Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones today have powerful cameras that allow you to take high-resolution images, but viewing them on a small screen of a mobile device is not always convenient. When you want to share highlights with your family or show a presentation to colleagues, the best solution is to stream the image to a large TV screen. In the Mi Home ecosystem, this process is implemented as flexibly as possible, offering a variety of connectivity options, from wireless protocols to physical cables.
You don't need a lot of technical knowledge to get started, because MIUI or its new version of HyperOS has built-in multimedia tools, and the basic requirement is that you have a stable connection between your gadgets or an adapter that fits in. Depending on your TV model (Smart TV or regular TV) and your smartphone version of Android, the methods may vary slightly, but the basic principles remain the same.
In this article, we will take a detailed look at each available method so that you can choose the most suitable for your situation.We will look at both native features of the Xiaomi shell and third-party solutions that will help you circumvent possible restrictions.
Use of the built-in wireless transmission function
The fastest way to display gallery content on a TV screen is to use Miracast or Wi-Fi Direct technology, which is built right into the smartphone shell. This method allows you to completely duplicate the phone screen on the TV, which is ideal for viewing photo albums in slideshow mode. You do not need to install additional applications if your TV supports the wireless display standard.
To activate this feature, lower the notification curtain and look for the Translation (or Cast) icon. If the icon isn't in quick access, go to Settings → Connection & Sharing → Broadcast. Once turned on, the smartphone will start searching for available devices on the network. Make sure your Xiaomi TV or third-party Smart TV is on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
⚠️ Attention: When using wireless broadcast, the smartphone screen can discharge quickly, and the image quality depends on the speed of the Wi-Fi router.
Once paired successfully, the image from the phone will appear on the TV. Open the gallery and select the photos you want. Some users note a delay in switching between photos, which is the norm for Miracast, since it transmits a full-screen video stream, not a static image.
💡
Screen broadcasting is a universal method that works even on TVs without a Smart TV, if an adapter like AnyCast or Miracast receiver is connected to them.
Broadcasting through the Google Home app
For Android TVs or Chromecast-based TVs, the most stable option is to use the official Google Home app, which is pre-installed on most Google-certified Xiaomi smartphones, but if it isn’t, it can be downloaded freely from the Play Market Store, a method that offers less latency and better picture quality optimization than simply duplicating the screen.
Run the Google Home app and make sure your smartphone and TV are in the same Wi-Fi subnet. The app will automatically detect available media devices. Select your TV from the list, click the "Cast my screen" button and confirm the action. Now open the gallery on your phone, select a photo, and it will appear on the big screen.
The advantage of this method is that you can control playback directly from your phone without interrupting the stream. You can sort photos, create collages or even run videos, and the Chromecast built-in system will process content efficiently.
- 📱 Make sure your TV has Chromecast enabled in your network settings.
- 📶 Use 5GHz network to transfer photos in high resolution without compression artifacts.
- 🔄 Update the Google Home app to the latest version to support new codecs.
If image quality seems blurry, check the resolution settings in the gallery app itself, or try resetting the connection and reconnecting. Sometimes rebooting the router if the network is overloaded with other devices helps.
Use of DLNA and Built-in Gallery
Many modern Smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony and other manufacturers support the DLNA protocol, which allows you to transfer media files over the network without duplicating the entire screen of a smartphone. The standard Gallery app on Xiaomi often already has a Translation feature or Cast icon in the corner of the screen when watching a photo, which allows you to send only a specific picture to the TV, leaving the phone free for other tasks.
Open the photo in the gallery, click on the broadcast icon (a rectangle with waves) and select your TV from the list of devices. The TV should have the ability to access media content over the network (often called AllShare, SmartShare or simply Media Player) After connecting, the image will be uploaded to the TV buffer and displayed in full quality.
This method is especially handy if you need to show a photo to someone while you continue to browse through social media feeds or respond to messages.DLNA takes over the image encoding, so the load on the smartphone's processor is minimal.
