Database Develop

[Q] Can Chromecast turn off the TV automatically?

I haven't seen any mention of this. It turns on the TV fine, but won't turn it of. That's only partially useful, as I still have to keep the TV remote around.

Since it uses CEC to control the TV, it could turn the TV off, but it doesn't. Hopefully this feature is added in a future update.

Yeah I agree. I only now have a TV remote for only one purpose, to shut it off...
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

I totally Agree!
I just got my ChromeCast today and I was extremely happy that my TV is new enough to have the ChromeCast turn my TV on and change video modes. However, when streaming is done, I'd like it to shift back to previous video mode (your cable box)
If we all submit feedback, it'll at least help put the thought in Google's head at least.

so... whats the point of chromecast vs HDMI out?

So, I finally bought a chromecast and after 30 minutes was left wondering "why did I buy this instead of just getting a 15' HDMI cable to dual monitor my laptop on my TV.
It seems like casting from a tab uses more resources, uses double the bandwidth, and has limited features compared to just dual-monitoring.
In order to continue using a VPN and chromecast I have to mod the firmware on the router. chromecast uses a fair amount of resources when casting video. And as far as I can tell there's no benefit (besides it being wireless) compared to HDMI out dual monitoring... am I missing something or is it really just nothing that special?

codecobalt said:
So, I finally bought a chromecast and after 30 minutes was left wondering "why did I buy this instead of just getting a 15' HDMI cable to dual monitor my laptop on my TV.
It seems like casting from a tab uses more resources, uses double the bandwidth, and has limited features compared to just dual-monitoring.
In order to continue using a VPN and chromecast I have to mod the firmware on the router. chromecast uses a fair amount of resources when casting video. And as far as I can tell there's no benefit (besides it being wireless) compared to HDMI out dual monitoring... am I missing something or is it really just nothing that special?
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Hi Codecobalt,
The main benefit is convenience. There's something just very natural about selecting content from your phone and then having it play on the TV - with how the chromecast connects it's actually the device that creates the connection to the provider and as such there shouldn't be any increased bandwidth usage (only control information is sent via your phone in most cases - excepting applications that pass your data via external services).
If you wish to use a VPN you may have to mod your router however you can normally just add a route or some mechanism to stop it's connection to google DNS servers which will force the device to fall back to locally defined DNS servers if that helps. If you require assistance with the whole router thing let me know (as I've done many of them in many different ways).
Again as I said, the main reason for the device is convienience - I personally although being a tech head don't like the idea of having to launch movies with a mouse and keyboard off a laptop and all the rigmarole that comes with it (since purchasing chromecasts I haven't used my local movie stash in around 3 months).
Well that's my speel about it, if you have any specific requests please do not hesitate to ask and I hope you grow to love the device as much as I do.

I have no real gripes about it, I just don't see the real benefit to me, but I'm a laptop user who always has my laptop in front of me. I can understand though how you like the ability to use your android phone to launch videos wirelessly. I love to use my phone to launch youtube videos on my PS3.
It just seems like so long as you already have an HDMI out connection (and a laptop infront of you at all times) it's more universal to just dual monitor. for instance while casting "Watch ESPN" on my PC to TV, I can't fullscreen the video in the tab so that the video on my TV is fullscreen and still use the PC.. which kind of defeats the purpose. but with dual monitor I can have the video fullscreened on my TV while still using my laptop screen for everything else.
If it were a wireless option to dual monitor I would LOVE IT! but that's not what it was intended to be. I like it being wireless, but since I already have a 15' ethernet cable (just prefer it to wifi when available), usb to mini usb cable to charge my ps3 controller, and a wired headset for my ps3, one extra cable (the hdmi) running across the floor doesn't really bother me too much.
It's cool tech and very affordable for what it is, but it just left me wanting much more... thought I had to be missing the point.
For people without a ps3 or xbox or multiple TV's/chromecasts I can see the advantage.. just not for me I suppose.
I mostly wanted it so that I could watch my comcast xfinity online account (watch espn/2/u, FX, FXX, etc to stream live TV as an alternative to my netflix while I'm away from home and have a real screen. the ps3 doesn't have an xfinity app and I liked the idea of being able to stream only 1 specific tab. but then I have to use the zoom function on the tv to make it fullscreen and still use the laptop.

