On Wednesday the Wi-Fi Alliance officially launched its Wi-Fi Certified Miracast certification program. Devices that want to be certified must be able to deliver video and other content directly to a compatible device over a Wi-Fi Direct connection – no wireless network is needed.
As previously announced, Intel's WiDi 3.5 will be Miracast certified, and is joined by tech provided by Broadcom, Marvell, MediaTek, Ralink and Realtek. The first consumer-based products certified since testing opened to vendors include the LG Optimus G smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone and Samsung Echo-P Series TV.
"Wi-Fi users around the world want to experience multimedia on the device of their choice - no matter what brand - and Miracast is the breakthrough they have been waiting for," said Edgar Figueroa, CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. "We have been delighted with the level of enthusiasm and support among our member companies for this new offering."
Miracast users will be able to view pictures from a smartphone on a big screen HDTV, and even watch live programs from a home cable box directly on a tablet. Miracast supports protected premium content streaming, enabling devices to stream feature films and other copy-protected materials. This is accomplished by using a Wi-Fi version of the same trusted content mechanisms used on cable-based HDMI and DisplayPort connections.
"Miracast builds on Wi-Fi Direct with a compelling application," said Brian O’Rourke from IHS iSuppli Research. "This is a big step forward in a market migration from single-vendor display solutions, into an offering from a wide array of vendors. With more than 1.5 billion Miracast devices expected to ship in 2016, the program is poised to have broad adoption."
More information, including a list of Wi-Fi Certified Miracast products, the Wi-Fi Alliance Display technical specification, white paper, and more is available at www.wi-fi.org/miracast. Meanwhile, here's a list of the first Wi-Fi Direct tech to be designated Miracast certified (and which form the test suite for the certification program):
* Broadcom Dualband 11n WiFi
* Intel WiDi
* Marvell Avastar USB-8782 802.11n 1x1 Dual-band Reference Design
* MediaTek a/b/g/n Dualband Mobile Phone Client, MT662X_v1 and DTV Sink, MV0690
* Ralink 802.11n Wireless Adapter, RT3592
* Realtek Dual-band 2x2 RTL8192DE HM92D01 PCIe Half Mini Card and RTD1185 RealShare Smart Display Adapter