Chrome Cast

[Warbler]

Okay a question probably for Arthur, but I dread the million word answer. :p

I have a Chromecast thingy and let me say it was easy to connect and cast to, but it seems that I can't get it to cast in a high enough definition/resolution. I want to cast a photo slideshow, either from an Android phone, or a Win 10 laptop. So, I have a number of apps on the android phone, but even though the images are 1920x1080 pixels, they look like excrement, even when cast to my Samsung monitor which I use to edit my photos on. This is 26 inches and 1920x1080. I've just bought a TEAC High Defintion 32 inch TV, as I haven't had a TV since we went digital here. Haven't missed it either. It is a 1366x768 resolution screen but says it will take images up to 3000 pixels. None of the images displayed look anywhere near as good as the screen on my Motorola MotoE2 phone.

Does anybody know what the secret is to getting a really sharp HD image over a Chromecast device?

[ameerat42]

OK. Well don't flood us with info.

What Chromecast key did you get, V1 or V2? Ie, does it look like a stick with a round end, or is it
fully round? What app are you using to "cast" it to the TV?

For your penance, read 2 x 1,000,000 word replies from AK.
In fact, write them out first.

As a temporary measure, if you have the V1 key like I do, read this. (http://thenextweb.com/google/2014/09/08/googles-chromecast-gets-1080p-chrome-tab-casting-via-beta-extension/#gref)

Am(patently not AK).

[arthurking83]

Sorry! no idea on my part. Never used a chromecast thingy, or anything like it.

I do have a 'smart tv' even tho it's IQ is really about 1 .. maybe only 2! :p
Actually, it's not that dumb, just dumbed down by the workaround OS, which is a Chinese version of Android .. and I can't just load any old app from the play store.
I can load any old app I want but it has to be freely and securely available in APK form.
Hence the TV is smart-ish .. but limited.

So for that reason, I'm kind'a limited in what I can use on it(unless I also use a chromecast thingydoodle too) .. but I've sort of settled on some very usable apps.
My most used app(and why I wanted an open smart tv os) .. is a media player called Kodi(used to be called XBMC).
I view my images at 1920x1080 via this media player app.
TV(screen) is of the most uber quality in terms of tech specs .. is 1920x1080 HD OK, and only does 4K at 30Hz(no way I'll use it that mode tho) .. and end result is fine .. as in :th3:

Obviously I don't sit as close as I do to my PC screen, but IQ is definitely a little nicer than my (questionable quality) monitor at comparable viewing distances.
I actually used a couple of different images to 'calibrate' the TV screen for the best calibration setting I could achieve for it using a few images and comparing between PC and TV.
Obviously not a proper calibration, and I do see a slight shift in reds more than any other colour tone aspect.

The only thing I can think of 'trying' .. ie. a very long shot! .. is to use larger res images to display on the TV.
But I reckon it's the TV's resolution of 1366 and 32" nature .. simply hasn't got the same pixel pitch definition as the PC screen.

I was given a Teac 40" tv(analogue) a few years back and it's resolution was 1366x768 too.
It had a PC type VGA connection, so I thought I'd give it a whirl using a laptop, set to that res for the test.
Images were similarly 'less defined' than I remember now on the current TV or any PC screen .. even my 1024x768 10" tablet.

sorry I can't really help .. but I hope that(info) helps.

[Warbler]

Thank you both. I've just downloaded the beta software from that site AM. Mine is V1. I've been using Gallery, Photos, Gallery Cast, PictaCast and a couple of others. None look good. I'll have a play in the morning. I've been up since 4 am, and I'm stuffed.

[ameerat42]

The TV is not the problem. It's the setup on the key and the settings on your casting app(s).
Make sure they can cast (at all) and in HD.

[Warbler]

Admirable restraint too Arthur.

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The TV is not the problem. It's the setup on the key and the settings on your casting app(s).
Make sure they can cast (at all) and in HD.

No, I know it's not the TV that's the problem. The PS Monitor is the same when casting to it. The apps say 1080p which I assume is HD as 720p is HD. It's got to be the Chrome Cast device. Anyway, I'll look again in the morning. Thanks AM.

[ameerat42]

No worries. When you do, remember to tell us what version CC key it is.

[arthurking83]

The TV is not the problem. ....

Ah! .... good to know. I really dunno nuthin (about them Chromecasts).

[J.davis]

Are you only wanting to see your pictures on the TV, I use a wireless network to view my PC on the Smart TV.

