In this guide, we will show you how to stream video content to a Smart TV from PCs, smartphones, and even websites, using the functions integrated with it to be able to manage any type of video stream, regardless of the app or service used.
We will thus be able to watch a game in streaming or a movie on the Web without having to go crazy looking for it on the browser or among the Smart TV apps.
READ ALSO -> Best apps for Samsung, LG, and Android Smart TVs
Preliminary information
Before you can try any of the systems listed below, make sure you read the following warnings otherwise it will not be possible to send the content to the TV, or we may have problems during playback:
- The Smart TV must be connected (via Wi-Fi or Ethernet) to the same network as the devices we intend to use to send videos;
- some videos may not be compatible with the TV, especially if the codecs are very new (H.264 is supported very well, while H.265 (HEVC) is certainly compatible on TVs released from 2017 onwards):
- some audio tracks included in the videos may not be reproduced correctly, especially if they use advanced audio codecs (AC3 and DTS);
- The best results are obtained using the fastest connections, i.e. 5 GHz WiFi (for TVs, PCs, smartphones, and tablets) or the Ethernet cable (for fixed TVs and PCs). If possible, we avoid using 2.4 GHz WiFi connections, which are too slow and with too much interference to be effective.
Starting from these assumptions, let’s now see how to see video content on a Smart TV starting from a PC or smartphone. Having a computer or a smartphone is indeed possible to see anything by streaming it on TVwhether you have a normal TV or if you have one Smart TV that connects to the network.
1) DLNA
DLNA is a feature found on most new TVs that allows you to share streams of multimedia content between devices connected to the same network at home, without the need to store content on both devices. In simple terms, if you have a movie on your PC it can be streamed on TV without having to copy it to the TV memory. Another example of DLNA is to hear smartphone music on the stereo speakers.
The possibilities are endless as long as both devices support DLNA. DLNA is widely supported by all TV manufacturers, although it often has a different name like AllShare (Samsung), SmartShare (LG), EasyShare (Philips), and AirPlay (Apple).
Before starting to discover this new feature of your Smart TV you need to know that there are two types of DLNA devices: a client and a server. The server transmits the contents and the client receives them. PCs, Macs, NAS drives, tablets, and smartphones can all act as the server while the TV is the client. To make your PC or smartphone work a DLNA server is required to install a program or app.
Su un PC Windows you can find the streaming media sharing function in the Control Panel. Open the Control Panel, search for “media streaming options” and activate it. From the TV open the DLNA streaming function locates the server to open the videos.
However, the sharing of streaming streams from a PC is very limited, so it is advisable to install a different program such as Plex Media Player or how Emby.
Using one of these DLNA servers we will be able to share the films on the network, so as to view them streaming from the TV. The power of DLNA servers is the ability to transcode videos to make them all supported even if, in theory, they wouldn’t be. The two servers mentioned in the article are also available for Android smartphones, iPhones, and iPads.
Who has a TV with DLNA support can then watch video from the PC on TV (which must be a Smart TV) without buying any other device, as seen also in ours guide to DLNA servers.
Miracast
If we have a recent Android smartphone or tablet we can send the contents played on the screen directly to the TV using Miracast, obviously if the TV is compatible with this protocol. To find out Let’s open our TV and look for the menu Miracast to enable the feature (if available).
Now that the feature is active on our television, we connect the smartphone or tablet to the 5 GHz wireless network (the standard 2.4 GHz one could give too many interference problems) and use the toggle Broadcast present in the quick menu, by swiping the bottom of the system bar at the top.
If we don’t see this toggle we can open the menu Cast screen o Schermo wireless present in the menu Settings -> Net or Other. Once the connection with the TV is established, simply confirm the connection on the latter to see everything we see on the smartphone screen. We can open any multimedia app, or video on Facebook or Google Chrome and view it (with a slight delay compared to the display) even on our TV.
Windows 11/10 Cast feature
If we have Windows 11 or Windows 10 on our computer, we can send the full desktop screen to the TV by clicking on the system icons (Windows 11) or the notification center (Windows 10) at the bottom right and clicking on the item Broadcast.
After a few seconds of research we will see our Smart TV appear among the devices that we can connect to the operating system; to proceed, click on the item relating to our Smart TV, confirm the message on it and we will see the desktop appear on the TV.
Now let’s open the multimedia content (even streaming from the Web) and let’s play it without problems through the browser, then let’s put it on full screen; in this way, we will be able to see it also on TV with good quality. For best results, make sure you leave the Miracast entry on the Smart TV enabled.
To learn more, we can read our guide on how to use Windows as a Miracast receiver to view the screen of another PC and Android.
Send videos from Android to TV
Instead of using Miracast support, on Android devices we can install the app BubbleUPnP, the best for creating a DLNA server on Android. Also for Android you can use the free app AllCastwhich works to stream music videos and photos to any receiver such as the Chromecast or Samsung, Panasonic and Sony Smart-TV.
Alternatively, we can take advantage of DLNA and the free app called Web Video Castdownloadable from here -> Web Video Cast.
This app acts like a normal web browser, capable of playing all the videos on the Internet; once associated with our Smart TV (by tapping the Cast symbol at the top and limiting the search to Smart TVs or DLNA) this app is able to retrieve the link to the video source so you can send it to your TV to play it.
Since many TVs have a limited memory level, it can act as additional buffering for playback on the TV, so you always get smooth, high-quality content on your Smart TV. Great for playing videos on Facebook, Netflix, social networks, and streaming sites without having to download anything or click too many clicks (which often lead to viruses).
Send videos from iPhone / iPad to TV
If we have an iPhone or an iPad and we want to send the videos found on the net to our TV, the only app suitable for this purpose is Video & TV Cast.
This app works in a very similar way to Web Video Cast but is perfectly compatible with the Apple environment: a Web browser is offered from which to open the sites where the video is contained; as soon as the video is started (it is always advisable to start it on the device), tap the Cast symbol at the top right and wait until our Smart TV is visible.
Now let’s associate it with the app, confirm the warning message that will appear on the TV, and enjoy playing web videos on Smart TV. This app is perfectly compatible with videos on Facebook, social networks, YouTube, and any streaming site you know.
Other methods to send videos to Smart TV
Those that we have seen in this guide are the fastest and fastest methods to send video content to a Smart TV starting from a PC or a portable device. If we want to use other methods to get the connection between our network device and the new TV, we recommend reading the following guides:
- Watch streaming videos and movies from your PC on TV with Chromecast
- How to cast to TV from iPhone and iPad with Chromecast
- How to cast video from PC to Fire TV via VLC
- How to see Facebook Watch videos on TV
The fastest and most practical way to send movies to your TV is Chromecast compatible with Google Chrome (from which we can send videos) and easily accessible also from the phone, from which we can stream practically any content.
If we have an Amazon Fire TV Stick we can also use the VLC app to access the videos on your PC, after sharing them on the network (through advanced sharing of network folders).
If, on the other hand, we are lovers of videos on Facebook, it will be enough to install Facebook Watch on Smart TVopen the Facebook app on our mobile device, open a video, and stream it to the TV without further confirmation steps.
Conclusions
With the methods seen in this guide, we can watch Movies on Smart TV from PC, web, and smartphone, without having to tinker with our network and using safe and reliable protocols. For maximum results, we connect the Smart TV via Ethernet cable or use the 5 GHz network for all devices on the network so that we can transmit the video stream without interruptions and at the highest possible quality.
To learn more we can read our guides on how to cast a screen on Amazon Fire TV Stick and Chromecast alternatives to watch web content on TV.
