The wireless age is upon us. Everyone wants everything portable and wireless. People would rather buy laptops they can carry around with them than desktops with loads of cables and connections associated with them. Nobody wants to stay chained or wrapped up in wires with limited range and can get snagged, tangled, knotted, damaged, or otherwise ripped apart. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless tech is now available, so why not take advantage of it?
This also extends to the world of projectors. It makes more sense to wireless connect your projector to your various devices, especially if they’re all smart devices. With that said, even non-smart devices can use a special dongle or video adapter to allow wireless connections to happen. How to connect to the projector wirelessly? Here’s how.
Methods of Achieving a Wireless Projector Connection
You can use a wireless connection app plus your Wi-Fi if you’re connecting a PC or smart appliance to your smart projector. Otherwise, your only other option is to get a wireless dongle or adapter device to allow wireless connectivity between the two devices, with the dongle serving as your Wi-Fi router or modem that links your HDMI or VGA connection to your projector.
- Wireless Dongle: This is the best option for vintage VGA or A/V projectors that aren’t “smart” or capable of connecting to your Wi-Fi, downloading and using apps, and working as a PC with projector functions. These usually include classic or vintage LCD video projectors with analog VGA ports for PC or A/V ports for CRT TVs, game consoles, and media players like VHS players or VCRs. Essentially, you’re supposed to plug the wireless dongle unto your projector’s USB connector or otherwise through their VGA/AV ports in order to link them to a “wireless router” that sends signals to your source media.
- Web Browser or App Setup: Some transceivers work automatically while others require you to do additional things to set them up, like opening a web browser and entering an IP address. Some transceivers come with a DVD that requires you to download an app from their website as required by the hardware. For example, you might need EZview and enter a control code to establish a connection between your PC/media player and your projector. Others depend solely on the hardware transceiver itself.
- Initial Steps in Setting Up Your Wireless Connection: Most projectors have a remote control with an Input button you can press to bring up the Input Menu. From there, press the arrow keys to choose the “Multimedia” option before pressing Enter. Select whichever device you wish to connect on the Multimedia menu, whether it’s PC, BD player, cable box, and so forth. If you’re working with a smart device or PC, enable their Wi-Fi functionality then select your home Wi-Fi from the network list. Enter your Wi-Fi password for good measure.
- The Transceiver and Receiver Setup: They’re also known as wireless transceivers and work in a way that allows you to use wireless signals or your own home Wi-Fi Internet connection in order to link two devices together without the need of connectors, cables, and so forth. Essentially, they’re like media devices you can plug on your source media and your projector to create the wireless link, with the transceiver plugged into your source media device and the receiver receiving the signal plugged into the display.
- Screen Mirroring: For many PCs, tablets, and smartphones, they work best with projectors through what’s known as screen duplication or screen mirroring. Because these smart devices have operating systems of their own, the most straightforward method of projecting their movies, video files, and pictures (as well as playing their music and sounds via built-in speaker) is through the projector doubling as your new monitor while cloning the contents of your existing monitor. Many wireless transceiver dongles duplicate screens versus BD players and cable boxes that offer a direct video feed.
- Wireless Broadcasting Through an App: You can use Google Chromecast, Miracast, or the Apple TV with its Airplay functionality to do a screen mirror or duplicate of your device in order to connect to a projector without wires. These powerful apps ensure you that as long as you’re linking through a smart device like PCs, smartphones, tablets, certain HDTVs, certain BD players, and certain cable/satellite boxes, you will get your projector connection as seamlessly as with an HDMI or VGA cable.
- Google Chromecast: Chromecast works safely among Android devices. Just use a Chromecast device on your projector as the receiver then activate the Chromecast feature on your Google Chrome web browser and you’re good to go. Many an Android smartphone or tablet can depend on Chromecast to duplicate their screen efficiently. The Chromecast adapter linked directly to any HDMI port and it uses your home Wi-Fi to send screen or video mirroring signals from your media source device. It won’t work with BD unless it’s a smart device or it’s connected to a smart TV with Chrome installed.