[ameerat42]

Are you only wanting to see your pictures on the TV, I use a wireless network to view my PC on the Smart TV.

A bit of how might be interesting, John.:D

[arthurking83]

Simple way to view stuff on a wired/wireless TV is to enable DNLA(media server thingy) on some device on the network.

eg 1. many routers nowadays have a USB port. Connect a USB drive of some type(eg. USB stick, or USB HDD).
In the router's settings will be a USB settings area. Within that USB settings area should also be a checkmark of some type to enable 'media server'.
Enable this and the router itself then serves out media content in a manner with a usable interface.

This is the preferred method, as the only device that needs to be on is the router(which it is anyhow) .. low power device that doesn't kill the environment and cost a fortune in power bills.

The other easy way on a Win PC is to allow file sharing in a way that sets the Windows PC as the DNLA media server.
Basically the same deal as above with the caveat that the PC needs to be on.

A smart TV implies that it will have a media content browser which should organise the content in a usable manner(ie. maybe with thumbnails and stuff) and locate any DNLA server seamlessly.

[Warbler]

It's a Version 1 AM. A bit more information then. I am working an event next week. I will be located upstairs away from the participants. Downstairs where they enter and loiter, I want set the TV up like one of those annoying screens you see in doctors' surgeries, banks, and just about everywhere else. I don't want to run cables or have my laptop sitting there for someone to tamper with or souvenir. I am also toying with the idea of using the WiFi cards in my cameras to upload almost real-time images (they can't be real-time because of the distance from the foyer to the stage inside the auditorium). So the "solution" looked to me to be the Chromecast set-up.

Now I can cast to the TV or to a dumb monitor, so that is not the problem. The problem is that if I'm going to be running images of my work for potential customers, the images better look their best. At the moment, they don't and I've experimented with larger images and four different apps. Each time I've set the apps to their largest images and run them full frame. They looked terrible. I better define "terrible" I suppose. They looked soft, lacking in detail, and generally just not sharp enough. These same images are tack-sharp on my computer and on my Android phones.

This is why I think the problem is with the Chromecast device. I don't know whether the device just isn't capable of handling a very high definition slideshow. Was hoping someone who'd used one of these for something similar might have been able to help. I might have to resort to other means of running just a static type of set-up from a DVD. There is one built into the TV. That will mean not being able to get images onto it from current sessions though. Still it will better than nothing if I can't sort this problem out.

Enough info AM?

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Images are like this:

[ricktas]

Although I have a chromecast v2. What you are seeking to do is not something I have tried to do. I have a WD media player as well (the old one that has a HDD inside) and I just USB copy my photos to the WD and display them using it. Note the new WD media players do not come with a HDD and they just use the USB stick to play stuff.

If I get a chance over the coming days I will have a play with the chromecast v2 and see what I can get. Though I have a busy week and I am off the AgFest (http://www.agfest.com.au/) on Saturday, and then going fishing on Sunday. So it might be a few days before I get a chance to spend some time in front of my un-smart TV and play with it.

[Warbler]

I think I'll probably have to go with the USB option myself. The DVD is hideously slow, but the USB works fine. The images are good from it too. Pity. I liked the wireless option. At least I won't have to take a wireless router too.

[ameerat42]

Chromecast is not as easy to set up and use as the ads would imply.
No amount of inane grins by young-ish fellows capering over a couch
and exchanging Hi-5s translates into anything as easy as they show.

And possibly of some significance: Ccast 1 works on 2.4GHz band,
and it HAS to be a pretty strong WiFi signal to run a router + cast device +
Ccast itself (as I have found and have consequently given up on until I can
beef up the WiFi).

So, that link I gave above shows the settings for CCast. Any use?
I will 3rd the option of USB on the router.:nod:

[Warbler]

Yes, it was helpful, but I had most of that set anyway. My monitor is still much, much sharper than the TV, so I'll probably take it and put my laptop under the counter with one of those locking wire loops attached. Then it can run the slideshow as a screensaver. Nice and sharp. Pity about the Chromecast. It had promise.

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I'll put the TV in the bedroom and chromecast to it when the cricket is on late at night. A waste of money that was.

[J.davis]

I use DLNA from the TV to the computer, and share videos and picture files from the computer to TV, the win10 system and LG TV seem to get on well through the router I have for the internet.
This is done wirelessly. Tv x 2 downstairs and computer and router upstairs.