Smart TVs are no longer just broadcast devices, becoming powerful multimedia centers capable of reproducing content from the Internet. However, the diagonal of a smartphone often seems insufficient when you want to show friends photos from a vacation or run a high-resolution film on a large screen. Owners of Xiaomi equipment often wonder how to organize wireless transmission of images, and this is quite natural, given the popularity of the brand.
Fortunately, the Mi Home ecosystem offers a lot of built-in streaming tools that don’t require additional consoles. Whether it’s Android or iOS, data protocols work steadily if you set up the network correctly. In this article, we’ll break down all the current methods of mirroring and streaming video so you can enjoy content at full speed.
Before you start setting up, make sure your TV and mobile device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.This is a fundamental requirement for most media technologies, such as Miracast and DLNA. If the router distributes the network at 2.4 and 5 GHz, try to use the same bandwidth for both devices to avoid connection conflicts.
Use of the built-in wireless display function
The easiest and fastest way to display a smartphone image on a TV screen is Miracast technology, which is often referred to as the Wireless Display or Wireless Display in Xiaomi’s interface, which allows you to completely duplicate the screen of a mobile device, which is ideal for displaying presentations, photos or application interfaces.
To start working on the TV remote, click the menu button or go to the application section. You need to find an icon called Wireless Display or Miracast. Once the application is launched, the screen will wait for the connection, and the status bar may display the device name, such as MI TV Stick or your TV model.
⚠️ Note: When using mirror display, the smartphone screen should be constantly active, which can lead to a rapid discharge of the battery and heating of the gadget body.
Now, to get to the phone setup. On Android devices, the path may vary depending on the manufacturer's shell, but the general principle is the same: Open the Quick Swipe Panel from top to bottom and find the Translation, Projection or Smart View button. From the list of available devices, select your Xiaomi TV.
If the automatic search didn’t work, try manually adding the device through the settings menu. Go to Settings → Connections → Broadcast. Make sure the feature is enabled and the phone will start scanning the available receivers on the local network.
Connection stability depends on the quality of the Wi-Fi signal. If you notice cursor delay or sound desynchronization, try to approach the router or disable downloads on other devices on the network.
Broadcasting via Google Chromecast built-in
Most modern Xiaomi TVs run on the basis of the Android TV operating system, which means the presence of built-in support for Google Cast technology. This is a more advanced analogue of Miracast, which allows you to broadcast content from specific applications (YouTube, Netflix, Spotify) without full duplication of the smartphone screen.
The main advantage of the Chromecast is that the phone is just a remote control, so you run the video on the phone, you select the broadcast icon, and the TV loads the stream itself, which saves battery life and allows you to use it for other tasks while watching.
To start the broadcast, make sure that your TV has a Google user profile. Open a support app on your phone, such as YouTube. Click on the wave rectangle icon in the corner of the screen. In the list that appears, select your Xiaomi TV.
- 📺 Image quality is automatically adjusted to the speed of the Internet.
- 🔋 The smartphone does not discharge as quickly as when fully mirrored.
- 📱 Ability to control playback from any device on the network.
- 🎮 Support for games and some specialized applications.
Importantly, Chromecast requires a stable internet connection to work, as traffic goes directly to the TV, bypassing the phone. If the router blocks the connection between devices (customer isolation mode), the stream will not start.
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For the best 4K video quality through Chromecast, make sure your router supports either Wi-Fi 5 (AC) or Wi-Fi 6 (AX) standard and runs at 5GHz.
Configure DLNA to play media files
If your goal is to play a video file stored in your phone’s memory or music from your local library, the best solution is the DLNA protocol. Unlike mirror display, only the media stream is transmitted here, which ensures high quality and no interface lags.
Xiaomi TVs often have a media player pre-installed that supports this technology, or you can use third-party apps from the Google Play Store, such as VLC for Android or MX Player. On the smartphone side, you will also need a controller app or file manager with DLNA support.
