Mirroring your PC’s display on your TV is actually pretty simple. There are several ways to get it done—both wired and wireless—and which you choose just depends on your situation.
The wired methods of mirroring your display are the most reliable, although you’ll need an HDMI cable and possibly an adapter for your computer. Wireless methods can work well, too.
Mirroring With an HDMI Cable (And Possibly an Adapter)
A standard HDMI cable is still the best way to get your PC’s screen onto a TV. This is true whether that computer is a living room PC using a TV as it’s only video output, or PC with its own monitor that’s mirroring the contents of the primary display to the TV.
Getting this solution hooked up is pretty simple. You probably already have an HDMI cable. If you don’t, you can buy a cheap cable like this one ($7) and skip the unnecessary expensive cables. Plug one end into an HDMI port on the back of your TV and the other into the HDMI port on your laptop or desktop. Switch the TV to the necessary input and you’re done! You can also use the display options on your PC to configure how the display works—whether the TV mirrors your main display or functions as a secondary desktop.
Miracast Wireless Display
Miracast is supposed to be an open alternative to Apple’s AirPlay, allowing you to “cast” an Android or Windows device’s display wirelessly to a TV or set-top box. Support for casting is built into the latest versions of Android, Windows, and Windows Phone. Your TV may or may not include Miracast, although it’s appearing on more streaming boxes like the Roku.
Unfortunately, we’ve found that Miracast is a bit hit-or-miss. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn’t. And it isn’t always easy to track down the reason it might not be working. We’ve had difficulty getting it going on devices that we knew supported Miracast.
For those reasons, we recommend you try Miracast last. If you have hardware that supports Miracast, feel free to give it a shot, of course. But don’t go out of your way to buy Miracast-enabled hardware, as there’s a good chance you’ll be disappointed with the experience. Miracast clearly needs more time in the oven before it can hope to become the easy-to-use, interoperable standard it’s supposed to be.
Mirroring with BiJie Box
BiJie Meeting Box is a wireless display product that can share anything from any device.