codecobalt said:
So, I finally bought a chromecast and after 30 minutes was left wondering "why did I buy this instead of just getting a 15' HDMI cable to dual monitor my laptop on my TV.
It seems like casting from a tab uses more resources, uses double the bandwidth, and has limited features compared to just dual-monitoring.
In order to continue using a VPN and chromecast I have to mod the firmware on the router. chromecast uses a fair amount of resources when casting video. And as far as I can tell there's no benefit (besides it being wireless) compared to HDMI out dual monitoring... am I missing something or is it really just nothing that special?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Casting from a tab (or the entire desktop) is not Chromecast's core use case. If that's all you're doing, then you are better off using HDMI or WiDi.
Chromecast's advantage, in addition to the sheer browsing/usage/convenience factor that @Kyonz mentioned, is "offloading" the playback duties. Chromecast's power usage is far less than your laptop, and you're free to take your laptop/phone/tablet and run if you need to while Chromecast continues to play. Someone else in the household can easily take over control of Chromecast from another device as well (there's some annoyance/bad to this too, but it's good as long as everyone plays nicely).
Likewise, I can move where media is being played back in most apps by pausing the playback, and resuming it on another Chromecast. Sadly, it won't turn off the TV though.
The previous paragraph deals solely with Chromecast-native applications, ie, not tab-casting or desktop-casting with the Cast extension from Chrome. Like I said in the beginning, if you're mainly trying to cast your computer's tab or screen, Chromecast is not the ideal solution.

I find the chromecast handy in my TV room... No hdmi cables everywhere. Just pull out my phone or tablet and pull up whatever I want to watch then send it to the chromecast and put the phone down.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

rans0m00 said:
I find the chromecast handy in my TV room... No hdmi cables everywhere. Just pull out my phone or tablet and pull up whatever I want to watch then send it to the chromecast and put the phone down.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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+1
also a nice way to upgrade an older non-smart TV to semi smart......

I never got it to work with my jellybean android phone. installed the app but never saw a chromecast feature in anything... chrome browser, watch espn, gallery nothing... but again didn't really try too hard.. hdmi for me.

codecobalt said:
I never got it to work with my jellybean android phone. installed the app but never saw a chromecast feature in anything... chrome browser, watch espn, gallery nothing... but again didn't really try too hard.. hdmi for me.
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Not all apps have the casting feature. Avia does YouTube does. ESPN and gallery do not
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

One of the Advantages is to be able to stream content to TVs in other rooms for Family and Friends without having to tie up your Laptop.
Truth is a Laptop has the fewest options available for using the CCast. None of the CCast compatible Apps will run on a Laptop and the only real benefit is you can launch a Netflix, Hulu and YouTube movie to the CCast from their Webpages.
So you can watch a movie on your TV while you do other things with the Laptop.

In the OP's case a secondary out from the computer doesn't "tie it up" much except for CPU and network usage. Well, launching a full screen game or something would likely jam things up.
Sent from a device with no keyboard. Please forgive typos, they may not be my own.

When using the hdmi out wont the graphics card be stressed also? Using the chromecast eliminates that altogether i thought...i use plex mostly for my entertainment system and debated getting a dedicated graphics card...in the end i chose casting between my devices because i have the bandwidth to support it and no desire to push my graphics card too hard if i chose to watch a 1080 trilogy....hows my logic?

That's reasonable logic too. Chromecast had hardware processing for the (limited) formats it supports, so it uses far less power than a laptop, perhaps even less power than a tablet because it's not also powering a screen. Personally I like the "start it up and let it go" aspect - no worries about what I do on my phone/tablet/computer once it's playing.

I'm streaming from my phone with my WiFi disabled... anyone else manage to do this?

Hey all,
Really weird thing is happening right now with my Chromecast. I started streaming a YouTube playlist of all 82 episodes of Dr. Katz, and when I longpressed home to clear my recent apps, I just clicked the "clear all" button like always. This took the Chromecast icon away from the notification bar and killed my YouTube session, but the video was still streaming. My curiosity piqued, I turned my WiFi off to see what would happen. Lo and behold, the videos are still playing. Anyone have an explanation for this? I'm not complaining, just curious as to how this is even possible.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

This is perfectly normal and how it's supposed work. You are not streaming from your device but rather your device is the remote. Once the link or signal has been sent to the cc you can go as far as pulling the battery on your device and the video will still play.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

45ACP1911 said:
This is perfectly normal and how it's supposed work. You are not streaming from your device but rather your device is the remote.
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Exactly this. It's also in the FAQ Part 1, 1.d

