Airplay/Stream Mobile Device to Home Theater
In the 21st century, who can bother with cable or satellite? With the multitude of alternatives, what’s the point? When you’ve got a phone or tablet that can stream the games in basketball season, there isn’t much of a reason to subscribe to an extra service to watch it on your TV. All you need is the proper accessories and how to connect your mobile device to your home theater system.
If you’re an Apple fanatic or just plan to be streaming content from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac Book, we suggest you go with Apple TV. This small box essentially turns your HDTV into a wireless, big screen monitor with the fringe benefit of access to iTunes, Netflix, and more.
(Image from Apple.com)
With Apple TV, Airplay lets you wirelessly stream from a mobile device. You can mirror the two devices, turning the image on iPad or iPhone into a big screen experience. Or, you can dual screen it. This essentially turns your mobile device into a next century controller, able to command with finesse and power.
(Image from Apple.com)
Setting up Apple TV is simple, given you meet the technical requirements. You’ve got to have an Apple TV hub, an HDTV, and an HDMI cable. All you have to do is plug in the Apple TV and connect it to your HDTV with the HDMI cable. After that, simply connect to your Wi-Fi network. You’re ready to stream all the basketball you want onto your television.
Apple TV not your cup of tea? No problem. Or perhaps, you have another brand of mobile device. That’s fine. You can still connect your phone or tablet to your HDTV, and it’s not too difficult either.
(Images from Samsung.com)
You’ll need a few things: an HDTV, an HDMI cable, a mobile device, and an adapter. Essentially, we’re trying to find the right connection as to mirror the mobile device onto the HDTV’s screen. Depending on your phone or tablet, different adapter cables are available to HDMI. With the proper adapter and HDMI cable, you can simply plug your mobile device into your television’s HDMI port. It should be noted that in some cases a mobile device will have an HDMI port, rendering an adapter unnecessary. Consult your owner’s manual to find out how your device ports to HDMI.
(Image from ionaudio.com)
Of course with a big screen, you’re going to want big sound too. So, your next step is to connect your phone or tablet to your sound system. First, you want to figure out what sort of port your device has. In most cases, it will be a 3.5mm headphone jack. If your device is built for 2.5mm, you’ll need to purchase a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter. After you’ve figured that out, you’ll need a 3.5mm to RCA adapter cable. With it, simply plug into your phone or tablet. Then, connect the red and white cable ends to the “Audio In” port on your sound system. Voila, your home theater is streaming sound from your mobile device as well.
With all that, you should be set. There’s no need to miss any of March’s basketball with a little how-to and the proper cables.
