Miracast certification started – wireless display technology

The Wi-Fi Alliance is starting today with a certification program for Miracast, a new Wi-Fi standard which makes it possible to wirelessly send picture and sound from one device to another. Miracast could, for example, allow you to view pictures from a smartphone on a big screen television, share a laptop screen with the conference room projector in real-time, and watch live programs from a home cable box on a tablet. Unlike usual Wi-fi content sharing there is no need for a Wi-Fi accesspoint or router, the connections are directly between two devices (Wi-Fi Direct).

Miracast uses the Wi-Fi radio frequencies to setup the connection (2.4Ghz) and for the actual transfer of content (5 Ghz). Video and audio is transmitted as a h.264 stream.  The client requires then only has to decode the stream which should end a lot of compatibility issues that are currently an issue with DLNA  devices. The standard also supports DRM by utilizing HDCP. The actual stream is secured by encrypting it with WPA2.

The Miracast technology was developed by the Wi-Fi alliance which includes more than 500 technology companies and should ensure optimal compatibility and availability. The first Miracast certified products to appear on the market are the Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Echo-P Series TV.