Miracast Tested

[Cleavitt76]

For those of you interested in using the SP3 with Miracast, I have tested it using my Netgear PTV3000 and it works great out of the box. Since the SP3's screen is 3:2 instead of the TV screen's 16:9, the SP3 screen will have black bars (letter boxed) across the top and bottom if you connect in "duplicate" mode. That is to be expected though. Otherwise, it worked perfectly for me and with minimal delay.

This is good news since both the SP1 and SP2 required firmware updates before they would work with Miracast.

 

[Karthik Naik]

For those of you interested in using the SP3 with Miracast, I have tested it using my Netgear PTV3000 and it works great out of the box. Since the SP3's screen is 3:2 instead of the TV screen's 16:9, the SP3 screen will have black bars (letter boxed) across the top and bottom if you connect in "duplicate" mode. That is to be expected though. Otherwise, it worked perfectly for me and with minimal delay.

This is good news since both the SP1 and SP2 required firmware updates before they would work with Miracast.

about the black bars,i had the same issue with my ipad 2 and apple tv, try the tvs zoom option(wide zoom,full.... options) tried on my sony bravia
it wont get rid of it fully in your case but it should help
hope i helped

 

[Cleavitt76]

The black bars aren't on the TV. The TV image is perfect. The bars are on the Surface Pro 3 screen because it's not a 16:9 ratio screen and it's duplicating/mirroring to a 16:9 TV. In "extended" mode, each screen keeps its optimal resolution.

 

[Karthik Naik]

The black bars aren't on the TV. The TV image is perfect. The bars are on the Surface Pro 3 screen because it's not a 16:9 ratio screen and it's duplicating/mirroring to a 16:9 TV. In "extended" mode, each screen keeps its optimal resolution.

ohh ok

 

[Guzzler3]

Mirroring is always weird, no matter how you connect. If you do a projection, or extend, the screen should scale to fill the screen.

 

[explosive0]

The biggest disappointment is why the Xbox One doesn't support Miracast out of the box.

 

[mcheiron]

I have a problem with Miracast. I am streaming video over Wifi and then want to project that to the screen (watching ESPN3 world championship). It streams just fine on my SP3, and then for 5 sec projects just fine to my TV, but then the internet connection on my SP3 shows an error message. After I disconnect, the Wifi internet connection works again.

As a side note, I am doing that now with my Surface 2 without any problems. Streaming ESPN3 over Wifi and sharing over Miracast to my TV. No internet connection problems.

Any suggestions how to fix this?

Thanks, MCheiron

 

[Cleavitt76]

Just a guess, but try plugging in the SP3 to it's charger and see if it works any better. I have noticed that the SP3 throttles its wifi power when running on battery (SP2 did this as well). This causes a decrease in bandwidth. It's possible that you don't have enough bandwidth to keep up with both the streaming video internet download and the video casting to the TV at the same time when on battery. If that is the case, you might be able to do something to increase your bandwidth to the Wifi access point. Options include...

• Move the access point closer to where your SP3 is being used (stronger signal with less power).
• Upgrade your access point to a version with more bandwidth (G to N, or N to AC) so that even a weak connection will still have decent bandwidth.

What 802.11x version of Wifi is your current router? A, B, G, N, AC?

 

[Dewg]

One problem I just discovered is installing Virtualbox kills miracast. I think its the network stack that gets installed.

 

[mcheiron]

Thanks for all the answers. The WiFi network is a dual channel N. So each channel by itself should be fast enough or not? Also, the router is right next to the TV in the same too as the SP3. I will have to give the suggestion with plugging it in a try though. Maybe today and report back on that. But it is still strange that it works with the surface 2.

 

[mister2d]

Thanks for all the answers. The WiFi network is a dual channel N. So each channel by itself should be fast enough or not? Also, the router is right next to the TV in the same too as the SP3. I will have to give the suggestion with plugging it in a try though. Maybe today and report back on that. But it is still strange that it works with the surface 2.

