Miracast, Airplay, or HDMI Buttons - which is the best screen mirroring system for corporate collaboration?

With the emergence of Miracast and Airplay standardized screen mirroring protocols that are now being integrated into most notebooks and mobile devices, many IT managers are looking to see how these systems might work in their collaboration spaces. While button-based HDMI transmitters such as the Barco ClickShare and BenQ InstaShow are still the most popular connection method, should IT managers embrace these new standards going forward?

The original versions of Miracast and Airplay were primarily designed for consumer use to enable wireless streaming content in the home using built-in links to services like iTunes and Netflix. Commercial wireless screen mirroring systems such as BenQ InstaShow are designed for classroom and meeting room use to enable multiple presenters to quickly connect their MacBook’s, Windows PCs, Chromebooks, and other AV devices to a projector or display. In order to decide which one is best for you, let's understand how these systems work.

Miracast is a peer-to-peer wireless screen casting standard formed using a Wi-Fi direct connection. It relies on the Wi-Fi network available, and the shared information is sent by the device via Wi-Fi through a Wi-Fi Direct connection to a receiver connected to the display device. The receiver then decodes the video signal and passes it to the TV display (or other display devices). Miracast works on Windows and Android devices, but cannot be used on Apple devices.

AirPlay is a whole host of audio and video streaming protocols that are installed on the majority of iOS products. Originally designed to support streaming content from the cloud, it now can be used for screen mirroring in meeting rooms with iOS devices and an Airplay receiver such as an Apple TV. Windows and Chrome devices cannot use Airplay.

According to Futuresource, transmitter buttons are the most popular method for screen mirroring for the corporate market. A screen mirroring system based on HDMI transmitters can be used on any type of a notebook, Chromebook, MacBook, and even devices such as media players and digital cameras. These buttons simply plug into the source – and display your HDMI content in seconds.

While Miracast and Airplay are well suited for sharing information from your mobile phone or tablet, it may not work well in a collaborative environment such as a law firm or marketing agency where many types of devices may need to share the screen. Today, HDMI screen mirroring systems such as the BenQ InstaShow S can support both notebooks and AV devices with a transmitter buttons, as well as any mobile devices using either Miracast or Airplay. With the InstaShow S- you can even have four different sources on the screen at the same time – enabling a MacBook, Chromebook, an iPhone and an Android tablet to share their content – all with 128-bit encryption for a secure collaboration session.

Effective team collaboration requires an open environment where ideas can be shared confidentially. For wireless screen mirroring systems that only use Miracast or Airplay, this can be a problem as some standardized protocols have been subject to vulnerabilities that could lead to a bad actor capturing files or viewing confidential slides. By contrast, the InstaShow S has additional security protocols such as advanced encryption embedded into the transmitter's buttons, and has been certified against common threats and vulnerabilities that hackers can use to view your content or access your network.

Sometimes it can be difficult to find answers to your questions when trying to find the right wireless screen mirroring system for your business. Since many resellers don’t have experts in this area that can help –where can you turn? For customers looking for advice on choosing the right projector for their business, you can talk directly to an experienced BenQ product expert who has access to many wireless screen mirroring models and can guide you to the best one for your application. We also can help you find a reseller nearby, or if you want, you can purchase one right on the phone.