Phone to TV via HDMI?

If I bought a USB to HDMI adapter, would I be able to plug my phone - Android or iOS - into the back of my TV, and play on it whatever is on my phone screen?

Apologies if a daft question, but I really don't know if it's possible.

Yes and no.

Probably no.

There are two kinds. One is a graphics card for PCs / Laptops and needs a driver. It's not going to work on most phones*. The other is a special adaptor for certain phones. It will only work on very few phones that have a special dual function connector.

Most phones that support HDMI do it via a special mini-HDMI connector. There is also "Display Port" and "Thunderbolt + Display Port" on some gadgets, that needs a special cable.

Apple of course does this differently to anyone else (most phones able to feed HDTV have a miniature HDMI port). Some older phones have a special composite video (SD) adaptor cable for built in composite analogue out via ear/mic socket, docking port or a non-standard USB port.

If the phone has no built-in HDMI, then forget this cable. If it has built-in HDMI, discover what cable it wants. A Raspberry Pi is really an ARM phone companion chip on a break out board, that's why it has Composite Analogue SD and HDMI but no DVI or VGA. It's also why it has a header for a camera and a touch LCD screen (both of which are identical interface and data to real phone)

@Brian Turner EDIT
[* Probably NO phone has a driver for ANY USB input additional Graphics card, They come in Composite, VGA and HDMI versions. If it's £5 approx, it's a useless cable, if it's £35+ it may be a graphics card with USB instead of PCIe input]

I'd recommend Apple TV. It's cheap and rather wonderful. You can access any media on your TV from iTunes and also mirror your phone or iPad to the screen.

I use it more than cable now. And it's cheap!

pH

Ray McCarthy said:

* Probably NO phone has a driver for ANY USB input additional Graphics card

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Hmm, just thought - I could possibly set up my Win 7 laptop to the TV instead. That has a HDMI port. So if I connected the laptop to the TV, HDMI to HDMI, that should allow the TV to display whatever I'm playing on the laptop??

Yes that will work fine Brian. HDMI > HDMI will be fine, just enable the additional screen (Usually FN + Fkey)

Phyrebrat said:

I'd recommend Apple TV. It's cheap and rather wonderful

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It's bad value without an iTunes sub.
Roku is better made, more features and cheaper. As are dozens of less known products.

Laptop HDMI to HDTV should work.

Yes, that worked!

Ray McCarthy said:

It's bad value without an iTunes sub.

Click to expand...

It works wonders for me. I don't have iTunes subscription.

pH

Phyrebrat said:

I don't have iTunes subscription.

Click to expand...

Then you would find all the other decent Media streaming boxes even more wonderful and they have the bonus of being very much cheaper.

Ray McCarthy said:

Then you would find all the other decent Media streaming boxes even more wonderful and they have the bonus of being very much cheaper.

Click to expand...

It's difficult to find a decent streaming box that will do exactly what you want, and on Amazon Apple TV boxes are now selling for £40+, as opposed to Chromcast and Miracast for £30, neither of which do exactly what an Apple TV box will do. Apple TV boxes are at least clear on what you'll get, and they're fully tailored to the iOS experience. As opposed to cheap junk from Hong Kong that become useless after an update.

Roku

Apple is a walled garden overpriced ecosystem. All Apple is overpriced cheap Chinese gear with a USA label. 40% Margin! Most isn't repairable easily being glue assembly to reduce the already low costs. If you don't have an iPhone there is zero value to an Apple Watch and little point to miss-named "Apple TV" (no tuners or screen, it's merely a streaming box that really needs an iPhone).

Chromecast is barely more than a wireless HDMI cable. It reports to Google and really needs a laptop or Android gadget (with WiFi). Pointless and evil. Waste of £30. An HDMI cable to a suitable laptop or Android gadget will do more than Chromecast, which can't even do 25 fps / 50fps frame rates properly. A perfectly good HDMI cable is €2, it's internally a mix of ordinary wires and Cat5e twisted pairs.

I've no idea what the Amazon streaming box does (though they want to use it to sell games and video subscription). But Roku is market leader for good reason. Lots of people do their own with a cheap fanless micro ATX or similar and XBMC.

