Miracast Adapter for the Nexus 4
Miracast is Google’s answer to Airplay, promising a simple and common platform to share your Nexus 4 device screen with TVs and projectors. There weren’t any Miracast device for the Nexus 4 at launch but an answer has appeared on the market.
Miracast technology, hasn’t had much feature over the last month or two as adapters and TVs are not readily available. To re-cap, Miracast is a common platform created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to give users the ability to share content between screens over WiFi. No, wires, HDMI MHL connectors or video out docks are required.
The NetGear’s PTV3000 is Miracast certified by WiFi Alliance and is able to work with the LG-Google Nexus 4. You have to update the device to the latest firmware (2.2.2) for Miracast compatibility. Firmware and instructions on how to update the PTV3000 is available here.
Availability
The Netgear PTV3000-100NAS Push2TV retails for about $60-$80. Available direct from Amazon.com.
Review of the NetGear PTV3000
Measuring just 9cm long, the NetGear PTV3000 is small and compact, about half the size of an AppleTV. It is powered via mini USB and I have the PTV3000 plugged directly into a usb port on my tv to power this device.
This is advantageous as the device is only powered together with the TV. The problem though means that there’s a delay before the device is ready for connection and I was expecting like 10 – 20 secs but in fact, it takes about 1 minute before it could be detected. An alternative is to use a wall socket for permanent connection but then you would be wasting electricity. As far as the performance goes, there is about a 50ms lag when paired with the Nexus 4. For media viewing purpose, this lag is OK and while the video quality is not HDMI cable output quality, it is good enough. Gaming is extremely lacking in terms of 1:1 sync. Hopefully this would improve in subsequent firmware revisions on both the phone and the miracast adapter.
Other applications also include using WDI on Windows based laptop. Intel has improved WIDI with version 3.5 down to 60 ms if using a 3rd generation Intel chip with HD 4000.
To turn on Wireless Display (Miracast) on Nexus 4:
1. Open Settings>Display on your Nexus 4.
2. Scroll to the bottom to find “Wireless display” and tap on it.
3. Toggle to “On.”
4. Search for Miracast-ready devices.
There are also progress made on other devices, such as the Samsung AllShare dongle. Likewise, you would need a newer firmware (latest firmware LJ02) in order for it to work. Implementation is still not fully perfect, as it only works over CyanogenMod 10.1 for the Google Nexus 4. It sounds more like a hack to tap onto the DLNA service that Samsung uses for their Galaxy S3 and Note devices.
