Connecting the Phone to the TV

I was asked to run down to the electronic store and get a couple of cables so teachers could show videos from their phones on the big TV from the meetinghouse library. The requester said I needed an Android to HDMI cable and an Apple to HDMI cable.

Thinking it would not be quite that simple, I did a little research, enough to get totally confused. Now I don't know if I need a 5-pin or an 11-pin cable that is Active or Passive. And that's just on the Android side.

Is there something that will work for most, or at least many, or is it really a different cable for each teacher who wants to use the TV? Is there such a thing as a "common" cable, one for Android and one for the iPhone or iPad, that will generally work?

Any suggestions on how to approach this request from a practical standpoint?

lajackson wrote:Is there such a thing as a "common" cable, one for Android and one for the iPhone or iPad, that will generally work?

On the Android side, you might look into this. It seems to cover both 11 pin and 5 pin. And allows for external power to run it.

The the Apple adapter can be found here. But you still need to purchase a separate HDMI cable to connect the adapter to the TV.

For the older iPhones and iPads, you can use this HDMI adapter, or
this composite AV cable .

Rather than purchase the seperate lighting and 40-pin connectors for Apple devices, we purchased an Apple TV. All the 4S and later and iPad 2 and latter devices as well as Macbooks manufactured in the last couple of years can wirelessly mirror audio and video to it.

We haven't yet but we will likely purchase Miracast adapters in the next month or so for do the same thing from recent Android and Windows devices.

Looking for guidance on a stake-wide multi-media effort.

I've got 3 buildings, with 12 rolling TV carts (standard flat-screens with HDMI). I've been authorized by the Stake President to invest in a long-term solution to allow instructors and leaders to connect their personal devices to these TV's.

Thinking about 3 different approaches:

1. Build a 'ring' of connectors (using epoxy and metal rings and then bolting them to the carts). Users would connect the appropriate adapter to their device, then use the HDMI cable from that adapter into the TV.
- Pro's - physical adapters are generally easier for tech-challenged people to understand
- Con's - Low refresh rates on some of the adapters, could cause glitchy audio/video on replay, not necessarily future-proof (when's Apple going to change to USB C?)

2. Epoxy a Chromecast onto each TV
- Pro's - allows for both iOS and Android screencasting
- Con's - not sure how well the LDS apps are going to support Chromecast across iOS, also some of the older TV's only have 1 HDMI port, so would have to get an HDMI switch for some to allow continued use of DVD players, more software configuration needed - could deter the tech-challenged

3. Bolt an Apple TV and a Chromecast onto each TV with an HDMI switch
- Pro's - allows for full functionality across Apple and Android devices, probably the most future-proof
- Con's - lots of parts to go wrong

What would you folks do?

A couple of things to consider: There's multiple ways to use Chromecast, Including streaming over the internet - something that's not encouraged as you may not have the needed network performance due to all the users. The streaming may or may not work due to the forced DNS settings that are part of the meetinghouse security.

Secondly, there's a security aspect - basically non-existent. Anyone could disrupt it.

Long term, I think you're better off with the adapter approach. However, some phones don't have any connections, so they'll be left out.

How many TVs per building?

I don't like people plugging cables in and out of TVs for a couple of reasons but one is that I've seen HDMI ports get damaged by people plugging in and out repeatedly.

In my building we have TVs with Apple TV and we have TVs with Miracast. We have one with ChromeCast but Miracast seems better if your devices support it. On the back of the TV we have directions on how to connect.

One of the problems with the adapters we found is they turn up missing.

Thanks for the quick replies, all!

I've got 4 carts in each meetinghouse. I want to do something that has the lowest potential for stuff walking away. Bolting stuff to the carts is my best idea so far. We've tried letting people check out adapters and they all just go walking away.

I'm going to get one Chromecast to test, but my understanding is that for the local screen casting, you just have to be on the same subnet with the chromecast app on the device. That should not require any sort of DNS, but you never know with Google's stuff.

The broken HDMI ports is an issue that I'm trying to get past by using epoxy to essentially lock down the HDMI port on the back of the TV...

In doing research on Miracast, I just don't see it having good cross-platform support in the next while. Windows 10, some Android, no native iOS support and the apps are kind of clunky.

@michaelcox - which Miracast devices are you using?

What about a Roku 3? Our FM Group manager is recommending this for the Stake Centres under his jurisdiction. It will work with Android and to a lesser degree IOS devices. Can be used as a backup system for the satellite system, either wirelessly or via the LAN. Also as a media streamer, with USB devices. Just a brief description of its possible uses.

aaronrturner wrote:but my understanding is that for the local screen casting, you just have to be on the same subnet with the chromecast app on the device. That should not require any sort of DNS, but you never know with Google's stuff.

