Are you one of the lucky people to have gotten a Chromecast before they sold out? In that case, we’ve got an article full of tips and tricks to get a little bit more out of your new device, but first, I’m going to answer some questions that were asked on my Chromecast review.
Does Chromecast stream local content straight from your device?
The short answer is no, any local content that you currently have on your device can’t be sent to the Chromecast. The way it works is when you hit that cast button on any supported app, such as YouTube, it relays the information to the Chromecast so it can find the content from the source itself.
Then, with the help of some HTML5 magic, the Chromecast connects to the actual service, finds your video or music, and plays it. After the Chromecast app is installed and all of your media programs are updated, this is all available. You can find how this all works in a more detailed manner here.
Cast that Tab
If you do want to stream content from a local source, this is somewhat possible from your computer.
As I mentioned in my review, you can cast a full tab from the Chrome browser, and what’s awesome is that a Chrome tab can display a lot of content — websites, flash content, and pictures, but let’s say you have some local videos you want to watch. If your Chrome browser has the needed plugins to view the content, that tab will play it, and then you can send it to Chromecast.
Just browse your computer hard drive within Chrome (type file:///c:/ in the address bar) to your video and it will play it in the browser tab. Then, just Chromecast the tab. It’s simple, it’s easy to do, and it’s pretty awesome.
This really does allow Chromecast to bridge the gap between your computer and television. For example, I have a Plex Media Server that a friend setup, and all the content from there streams to my computer, which then, using Chromecast, streams to my TV. It really is an easy way to turn your living room into a central Internet media consumption destination with little hassle and little cost.
Cast that Screen
The wonders of Chromecast doesn’t stop there, though. Hidden away in a small arrow on the side of the Chromecast extension is an option to cast not only a Chrome tab, but the entire computer screen. This is a feature in its very early stages of beta, and while it might be nice for presentations and picture viewing, it’s not very smooth.
In fact, it’s a little choppy, though, with a beta feature, this is to be expected. I’m sure this feature will continue to get improved upon and enhanced, and eventually, becoming one of the key features of Chromecast.
Optimize Tab View
You may notice that the first time you try Chrome browser streaming, it isn’t perfectly smooth, and in some cases, you might have choppy video. There are ways of optimizing it to clear that up, though. Since your computer is basically transcoding on the fly, it also has to stream the finished product to your Chromecast. This is when a very fast Internet connection becomes important and recommended.
In the browser extension, hit the “Options” button, and from there, you’ll see the way to clear things up. The transcoded footage can bet set to high bitrate 720p, regular 720p (the default settings), and 480p. For my decent Internet connection, 480p works beautifully. Sure, it’s disappointing that it’s high definition, but it’s in every way much better than choppy video.
That’s how you get more out of your Chromecast via your computer, so let’s get back to the actual hardware.
HDMI 1.4
While I don’t have a TV to demonstrate this it’s been reported that TV’s with HDMI 1.4 can route power to Chromecast without the need of a USB or wall plug. However, you might want to stick with the wall plug, because if you initiate a cast, there’s a added feature in the Chromecast that will power on your television and load up the source of media.
Know Your Setup
And we come to our final tip, a tip for those who struggled with the same problem as I did in my review. My DLP TV in the living room does have a 5.1 stereo system, but it doesn’t have an audio output available and thus requires the audio signal to come straight from the source.
If you noticed, all the Chromecast has is an HDMI, and some people commented saying I could use an AV receiver, but those can cost over 200 dollars. Since I only needed a way to split the Chromecast signal, I decided to find something for that specific purpose. I did, and it is this box that actively splits the video and audio signal into HDMI and SPDIF.
Perfect for my set up. Now, I can go from this to this. Like I said before, this adds more total cost to your Chromecast experience so be aware of your setup at home before you pull the trigger. To me, this was worth having my big screen available for all my viewing pleasure.
Video
Final thoughts
And that’s our tips and tricks for the Chromecast! It’s an amazing device, and it has a lot of potential, especially when developers begin getting their hands on the API. For the time being, the Chromecast will turn your living room into an Internet media consumption medium for a mere $35.
Do you have a Chromecast, yet? Any tricks you’ve found with the device? Let us know in the comments!
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