If you read the Anandtech review of the SP3, you will see that the tests performed on the SP3 shows that it performs lower than the SP2 over sustained CPU loads.

His theory is that with the newer slimmer design, Microsoft made compromises for heat management in the chassis.

This might explain the issue you're experiencing.

 

[mcheiron]

Okay, I tried with the SP3 charging this time. Same result. The connection takes very long to be established and then, once connected, the internet connection breaks within 5-10 seconds. This does not happen with the Surface 2 or, now that I remember, with the SP2 of my friend, in exactly the same setup.

This is rather disappointing to me since I really like this feature. was anybody else able to replicate my problem?

Thanks.

 

[mcheiron]

If you read the Anandtech review of the SP3, you will see that the tests performed on the SP3 shows that it performs lower than the SP2 over sustained CPU loads.

His theory is that with the newer slimmer design, Microsoft made compromises for heat management in the chassis.

This might explain the issue you're experiencing.

Do you think that this is the true for both cases unplugged and plugged-in? Since this seems not to work for me in either case as you can read in my previous entry.

 

[mister2d]

Do you think that this is the true for both cases unplugged and plugged-in? Since this seems not to work for me in either case as you can read in my previous entry.

It sure sounds like the energy saving measures affect the SP3 in both states, battery and AC power.

Check out that review to see the thermal testing performed. I don't think it matters whether on battery power of not. I could be wrong though.

 

[mcheiron]

It sure sounds like the energy saving measures affect the SP3 in both states, battery and AC power.

Check out that review to see the thermal testing performed. I don't think it matters whether on battery power of not. I could be wrong though.

I will have a look.

Also interesting for me is, if anybody else can replicate this problem. Thanks in advance.

For those of you interested in using the SP3 with Miracast, I have tested it using my Netgear PTV3000 and it works great out of the box. Since the SP3's screen is 3:2 instead of the TV screen's 16:9, the SP3 screen will have black bars (letter boxed) across the top and bottom if you connect in "duplicate" mode. That is to be expected though. Otherwise, it worked perfectly for me and with minimal delay.

This is good news since both the SP1 and SP2 required firmware updates before they would work with Miracast.

To the OP, what did you mirror? Just your screen or an net stream? Could you try to mirror something from the internet and continue surfing?

Thanks.

 

[KJones75]

Does anyone know if there is an easy way to move an app to the second screen?
I know you can use WIN+Shift+Left or WIN+Shift+Right, but if you don't have keyboard attached you can't always bring up the on-screen keyboard. And you can drag it across with a mouse but not with a touch screen.

Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk

 

[Cleavitt76]

...
To the OP, what did you mirror? Just your screen or an net stream? Could you try to mirror something from the internet and continue surfing?

Thanks.

I just watched most of a 1080p movie streamed from a network share via wifi and mirrored to the Miracast receiver. No disconnects and it was mostly smooth other than a few short blips. I did notice that the audio/video would start dropping frames and breaking up if I handled the Surface too much. I'm guessing that I was blocking the signal with may hands enough to cause delays.

My router is single band 802.11n.
Miracast is Netgear PTV3000 w/ very latest firmware (2.4.46 I think). I noticed it was a little flaky (lags and disconnects) when I first tested until I updated the netgear firmware. I'm not sure if it was the firmware or the reboot that helped though.

 

[mcheiron]

I will try this as well and report back. My Miracast receiver is a new Sony bluray player. I updated its firmware recently as well.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[mcheiron]

I just tried to cast something again but this time playing video stored on my SP3. And .... nothing. This time I couldn't even connect. Booted up my Surface 2 copied the file and played it and casted without problems. I am not sure what to think. I rebooted the receiver and SP3, still nothing.

The MS support is on short hours today, so I was a tick too late.

Anybody who has an idea what I am doing wrong or what I could do to make this work?

Thanks.

 

[mcheiron]

Contacted the MS support and they worked with me for over an hour. They were really nice actually. I was impressed. Unfortunately, no solution yet but they will contact me again. Were saying it should work.