For Internet on HDTV screen I use a laptop or my Media PC, which has 2 x Satellite tuners (each choice of 4 satellites in Freesat and "red button"), IR remote, 2 x DVB-T (Terrestrial tuner) and HDD for scheduled recording. But since getting a Humax Freesat HD PVR (which by hidden menu can select 3 other satellites) we don't it much.
My oldest laptop does composite Analogue or VGA. The HDTV has 4 x HDMI, VGA, Composite, S-video (Y/C), SD & HD Component, SCART RGB etc. Some newer stuff here does HDMI (Wife's laptop, my Sony Z1 phone, tablet, Raspberry Pi Model B, Humax, PS3, PS4).

Smart TVs are a waste of money / features:
1) They don't update them. Lots don't work with YouTube any longer.
2) Some "spy" on you.
3) Rubbish security
4) Inflexible and less functions compared to XBMC, phone, tablet, laptop etc.

Ray McCarthy said:

Smart TVs are a waste of money / features:
1) They don't update them. Lots don't work with YouTube any longer.
2) Some "spy" on you.
3) Rubbish security
4) Inflexible and less functions compared to XBMC, phone, tablet, laptop etc.

Click to expand...

yes and no.... in absolute terms then yes. The only thing they'll do better than a lappy or tab/phone is picture size.... the thing is though if you want 65" goodness then you've not really got much of a choice vis-a-vis smart TV

WaylanderToo said:

if you want 65" goodness then you've not really got much of a choice vis-a-vis smart TV

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HDMI cable.

What I meant was that you need the phone/tablet/laptop ANYWAY ... so being so called "smart" isn't relevant, esp. when some models need a smart phone as "controller"! So the only things to consider are picture size / quality and the inputs you need. Similarly ones with a satellite tuner as addition to terrestrial tuner are bad value compared to a separate satellite tuner.

Ray McCarthy said:

Roku

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That's more expensive than Apple TV:
Roku - £79 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00E37LZVY/?tag=brite-21
Apple TV - £49 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0040GIZT8/?tag=brite-21

You can pick 3rd gen Apple TV up new on eBay for under £40 with buy it now.

pH

Brian Turner said:

That's more expensive than Apple TV:

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1) There is more than one Roku model.
2) The Apple is worse value.

Note, I'm not recommending a Roku. Unless you have no cap any streaming box is pointless.

A media system often does more than simple streaming box. A decent one can store all your music and files instead of server.

Phyrebrat said:

You can pick 3rd gen Apple TV up new on eBay

Click to expand...

Probably hard to get EU SOGA 2 years warranty from most eBay sellers. It's still bad value even at £30 unless you have an iPhone and are into Apple Ecosystem.

Brian Turner said:

Hmm, just thought - I could possibly set up my Win 7 laptop to the TV instead. That has a HDMI port. So if I connected the laptop to the TV, HDMI to HDMI, that should allow the TV to display whatever I'm playing on the laptop??

Click to expand...

We do that all the time. Look up jackbox.tv You have to pay a subscription but you can then have up to eight people on internet connected laptops, tablets and phones playing the same games run from the laptop. Good for parties.

We also look at photos that way and play music and DVDs and Youtube clips.

I've found that Chromecast works fairly well, although I suspect it doesn't work all that well for fast-moving games. The only problem is that there has to be a wifi router in operation somewhere near, and for best results an internet connection of course.

I may be wrong about this, but I believe that for streaming Internet video the Chromecast dongle pulls the signal straight off the Internet rather than your mobile gadget doing it.

Another thing to consider is how many HDMI inputs your TV has. Mine is a cheap 24" with only one HDMI, so I needed to add an HDMI splitter box to the parts list. Fortunately, they are cheap.

Amazon have a device a little like the Chromecast, the Amazon Fire TV Stick, it's £35, so only a fiver more than the Chromecast, and unlike the CC which is controlled by your mobile the Amazon device comes with a remote control.

And of course, in the UK, there is also "Now TV" a similar media streamer that only costs £10.

Having googled, it does seem possible to connect any Android phone or tablet to TV, found this guide
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/google-android/how-connect-android-tv-3533870/

I have to disagree with Ray on an Apple point he has made - How does covering the components inside Apple devices make them cheaper? as far as I know, the reason for it, along with the special screw types is to stop people from going to their local PC repair shop to get the device fixed, Apple are simply trying to make it as awkward as possible, so you are forced to go to them and pay their hefty fees, which are likely a fair bit more than your local IT bod.