If i get an android tablet with an HDMI socket, will it display the tablet on the tv, ie mirror everything i do on the tablet? Or does it only work for playing videos?

If you cant mirror the display completely with an HDMI lead is there any other way of doing it?

Not actually got a tablet yet but being able to mirror the display would mean i could get away with having a smaller tablet.

thanks

They are all a bit different, so hard to say for sure.

I can say that my Nexus 7 will do this if you buy the correct widget.

If you have a compatible device (Chromecast, LDNA tv etc) you can “cast” the screen of any android device.

Every android phone and tablet I’ve had has been able to do this. Chromecast is the wireless alternative. The hdmi lead is better at mirroring, chromecast is slicker for video playback but does do some clever trickery rather than a direct mirror.

We do with a Tesco’s HUDL. It has a mini HDMI out.

It depends entirely on the device. Some have mini-HDMI, some have a thing called MHL, some have nothing at all. The first two require the appropriate adapter to change to regular HDMI, but if it’s not supported then you’ll need a Chromecast or similar solution.

Chromecast is barely more expensive than a cable, and better..

Yep, if you’re going to have to buy a cable you may as well get a Chromecast. You can do other stuff with it and it’s a better solution.

bear in mind though that the chromecast only allows you to stream things hosted on the internet. If you want to play a file from your tablet, it won’t work

But the chrome cast doesn’t do pure mirroring if that is what you want. It will mirror some things but other stuff it creates in own formatting for. Its also £30 compared to £3 for a lead. I have both options and use both. Horses for courses.

It does play files from a tablet

It’s worth noting that some apps block this – for example Sky Go doesn’t allow it (android, Hudl2) as I found out.

@nbt if you download allcast from googleplay it you can cast pretty much anything. ie:sd card with go pro files straight to telly.

@nbt if you download allcast from googleplay it you can cast pretty much anything. ie:sd card with go pro files straight to telly.

That and a dozen other apps. Videostream is good, and free (unlike AllCast).

Clarification – they work *if you have network access*

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/techy-time-chromecast-tablet-phone-but-no-router

I ended up buying a Sumvision Cyclone Micro 4 Media Player from Amazon. That supports Miracast, which allows direct connection between devices without needing a network. At home, the device works fine over my home network and will happily stream programmes from my Humax box. Doesn’t have an internet connection so unlike the chromecast I can’t use it to watch iplayer directly, but could cast my screen if I wanted to do tha