Whose got their chromecast working?

[dontpanicbobby]

What do phone movies look like on your TV and which TV is it?

 

[Unforgiven]

What do phone movies look like on your TV and which TV is it?

Do you mean movies taken with your phone, or streamed from your phone like Netflix? Both are usually pretty clear for me. Sometimes if I am screencasting I get some lag, but it's pretty much seamless.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Streamed movies from wherever...

 

[Unforgiven]

Streamed movies from wherever...

Ah, then it should be crystal clear. I'll use Netflix as an example. You pull up a movie and start watching on your phone, then cast it to your Chromecast. The stream doesn't go from your Wifi, to your phone, to the TV. The stream goes direct to the TV and your phone essentially becomes a remote. I'm not sure how all the magic happens, but that is more or less how it works. That's different than screencasting (sharing your devices screen to the TV) or streaming movies that are stored on your device, as that is dependent on the performance of your phone .

 

[lunatic59]

I have my chromecast in the basement and stream old episodes of the Twilight Zone and Star Trek on my son's old college TV. It's remarkably clear and smooth. Streaming Netflix from my G6.

 

[psionandy]

In terms of bangs for the buck... Chromecasts are awesome.

When it comes to streaming .. Your phone hands off all the work to the chromecast itself... And then effectively just works as a remote control whilst the chromecast does all the data traffic straight to the network


If you are casting your display... Then there is more lag, as your phone is sending data directly to the chromecast which is then dealing with it...

I'd rather have a dumb TV with a chromecast... Than a smart TV without one any day

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I inherited a TV that should work with Chromecast. Just haven't set it up yet. Cathode ray has been my thing in the bedroom. Everybody else uses flat screens Im the only one left with this tech. Life goes on.

 

[Clementine_3]

I mostly use my Roku but I do watch CBS (and other stuff, of course) with my Chromecast, and honestly, there is no difference. Sometimes I forget which I'm using so have a momentary remote issue

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I've used three remotes. Whoever combines all of those will make mega-money. Not talking about a universal remote. Those are old school. Something needs to take it's place.

 

[tube517]

Chromecast is great for me in the guest bedroom when my (master) bedroom is occupied by my wife watching and my son is in the den watching the big TV.

 

[lunatic59]

Chromecast is great for me in the guest bedroom when my (master) bedroom is occupied by my wife watching and my son is in the den watching the big TV.

Is it still the master bedroom if your wife isn't in it?

 

[tube517]

Is it still the master bedroom if your wife isn't in it?

I should clarify LOL

Master Bedroom: Amazon Fire Stick
DEN/TV room: Roku/SMart TV/Android Box
Guest room: Chromecast

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Is there anything you didn't try @tube517?

 

[tube517]

Is there anything you didn't try @tube517?

That's all. I"m broke now

 

[svim]

... Cathode ray has been my thing in the bedroom. Everybody else uses flat screens Im the only one left with this tech. Life goes on.

Don't write off that old CRT TV off completely if you want to use it for streaming online content. A Chromecast might not be an option (requiring a HDMI port) but the Roku Express+ is one of the few set-top devices available that include support for composite cables (red-white-yellow connectors):
https://www.roku.com/products/roku-express-plus

 

[robert13]

That's all. I"m broke now

Come on, Chromecast isn't that expensive after all. I paid like $50 for mine and it's working wonders with my mobile devices and a 10-year-old TV.
Seriously, people think it is magic when you play a video from YouTube. It was a main attraction on my birthday

 

[Xyro]

I've used TVs with chromecasts (or the same functionality built-in) before and had gotten used to it, but I find myself now without either. So I ordered myself one last night on a deal for £23, which isn't bad at all.

 

[robert13]

I've used TVs with chromecasts (or the same functionality built-in) before and had gotten used to it, but I find myself now without either. So I ordered myself one last night on a deal for £23, which isn't bad at all.

I would say it's a bargain where did you find this deal?
And to make sure, are we talking about Chromecast 2?

 

[Xyro]

I would say it's a bargain where did you find this deal?
And to make sure, are we talking about Chromecast 2?

It was via this promotion. Specifically the black, non-4K Chromecast 2 for £22. You get a code to redeem on the google store that knocks £30 off the price.

 

[Member2035261]

I've been mostly watching past series of Scandi dramas from the BBC and find the colour, contrast etc not great.




I guess the HD setting on BBC iPlayer is 720. I may be missing some tricks, I admit.

Anyway : I read a few days ago somewhere that it's better to use the BBC iPlayer app on my phone rather than stream from my pc. something to do with poor frame rates, but I've no idea if that has substance.

Still experimenting with Chromecast when I have the time,so interested to see this thread. I was initially disappointed that you can't mirror your phone directly, and there's unacceptable lag unless you're streaming, iirc.

 

[Xyro]

Anyway : I read a few days ago somewhere that it's better to use the BBC iPlayer app on my phone rather than stream from my pc. something to do with poor frame rates, but I've no idea if that has substance.

Streaming from your PC is a much more computationally demanding task, and so it certainly could be responsible for the poor resolution/quality that you're getting.

Like others mentioned above, if you use the iPlayer app on your phone, you're telling the chromecast to use its own built-in app to stream the data from the BBC server, decompress the data and play the video. No different to watching it on any other single device.

If you go via your computer, your computer is streaming the data, decompressing and playing the video, and then re-compressing the video and sending it via your router to be de-compressed again by the chromecast.

Compressing video throws out information, stuff like colour, contrast and detail, so the extra step of compression when streaming via the PC will make your video look worse. Also, this setup is much more sensitive to slow or disrupted internet speeds on your home network, as the chromecast can't buffer any video ahead of time. Dropping the resolution of the streamed video is the usual way to compensate for that, which might be why your resolution is lower than expected.

 

[tube517]

Come on, Chromecast isn't that expensive after all. I paid like $50 for mine and it's working wonders with my mobile devices and a 10-year-old TV.
Seriously, people think it is magic when you play a video from YouTube. It was a main attraction on my birthday

Did you see my post? Particularly the "Smart TV w/Roku"

That's where I went "broke"

 

[Member2035261]

Streaming from your PC is a much more computationally demanding task, and so it certainly could be responsible for the poor resolution/quality that you're getting.

Like others mentioned above, if you use the iPlayer app on your phone, you're telling the chromecast to use its own built-in app to stream the data from the BBC server, decompress the data and play the video. No different to watching it on any other single device.

If you go via your computer, your computer is streaming the data, decompressing and playing the video, and then re-compressing the video and sending it via your router to be de-compressed again by the chromecast.

Compressing video throws out information, stuff like colour, contrast and detail, so the extra step of compression when streaming via the PC will make your video look worse. Also, this setup is much more sensitive to slow or disrupted internet speeds on your home network, as the chromecast can't buffer any video ahead of time. Dropping the resolution of the streamed video is the usual way to compensate for that, which might be why your resolution is lower than expected.

Great. Thanks for the info. That makes sense, I guess. I was seeing the Chromecast as a receiver of data and not having it's own apps. I tried the Google Home app but that just directs to the iPlayer app for the full play list.


I'll experiment some more and try for a faster hotspot soon as my only wifi.

I'll try running a movie from Google Play Movies later.

I just remembered (this is what late middle age does to me) I also have iPlayer on my HDD / BD recorder (not my tv) and that wasn't running great in a brief period today, but I think it has run with better pictures jn the past.