However, it is worth considering that not all image formats can be supported directly by the TV. Standard JPG and PNG open without problems, but with the HEIC (Apple compression) or RAW format, it can be difficult and the TV will ask to convert the file or simply will not be able to open it.
Connection through USB-cable
If the wireless connection is unstable or you need to transfer files in their original quality without any compression, the best choice is to physically connect via the link. USB-This method turns your smartphone into an external drive, and the TV reads files directly from the device's memory. USB Type-C (or Micro-USB for older models) and port USB TV-wise.
Connect your phone to your TV with a cable. The smartphone screen will request USB mode. Select File Transfer (MTP) or Photo Transfer (PTP) mode. MTP mode is preferred because it allows access to the entire file system, whereas PTP restricts access to only folders with images, which is sometimes even more convenient for navigating on TV.
⚠️ Attention: Not all cables support data transfer. Cheap cables bundled with some power banks can only charge the device. Use the original cable from the smartphone box.
On the TV, use the remote to go to the signal sources menu (Source or button with the image of a square with an arrow) and select the appropriate one. USB-The TV file manager will open, where you can go to the folder. DCIM → Camera and view all your photos.
The main advantage of wired connectivity is that it doesn't depend on Wi-Fi speeds and lags, and the photos open instantly, and the quality remains bit-by-bit identical to the original, which is critical for photographers who are evaluating the sharpness and detail of pictures on a large screen.
Third-party broadcast applications
The built-in features don’t always work well with all TV models, especially when it comes to older Smart TVs or devices of unknown brands. In such cases, specialized applications from the GetApps store or Play Market come to the rescue, the leaders in this niche are TV Cast, LocalCast and BubbleUPnP.
These programs are able to force the devices on the network and broadcast content in formats that the standard gallery Xiaomi does not see. For example, BubbleUPnP has a powerful rendering engine that can broadcast even heavy. RAW-It takes a couple of minutes to install the software and often solves 99% of compatibility problems.
Most of these applications may also require a server part (reception) to work on the TV, although many modern TVs have built-in TVs. DLNA-The interface of the applications is usually intuitive: you select a photo in the application, press the Play button and select the target device.
Why can't the TV see the phone?
Comparison of connection methods
To make it easier for you to decide on the method, we have prepared a summary table comparing the main characteristics of each method, consider your priorities: speed, image quality or usability.
| Method | Image quality | Speed of operation | Dependence on Wi-Fi | Difficulty setting up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wireless (Miracast) | High (compression) | Medium (there are lags) | Tall. | Low. |
| Google Home (Chromecast) | Very high. | Tall. | Tall. | Low. |
| DLNA (Gallery) | Original | Tall. | Medium | Low. |
| USB-cable | The original (Lossless) | Instant. | No. | Medium |
As you can see from the table, USB-The cable provides the best quality, but requires a physical presence near the TV.
For regular use in the living room, we recommend setting up one of the wireless methods and fixing the connection. For rare cases, demonstrations of professional photos, it is better to have a quality cable on hand.
Problem Solving and Frequent Questions
Even if you follow all the instructions, you can have technical difficulties. Often, users will face a situation where the phone sees the network but does not see the TV. First of all, check if the router is not on the guest mode for one of the devices - the devices must be on the same main network.
☑️ Diagnostics of connection
Another common problem is to desynchronize audio and video while watching live voiceover photos, which is solved in the settings of the TV, where there is often the option of “Sound Correction” or “Lip Sync”, and also try to reduce the load on the Wi-Fi channel by turning off downloads on other devices.
⚠️ Note: If you use a dual-band router, make sure both the phone and TV are connected to the same frequency (either both at 2.4GHz or both at 5GHz), although modern routers usually combine them into a single network. SSID.
In some cases, resetting network settings on a Xiaomi smartphone helps. To do this, go to Settings → Connection and Sharing → Wi-Fi → Network Management, select your network and click Delete, then enter the password again.
💡
Use static. IP-The address for the TV in the router settings, which ensures that the device's address does not change after the reboot, and the phone will always "see" it at a permanent address.