45ACP1911 said:
This is perfectly normal and how it's supposed work. You are not streaming from your device but rather your device is the remote. Once the link or signal has been sent to the cc you can go as far as pulling the battery on your device and the video will still play.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
Oh...huh. Well, I sure do feel stupid. I knew CC doesn't "stream" in the traditional sense but for some reason I thought it required the device of origin to always be connected to the same WiFi network as the CC. Anyway, thanks for the heads up guys!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

In the Plex thread we also tested and verified that the Chromecast does not need an internet connection during local streaming from Plex media server on your PC.
It does need an internet connection to phone home to Google when you first connect to the Plex media server on your local network. But after that it will keep on interacting with the controller and playing new selections from the server over the local wifi network even with the internet disconnected. It only needs to connect to the internet again if you disconnect the controller from the Chromecast and then try to reconnect it. At that point the Chromecast goes to black screen and freezes in a wait state if there is no internet connection. But it resumes the local connection seamlessly if you restore the internet connection.

cmb3497 said:
I knew CC doesn't "stream" in the traditional sense but for some reason I thought it required the device of origin to always be connected to the same WiFi network as the CC.
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It's only the case (that the device of origin needs to stay connected) when "forwarding" video from another source and when the source data exists on the origin device. For example, Avia can pull from a DLNA source and push that to Chromecast, and both Avia and RealPlayer Cloud can cast local files to Chromecast.
If Chromecast is using its regular "optimized" playback from a streaming provider (HBO GO, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Viki, Pandora, etc) then the origin device is not needed after the cast starts. That's one of the things I like about Chromecast - you can start playback on one device then move to another device to control playback if you want or need to (for example, your kid decides they really want to play Angry Birds on your phone).

Disappointed with S2 Tab TV Out/MHL performance -can anyone help?

So I got a Galaxy S2 tab for Christmas and while it's pretty good on thing has been a huge letdown. One of the main things I wanted from it was to be able to connect it to the TV via a cable to watch films and TV shows .However with the tablet it will display the screen on the TV for me but the picture is small in the middle of the TV taking up around only 40% of the screen in total, the rest of it is a black box surrounding the picture.
I've tried messing with the display and aspect ratio on the TV but nothing gets it quite right. I've used a succession of Samsung phones with cables over the years and never have had a single problem, it's usually perfect.
Has anyone any insights into what might help or is this just not the right tablet when it comes to watching on the TV?

Different aspect ratios.
For the price of a chromecast nowadays it's pointless messing around with cables. The picture is not only superior but no need to have the screen on either.

ashyx said:
Different aspect ratios.
For the price of a chromecast nowadays it's pointless messing around with cables. The picture is not only superior but no need to have the screen on either.
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Thank you for replying Ashyx. Is there nothing I can do then as far as the cable goes?
I have a Chromecast but I don't find support for quite a lot of apps I want to use, even on the apps that do support it they won't cast recent screenings, just older episodes . The cast screen option also suffers from the aspect ratio problem so that doesn't help.

K-See said:
Thank you for replying Ashyx. Is there nothing I can do then as far as the cable goes?
I have a Chromecast but I don't find support for quite a lot of apps I want to use, even on the apps that do support it they won't cast recent screenings, just older episodes . The cast screen option also suffers from the aspect ratio problem so that doesn't help.
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Not sure what you mean by wont cast recent screenings, screenings of what?

ashyx said:
Not sure what you mean by wont cast recent screenings, screenings of what?
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Sorry,I wasn't clear. I meant on several of the apps I use only offer chromecast support for older shows and older episodes but not recent ones. They all play fine on the tablet though. I like to use the cable for those. That's why I find the chromecast doesn't rival the cable for me so I'd love to fix the issue if possible.

K-See said:
Sorry,I wasn't clear. I meant on several of the apps I use only offer chromecast support for older shows and older episodes but not recent ones. They all play fine on the tablet though. I like to use the cable for those. That's why I find the chromecast doesn't rival the cable for me so I'd love to fix the issue if possible.
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If you can tell me what sort of media you are trying to watch and which apps I can probably help you play it with chromecast.
There is nothing I haven't been able to play with chromecast. You just need the right software.
I play all sorts of media, from tv shows, to movies, to music.
Infact practically any media online, local or server based is playable.

ashyx said:
If you can tell me what sort of media you are trying to watch and which apps I can probably help you play it with chromecast.
There is nothing I haven't been able to play with chromecast. You just need the right software.
I play all sorts of media, from tv shows, to movies, to music.
Infact practically any media online, local or server based is playable.
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Click to collapse
That's really kind of you, thank you. Sorry for the late reply I was sick.
Mostly I'd like to watch shows from apps that are available in my home country or Ireland like RTE player. It's a tv show player app but doesn't have chromecast support. Also Channel 4 in the UK have an app called All 4 , while they have some content available for casting to chromecast the newer shows can only be watched within the app with no casting. They have hdmi blocked but I found an xposed module for getting around that.
If you've any insights or know anyway around these kind of problems I'd be very grateful. I'm grateful for your help so far too.