Consider the process of using the popular VLC player. Install the app on your phone and your TV. Make sure both devices are on the same network. In the app on your phone, select a file, press the "Cast" button, and select a TV. The file will play on the big screen.
| Parameter | Miracast | Chromecast | DLNA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of transmission | Full screen mirror | Streaming video from apps | Local files |
| Phone load | Tall. | Low. | Medium |
| Internet dependency | No requirement (wi-fi only) | Required. | Not required |
| Quality. | Depends on the Wi-Fi signal. | Up to 4K HDR | Original file |
Sometimes the TV doesn't see files from the phone, in which case, check the firewall settings in the antivirus on your smartphone or the permissions for the local network in the settings of the player app itself.
What to do if DLNA does not work?
Broadcast from iPhone and iPad (AirPlay)
Apple owners often worry that they won’t be able to use Xiaomi TVs, but they don’t. Xiaomi TVs now support AirPlay 2 natively or through an app, which allows you to stream screen, photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
To check for AirPlay support, go to Xiaomi TV settings: Settings → Apple AirPlay and HomeKit. If you don’t have this option, go to the Google Play app store and find the “AirPlay” app from Beijing Xiaomi developer or compatible third-party software, such as AirScreen.
Once you install or activate the function, you need to open Control Point on your iPhone. On Face ID models, swipe down from the top right corner, on Home models, swipe up from the bottom edge. Click on Screen Repeat icon (two rectangles).
⚠️ Warning: When you first connect your iPhone to your TV, a confirmation code may appear on your TV screen. Enter it on your smartphone to establish a secure connection.
AirPlay on Xiaomi TV is a wide-ranging experience, with system sounds, the TV as external speakers for music, or a live presentation, minimal latency and little to no noticeable when watching videos.
☑️ Checklist of successful AirPlay setup
Third-party applications for enhanced capabilities
Staffing isn’t always perfect, especially if you want to stream content from apps that block screen recording, or if embedded protocols are unstable, and third-party solutions available on the Google Play store come to the rescue.
One of the most popular solutions is the Web Video Caster app, which allows you to open web pages with video on your phone and send a direct stream to your TV without buffering through your smartphone, and this is especially true for viewing online cinemas that do not have an official Android TV app.
Another powerful tool is LocalCast or BubbleUPnP. These apps can stream not only videos, but also photos, music, and subtitles, and they often have more flexible codec settings and are able to "twistle" a file format that the TV doesn't understand natively.
To install third-party software on a Xiaomi TV, you may need to search the global Play Store section, since in some regions the set of applications is limited. APK-flash-drive.
- 📡 Support for protocols HTTP, RTSP, MMS.
- 🎞️ Ability to switch audio tracks and subtitles on the fly.
- 📂 Access to network storage NAS cloudy.
- 📱 Managing playback via smartphone.
Using third-party software may require you to configure local network access permissions. When you first start, read your Android TV requests carefully and allow access to multimedia.
Solving Connection and Quality Problems
Even when set up properly, there can be technical difficulties, and the most common problem is that the TV is not visible on the list of available devices, 90% of the time it is due to the devices being connected to different subnets (such as a guest Wi-Fi network) or using the 2.4 GHz band with high noise.
Another common mistake is to desynchronize sound and image, which can be treated by changing the playback buffer in the player settings or switching the frequency of the Wi-Fi router, and it is also worth checking whether background downloads on the phone are running that eat up the channel.
If nothing works, try resetting the network settings on your TV. Go to Settings → Network and Internet, select your network and click "Forget." Then reconnect by entering your password. IP-address and reset the cache of connections.
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The key to stable broadcasting is a single 5GHz network for all devices and no software locks at the router level.
In rare cases, the problem may be in an outdated version of the TV firmware. Check for updates in Settings → About TV → System Update. New versions of the software often contain patches for Miracast and AirPlay protocols.