- Miracast: Miracast is a wireless standard that allows you to do HDMI over Wi-Fi. It’s a Chromecast alternative that works in a wider range of smart devices, not just Androids but also iOS devices and notebook PCs. It’s the Android wireless solution of choice though because many newer Android devices offer Miracast support. If your projector doesn’t support Miracast even though your Android device does, you can use the Miracast video adapter to make the connection. It attached to the HDMI port the same way your Chromecast device does.
- Apple TV Airplay: In the case of Apple TV, it’s a bit of a misnomer to call its connection completely wireless because you still need to daisy-chain an HDMI connection to the TV then activate Airplay so that you can mirror the display of your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook Air/Pro unto both your Apple TV and the projector, allowing you to see three copies of your same screen or interface at once. Essentially, Apple TV is serving as the modem or router for your projector to connect to various iOS devices by simply mirroring the Apple TV’s screen.
- Avail of a Wireless Projector: Speaking of smart projectors, you can avail of projectors that are specifically made to be wireless like the Epson Wireless Projectors line to truly ensure yourself of wireless projector functionality without too much effort on your part in setting things up. Epson is an industry leader when it comes to producing affordable, accessible, and universally compatible wireless projectors that can easily interface with many a smart device, PC, and so forth for use in home entertainment, education, and business purposes.
- Mainly Works for PCs and Handhelds: Unless you’re using a compatible DVD/Blu-Ray player and cable/satellite box as well as a game console, your wireless projector will likely require the transceiver wireless dongle to work with non-smart devices at all. They’re mostly designed to easily and effortlessly share content from your mobile devices or laptop whenever and where you want them. They’re also known to interface well with any Android and iOS device.
- Wireless Projector versus Smart Projector: Many wireless projectors are themselves smart projectors that easily interface with anything else that’s smart or has their own Wi-Fi connectivity mixed with the ability to run apps. However, they’re not just exclusively advertised for wireless use due to marketing. These devices make it easier for notebook PCs, desktop PCs, smartphones, and tablets from all makers to interface with them through native apps and universal compatibility.
- When All Else Fails: If you’re unable to find an Android link app or Wi-Fi connection, look to the company website of your projector’ manufacturer for more troubleshooting details. The user manual and other documentation might help as well. Vintage projectors before 2007 will require special wireless or Wi-Fi dongles that work as well as the Miracstor Chromecast video adapter hardware in establishing wireless support. However, if for example, your LCD projector from 1988 or so is too old, a cabled connection might be your only choice.
Can You Connect Your Device Wirelessly to a Projector?
Yes. You can. If it’s a computer, you can do so with a smart projector. They should be able to connect to each other via your Wi-Fi, in fact. In turn, you can connect the audio linked to your projector (via HDMI and whatnot) or your media source to your Bluetooth speaker for good measure. As for HDTVs, your best bet is having a smart projector and getting an HDTV that doubles as a smart TV.
For everything else—from Blu-Ray Disc Players to cable boxes and beyond—you might probably need a wireless dongle or a special connectivity app if they’re smart appliances. Most wireless connections work best through HDMI connections via a smart projector. As for the Nureva Wall, you will lose touch functionality when you connect your PC wirelessly to your projector. You need a direct wired USB connection to the Nureva PC in order to retain touch functionality. Incidentally, the Nureva Wall WM408i is tech that allows you to project a screen you can touch, interface with, and manipulate like a phone or laptop touchscreen.
References:
- “Can I connect my computer wirelessly to the projector?“, Nureva.com, Retrieved July 3, 2020
- Mitch Bartlett, “How to Connect Android to Projector“, TechniPages.com, Retrieved July 3, 2020
- “How Wireless Projectors Work“, Epson.com, Retrieved July 4, 2020