How do I get Netflix to Display over Miracast Connection?

Hey Guys,
I've been using a 256GB Exynos Note 8 as my first ever Samsung Smartphone for almost a year now, and I've been really loving the extremely versatile featureset it packs. It has hands down been the most useful Smartphone I've ever had after over half a decade of jailbroken iPhones and just switching to Android on a OnePlus One back in 2014. So much so, I've literally been using it as a Pocket PC for most of my computing needs, relying less and less on my Surface Pro 2.
However, there has been one pet peve that just keeps getting in the way of me enjoying my Note 8 to the fullest; whenever I try to miracast Netflix running on my Note 8 to my Microsoft Wireless Display Adaptor connected to a big screen (be it in my living room, bed room, or a hotel room), I only get audio and subtitles, no video Everything else -- including presentations, games and YouTube -- stream smoothly and very reliably from my Note 8 to whatever big screen I want, way better than even my Surface Pro 2 (1st party hardware). However, I just can't get Netflix to stream over miracast from my Note 8. Oddly enough, it works from my Surface Pro 2 with the latest Netflix app from the Microsoft Store.
Any genius out there have some suggestions on how to get Netflix working over miracast? I don't want them chromecast as they require their own internet connection instead of simply functioning via WiFi direct. Thanks in advance.

Try loading Netflix, then only starting the miracast?

Are you plugging this adapter into a TV at a hotel etc? Or is it your home TV?
The casting is something Samsung needs to fix its quite fiddly. If I'm casting to a TV I use Smart Things.
I think you should be running the app you're trying to cast from first. Then when you click the option it should recognise your MWDA.
I used to use my Surface Tablet to cast Netflix and it was a nuisance, so I gave up and plugged it directly into the TV and used a Bluetooth mouse.

barrieo said:
Try loading Netflix, then only starting the miracast?
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Sorry for the very late feedback, for some reason never saw a notification in the XDA Labs app despite responses to my thread.
I just attempted this but all it does is still show a black screen with audio over Miracast, while the video appears on my Note 8's screen.
Bu5zm4n said:
Are you plugging this adapter into a TV at a hotel etc? Or is it your home TV?
The casting is something Samsung needs to fix its quite fiddly.
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Click to collapse
I tried it both at a camp/hotel and at home. Doesn't matter which TV I'm plugging it into, it's still the same end result; my Note 8 reliably connects over Miracast to it, but Netflix refuses to display.
Bu5zm4n said:
If I'm casting to a TV I use Smart Things.
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Click to collapse
Hmm, isn't that using Chromecast though? My Wireless Display Adapter doesn't show up when I attempt to add a device in SmartThings.
Bu5zm4n said:
I think you should be running the app you're trying to cast from first. Then when you click the option it should recognise your MWDA.
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Click to collapse
I attempted that, and as stated above, still the same end result.
Any other suggestions on getting Netflix to work over Miracast? Thanks in advance.

BUMP

The problem might be the MWDA. I never used one, I used a 3rd party display port to HDMI cable when connecting my Surface to a TV.
I cast apps from my Note 8 to my TV using Smartthings app. Or if you click the button which says 'button order' for your notification shade, there should be one that says 'smart view' I have successfully cast Netflix on my phone to my TV this way.

Bu5zm4n said:
The problem might be the MWDA. I never used one, I used a 3rd party display port to HDMI cable when connecting my Surface to a TV.
I cast apps from my Note 8 to my TV using Smartthings app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The MWDA works perfect and reliably for ANYTHING else, besides Netflix. SmartThings is casting via Chromecast in your Smart TV, that's why it works with Netflix.
Bu5zm4n said:
Or if you click the button which says 'button order' for your notification shade, there should be one that says 'smart view' I have successfully cast Netflix on my phone to my TV this way.
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That's exactly how I cast from my Note 8's screen to the MWDA, again, it works reliably with everything else but Netflix. The difference is it's using the Miracast protocol in the case of my MWDA, whereas the one to your Smart TV is using the Chromecast protocol (SmartView supports both).
Anyone else have any suggestions on getting Netflix to work over Miracast?

Bump