Smartphones and tablets provide a user-friendly and ideal way of accessing content for on-the-go use, but there even so remains something to be said for viewing on a big screen television.

You lot may exist watching something on your phone, and want to run into it on a larger brandish or share with others in the room.

Thankfully, smartphones and tablets are built with multitasking capabilities such as listening to music, gaming, and streaming video. Nearly of them also pack the power of computers in a portable device, and this includes the ability to connect information technology to some other screen or monitor, such as your TV.

Android and iOS device users have an armory of devices and wireless options to connect a phone or tablet to a Boob tube. In this guide, we're going to show you how to link upwardly your phone or tablet to your Television receiver via USB.

Reasons To Connect Your Telephone or Tablet To a TV

Y'all can easily view your telephone or tablet'southward display on a Goggle box by wireless means such as screen casting or using devices similar Google Chromecast and others, but a USB to TV connection is beneficial in various ways.

If you're gaming and want to mirror your phone to a TV, a USB connection reduces lag that you'd feel with a wireless configuration. It also comes in handy where in that location'due south no WiFi or the wireless signal is weak, which means you need a wired connection to become connected to the internet.

Alternatively, you may want to brandish some photos for others in the room to see, stream videos in higher resolution, or watch content on a larger screen. In this case, a USB to TV connectedness from your phone will help y'all view your files similar pictures on your Goggle box, so your phone acts as a storage device if your Idiot box has a USB input.

If yous're using a smart TV, it's easy to connect to internet apps as these are built into the device. For other TVs, y'all can use streaming devices or set top boxes to get your favorite content up on the Boob tube.

Connect Your Phone or Tablet to Your TV Via USB

There are different methods you can use to connect your mobile device to a Boob tube via USB such as using a USB cable for Android or Lightning cable for iOS devices, Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL), or SlimPort.

Let's look at how each of these methods piece of work to mirror your phone or tablet'southward screen on your TV.

Android – Using a USB Cable

For Android devices, a USB cable tin can help you connect your phone or tablet to your TV, provided it has a USB port. If you're connecting to a smart TV, go to Source>USB to enable file transfers, instead of just charging the telephone or tablet via the Telly.

This method is used when you want to view files or photos on a compatible Idiot box as it technically transfers your files for opening on your TV.

Connect With An Adapter Or Cable

This method works when you want to mirror your screen onto your Goggle box to transmit the display on-screen. You can apply an HDMI adapter or cablevision to connect your phone to a TV and mirror the content on your screen.

A USB to HDMI adapter is the easiest pick every bit you simply plug the adapter to your phone and plug the HDMI cablevision into it to connect to your TV and watch from your telephone. Check that your telephone supports HDMI Alt Mode, which lets it output video.

Some Android devices have micro or mini HDMI ports for direct connection to HDMI over a single cable, so it'south important to check whether your cable is compatible before connecting your devices.

Connect With a Converter

A converter allows you to mirror your phone'due south screen to your Television while charging its bombardment at the same time. This method involves plugging the converter into a USB-C port and HDMI port using your charger and HDMI cable, and your screen will be cast onto your Goggle box for every bit long equally y'all want.

Connect Using MHL

The Mobile High-Definition Link protocol allows compatible smartphones or tablets to connect to a Television set. The general setup for using MHL to connect your phone or tablet to a TV via USB requires y'all to have an MHL-enabled and uniform phone or tablet, HDMI and power cable, USB to HDMI MHL cablevision or adapter, and a display with HDMI input.

If your phone supports MHL, connect it to the HDMI MHL adapter and adhere an HDMI cable, and and then connect to your TV. Don't worry about your phone or tablet battery running out of juice, because this kind of adapter has a charging port and then your device can charge while yous scout.

Connect Using SlimPort

MHL is i of the best ways of connecting your phone or tablet to your Goggle box via USB, but you tin also use a SlimPort cable, which works similar to MHL equally it serves content from your device to your Goggle box display except its outputs are different.

MHL and SlimPort are both plug-and-play, but MHL is limited to HDMI video output, whereas SlimPort works via HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort and DVI. This means you tin use it for various displays, including older TVs that don't take digital inputs, but have VGA.

SlimPort and MHL too differ in ability supply; the former doesn't draw power from your device, while the latter does, which is why y'all demand to connect a power cablevision with the MHL method.

To utilize SlimPort, you'll need a uniform device, SlimPort adapter or cable (depending on your device), brandish with HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort and DVI input, plus a video cable.

Plug the SlimPort adapter to your phone, and attach information technology to your Television using the right cable and y'all can view your screen on your TV.

Stream With a DLNA App

If using cables doesn't piece of work for y'all, apply a DLNA app to connect your phone or tablet to your TV.

DLNA is a streaming protocol supported past most net-connected TVs through which you can stream media files to your TV from your phone or tablet, provided the files don't have DRM features.

Some good DLNA apps you can use include LocalCasts, which is gratis, or AllCast and stream your media files to a DLNA device.

Connect With Samsung DeX

DeX connectivity works with Samsung S8 or newer flagship handsets, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4. However, for S8, Note 8, S9 and S9+, y'all demand a dock, power cable to charge the phone and dock, HDMI cablevision, and a TV with an HDMI input to employ DeX connectivity.

Other Samsung devices like the Note 9 and Galaxy Tab S4 or newer models merely require a Type C to HDMI cable to enter DeX fashion and DeX desktop fashion respectively.

iOS – Using a Lightning Cable

This process is similar to connecting your Android phone or tablet to Boob tube via USB, except you lot'll demand a Lightning cable, which differs with your iPhone model.

Well-nigh people have an iPhone 5 or newer with a Lightning connector, simply for HDMI outputs or VGA connections, you demand a Lightning digital AV adapter or a Lightning to VGA adapter respectively.

For iPads, all models use the Lightning cable for iOS to Tv connections, except the iPad three and older apply the 30-pin cable, but you'll pick either a digital AV or VGA adapter depending on your display'south input.

In that location are many third-party cables merely most of them don't piece of work if you want to watch video-streaming services similar Netflix or Hulu, or on-demand video similar DirecTV or Comcast Xfinity.  They lack HDCP (Loftier-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), which protects against pirates capturing the content.

Plug in the adapter and connect video output to your Television set and your screen volition mirror to the brandish. Remember to plug the USB cease of the cable into the adapter and the other end to a power source, as information technology needs to exist charged to play.

Notation: The Digital AV Adapter for iOS devices comes in 2 models, serving different purposes. One connects your iPhone or iPad to a Boob tube with HDMI output, while the VGA adapter plugs into VGA-uniform peripherals, so be sure to pick the right version.

Connect With a DLNA App

Like Android, you lot can connect your iOS device to internet-enabled TV using DLNA apps to stream media such as videos or music. For videos and music purchased from iTunes Shop, you lot won't exist able to use a DLNA app to stream content with DRM restrictions.

The good thing about using a DLNA app is that information technology'll still find media on other devices like your computer and prepare streaming to your game console, TV, or some other PC without having to convert a video or install special codecs for it to piece of work.

Conclusion

Although the method of hooking up your phone or tablet to your Tv set via USB varies based on the device, connection, and display input, it isn't too hard once you know what'south required and how to set it upwardly.