Many of you would have seen Google announcing "Chromecast" device across many countries. You might also have seen references of "Miracast" too in many blogs. So what are they and how they differ?
Chromecast is a hardware device (dongle shaped) developed and marketed by Google. The device plugs into the HDMI port of your television/projector and, plays audio/video pushed via Wifi from a limited set of support devices and softwares/apps. The apps are limited and following link shows supported apps.
Miracast is a wireless screen-mirroring/casting standard using Wifi. This can be equated to bluemooth media transfer which you might be familiar already. Miracast thus is NOT a hardware, not a software, but just a standard so that corporations/developers can build their devices (laptop, smartphone, tablets etc..) to push media content to your Television or projectors. Miracast can be better compared to Airplay rather than Chromecast.
Thus Chromecast and Miracast are totally different things.
Miracast being a standard, can be implemented in many devices. Since the standard is fairly new, many devices need to certify with this standard. The greatest advantage of Miracast is that it is compatible with Android/iOS/Windows etc..
Belkin Miracast Video Adapter
Chromecast is a hardware device (dongle shaped) developed and marketed by Google. The device plugs into the HDMI port of your television/projector and, plays audio/video pushed via Wifi from a limited set of support devices and softwares/apps. The apps are limited and following link shows supported apps.
Miracast is a wireless screen-mirroring/casting standard using Wifi. This can be equated to bluemooth media transfer which you might be familiar already. Miracast thus is NOT a hardware, not a software, but just a standard so that corporations/developers can build their devices (laptop, smartphone, tablets etc..) to push media content to your Television or projectors. Miracast can be better compared to Airplay rather than Chromecast.
Thus Chromecast and Miracast are totally different things.
Miracast being a standard, can be implemented in many devices. Since the standard is fairly new, many devices need to certify with this standard. The greatest advantage of Miracast is that it is compatible with Android/iOS/Windows etc..
Major Differences between Chromecast and Miracast enabled devices
| Chromecast | Miracast enabled Devices | |
| Flexibility | Limited by apps | Essentially screen mirroring so any apps/softwares can be screencasted |
| Video Quality | v1 supports upto 720p | Depend on devices. 1st version of Belkin Miracast supports full HD 1080p |
| Router compatibility | Has compatability issues. Refer Chromecast compatability list | Depend on devices. |
| Live Streaming (Sports/ feeds etc..) | Can stream from Chrome Browser using Tab casting. Hence not possible for sopcast or vlc streams etc.. | Possibly not a problem as it can mirror your handheld device |
| Cost | Cheap around $35, £30 | Could vary upon devices. |
Belkin Miracast Video Adapter
- Full HD (1080p) streaming and mirroring support via HDMI.
- Compatible with many devices and Operating systems including Android 4.2+ , Windows 8.1+
- Very small footprint and powered using USB cable provided
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| Belkin Miracast vs Google Chromecast |
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| Belkin miracast device |