How to use Chromecast to stream videos and movies from PC to TV: programs and applications
In fact, it acts like a wireless receiver, so you can watch the multimedia content of supported applications on TV. If instead we don’t know how to use it together with a PC, in this guide we will show you how watch videos, series and movies stored on your PC via Chromecast on TV, advising you on the best programs and services capable of indexing the video content on our hard disk and sending it to the Chromecast also converted (in case of incompatibility with some audio or video codecs).READ ALSO: Guide Chromecast with tricks and applications to use it at its best
Watch videos and movies on TV from PC with Chromecast
After reading all the chapters below, we will be able to make the most of the Chromecast in any scenario, even if we want to view a film stored locally (usually in AVI, MP4 and MKV formats) or live Favorite TV broadcast on a web page.
Watch streaming videos on the web on TV
This is the most appreciated and most requested function of the Chromecast: we can view the multimedia content on the web pages on TV.
To achieve this, simply install the Google Chrome browser on your computer, start it, visit the page containing the video or live streaming to view on TV, click on the menu at the top right with the three dots, press Beam and select the name of the Chromecast from the list.
The entire browser tab will be visible on the TV where the Chromecast is present, including video or live streaming (audio included in multimedia content will also be sent); to use the entire TV screen, simply press the button Full screen present on all the videos on the web now.
Watch streaming videos from Windows 10 programs and apps on TV
If the multimedia content we want to play is displayed within a Windows 10 program or app, we can transmit the entire screen of our computer using the Google Chrome browser.
We start Chrome on the computer, we open the menu at the top right, we press on the menu Beam and, from the drop-down menu Sources select the item Cast desktop.
The entire screen of our PC will be displayed on the TV, so that you can view the video or live streaming (with related audio) on it. The operation is similar to Miracast, which we talked about in our guide on how Project Windows 10 on TV with Miracast (wireless connection to the screen).
Watch computer videos on TV via server
If we have films or TV series episodes saved on the computer’s disc, we can transmit them to the Chromecast and to the relative TV using the Plex media server.
Once the server has been added to the computer, simply start the configuration page (via browser), indicate the folders to be indexed and their contents and wait for the time necessary for the database to be created with all the information on the films and TV series provided.
Now all we have to do is install the app Plex on Android or iPhone / iPad, start it and wait for the connection to the newly created Plex server; once started, press the Cast symbol in the top right corner of the app and choose the content to play.
To learn more about the use of Plex we recommend you also read ours Complete guide to Plex, the media player with active transcoding.
As an alternative to Plex we can use Videostream, an application to be installed on a Windows PC on which it acts as a server.
The program is launched from the Start menu or from the Windows desktop and allows you to index the multimedia folders that we want to be viewed on Chromecast and works with all video formats including AVI and MKV files.
Once the contents are indexed, simply install the app Videostream for Android and for iPhone / iPad, connect with the server created a little while ago and press the Cast symbol at the top right, so you can choose the Chromecast to send our videos, films and TV series to.
As alternatives to the servers we can use players compatible with Chromecast; among these we point out Soda Player (also capable of supporting streaming video viewing from AceStream, Sopcast and Torrent links) and the famous VLC.
Watch computer videos on TV via DLNA
If we have installed a DLNA server on our computer to index the contents and make them available on the network, we can view them on Chromecast by installing the app on our smartphone or tablet LocalCast, available for Android and for iPhone / iPad.
Once installed, all we have to do is add the DLNA server on the network, connect to the Chromecast via the Cast symbol at the bottom right and choose the video to view.
Compared to the servers seen previously, here it is not available to take advantage of the transcoding of incompatible audio and video formats: we can reproduce files with codec without problems MP4 (audio and video) or video MP4 with audio MP3 or AAC (AC-3 audio is not supported).
If any video from our collection is not compatible, we can convert it by reading our guide on how Convert video to MP4.
Conclusions
What we have shown you are the best methods to stream computer videos using Chromecast, so that you can take advantage of your collection of movies and videos stored on your computer’s hard disk even on the TV in the living room or bedroom.
To learn other useful tricks for Chromecast, we recommend reading our guide on how Turn any TV into Smart TV with Chromecast.
If instead we look for valid alternatives to Chromecast, we can view the devices in our guide to Alternatives to Chromecast to watch web content on TV.