Have fun explaining "local screen casting" to the users and why that works but the other modes that Chromecast offers doesn't work.

Biggles wrote:What about a Roku 3?

How well does it work with the new DNS policy? I seem to recall that you can't change the DNS from some default setting.

russellhltn wrote:

Biggles wrote:What about a Roku 3?

How well does it work with the new DNS policy? I seem to recall that you can't change the DNS from some default setting.

I've just got ours and still experimenting. The quick demo he gave when he delivered it, didn't seem to have any problems connecting to the internet (Behind the Church firewall BYU and the Mormon Channel) and worked well with the Android device he was using. It is necessary to set up an account, but once that is done it can be PIN protected to prevent chargeable services being used!

Microsoft Wireless Display adapter. It works on most recent Android, and most recent Windows 8.1/10, Windows Phone, and some Blackberry.

If I were you I would not do Chromecast and do one Miracast and one Apple TV. We have them velcore and zip tied to TV. I can take a picture and send you if you want. We also put directions on back of TV on how to connect

Three options I am trying to learn more about but have not tried yet are following:

1) the "Lenovo Cast" device (not the Lenovo Smart Cast" smartphone.) It was supposed to sell worldwide as of last August for $50 USD. but have not seen it in the USA yet.

http://news.lenovo.com/spec-sheets/leno ... -sheet.htm

If anyone hear if this unit selling in the US, please let me know.
per the spec sheet.:
***Designed to cast media from devices using Android 4.3 and above; also supports selected Miracast or DLNA-enabled Windows 8.1 or iOS devices

2) A bit more expensive option but appears provides more functionally is the Infocus Lightcast Module. $ 299 USD per Infocus.
http://www.infocus.com/accessories/netw ... T#overview

3) Microsoft Screen sharing device (uses NFC and Miracast)
https://www.microsoft.com/en/mobile/accessory/hd-10/

Although it reports for Windows phones, it sounds like it will work with other devices.

We currently use 2 - Roku XS 2 devices and the main draw back in a church setting is seen the ads on various screens that may not be appropriate for a church setting. On the particular model there is no screen mirroring option.

If anyone else has tried of these 3 options before I would be interested to hear about your experiences with the particular device.

Thanks all, for my testing over the next 2 weeks, I'm going to get an Apple TV and a Microsoft Screen Sharing dongle. I'm also going to pick up a few smart HDMI switches to see if I can make them work automagically without having the users unplug cables (for those TV's with just one HDMI port).

Will return and report next week.

I'm not familiar with the Microsoft Screen Sharing device. I read the info on Microsoft.com. How much is this? What caused you to pick this instead of the Microsoft Wireless Adapter?

Has anyone had success using chromecast for IOS? I downloaded the latest beta last night and it didn't have the support. However, I also downloaded the Media Library app (which is more of a mock-up at this point) and it did have support for Chromecast. I'd love to choose a single device, and even a low-cost device.

Does Android have native connectivity support to Apple TV? I have a purchased version of Allcast on my android so I can connect using airplay just fine, but not sure if it would work with native only.

I've been planning for a while on posting these directions but kept not thinking about it when I'm at the meetinghouse. Attached are the directions that I typed up for the Apple TV and the Miracast adapter in the meetinghouse. We laminate these and Velcro them to the back of the TV. Any questions, let me know. These are saved in LibreOffice / .odt format as they were made on the Clerks Office computer.

The Roku 3 is the solution I am favoring, especially for streaming from the Mormon Channel. How does your stake control or allocate the Roku devices?

I think if I was doing New TVs today I would do a TV with built in Chromecast and add on an Apple TV.

Since we're unable to do New TV's and most of us will be waiting anywhere from 1 to 14 years to get them replaced do we have other options out there?

I'm thinking that what I'd like to see is something like a RaspberryPI device with the following:
1. Miracast/Screensharing for Android/IOS (supporting all those devices, even windows and mac laptops
2. Wifi Router (hub) do directly connect to the PI wifi eliminating the issues of stutter using LDS Access and holes in the wireless coverage
3. Supports the Webcast Player on receiving sites

Is anyone already doing something like this out there?

mdenhalter wrote:The Roku 3 is the solution I am favoring, especially for streaming from the Mormon Channel. How does your stake control or allocate the Roku devices?

We put a Roku on every old TV and buy new TV's with Roku's built in: $99 for a 24" $380 for a 55". We have about 27 Roku's (some built-in, some standalone) in 5 buildings. All were purchased with stake funds over a period of several years.