TV, go to Settings → Network → FTP- server and turn it on.
2. Remember the server address (e.g. ftp://192.168.1.100:2121) and login details (login/password default is usually anonymous/empty).
3. On a PC or smartphone, connect to this address via any FTP- Client (FileZilla, ES Explorer).
4. Upload the photo to /storage/emulated/0/Pictures (the path may be different).
5. On the TV, open the Gallery or Explorer - uploaded photos will be available.

⚠️ Attention: When in use FTP:

• 🔒 Change the standard password to a more secure one (in the settings of the FTP- TV server).
• 📡 Do not turn on the FTP- server when connecting to public networks (risk of hacking!).

An alternative method is the Samba server (available on some firmware):

smb://IP_TV/Share

Where IP_TV is the local address of the TV (you can find in Settings → Network → Network Status).

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The FTP- server on Xiaomi TV is the only way to automate the upload of photos on a schedule (for example, for digital photo frames).

7 Problem Solving: Why TV doesn't show photos

Even with the right settings, errors can occur, and the table below shows the most common problems and solutions:

If none of the methods work, try resetting the network settings on your TV:

1. Go to Settings → Network → Additional → Reset network settings.
2. Connect to Wi-Fi again and try again.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions