{"id":157748,"date":"2014-11-10T11:14:55","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T10:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.borncity.com\/blog\/?p=157748"},"modified":"2023-03-31T13:50:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T11:50:19","slug":"how-to-turn-a-windows-8-1-machine-into-a-miracast-receiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/borncity.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/10\/how-to-turn-a-windows-8-1-machine-into-a-miracast-receiver\/","title":{"rendered":"How to turn a Windows 8.1 machine into a Miracast receiver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"[German article<\/a>]Windows 8.1 (like Android 4.2.2) supports Miracast on capable hardware. Till now Windows 8.1 was only able to stream to Miracast receivers. Now it's possible, to turn your Windows 8.1 machine (if hardware fits) into a Miracast receiver.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"I still remember the question, raised in summer 2013 in Microsoft's Answers forums: \"So, if upcoming Windows 8.1 supports Miracast, can I use my Surface Pro to receive a screen mirrored from another Windows 8.1 machine?\". Well, that question was answered \"No, that isn't possible\". Windows 8.1 itself doesn't come with a \"receiver application\" for Miracast at all.<\/p>\n

What is Miracast?<\/h3>\n

Miracast is a vendor independent standard to stream audio and video signals wireless from a Windows 8.1 machine or an Android 4.2.3 device to Miracast receivers. But there is a mandatory hardware support for for Miracast. See this wikipedia article<\/a> and this Microsoft article<\/a> for further reading.<\/p>\n

Within my (German) blog I've tested many Miracast receiver and also several Windows 8.1 and Android 4.x devices as Miracast sender. A link list (to my German blog articles) is available in the following article.<\/p>\n

Hands on: Streamcasting mit DLNA, Miracast, Airplay & Co.<\/a><\/p>\n

Is Windows 8.1 capable to act as a Miracast receiver?<\/h3>\n

If hardware supports Miracast, can we use a Windows 8.1 machine as a Miracast receiver? This question was on my agenda since August 2013. Till August 2014 the answer was always \"no chance, Windows 8.1 doesn't support Miracast as a receiver\".<\/p>\n

But August 2014 Update Rollup changes the game. There was one sentence in this Microsoft blog article<\/a> (and here<\/a>), that kept my attention:<\/p>\n

Miracast<\/a> Receive \u2013 exposes a set of Wi-Fi direct APIs for Independent Hardware Vendor (IHV) drivers or OEM drivers to develop Windows 32-bit applications that run on all supported x86-based or x64-based versions of Windows 8.1, enabling the computer as a Miracast receiver.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Obviously the message was \"Microsoft had no plans, to release a Miracast application\" \u2013 but they added some APIs to allow third party developers enables a Windows 8.1 machine as a Miracast receiver. Since August 2014 I searched the web from time to time for hints of upcoming solutions \u2013 till now without success at all.<\/p>\n

But last weekend everything changed. I was searching the web for another topics (to prepare an article about mirroring Android screens to Windows desktop) \u2013 and on page 2 of Google`s search results I stumbled upon this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

AirServer Universal: Turns your Windows 8.1 machine into a Miracast receiver<\/h3>\n

Well, on October 31st, 2014, App Dynamics released AirServer Version 3.0.12. AirServer was known to me as an AirPlay receiver for Windows (see Windows per AirServer als AirPlay-Empf\u00e4nger nutzen<\/a>). The new 3.x version of this program was rebranded as AirServer Universal. The PC version supports now – beside AirPlay (Apple) – also Miracast on capable Windows 8.1 machines.<\/p>\n

App Dynamics developed this extension in cooperation with Intel and Microsoft, to enable Windows 8.1 as a universal mirroring receiver for AirPlay and Miracast. With AirServer Universal you might be able to use a Windows 8.1 machine to show the screens of AirPlay iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) and Miracast devices (Android, Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1) streamed wireless to this Windows machine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

AirServer Universal is available here<\/a> as a 7 day trial and will be licensed for educational purpopses (8 to 12 US $), for private use (14 $) and for business use (20 $). I've tested it on my Windows 8.1 machine during weekend. The requirements for a Windows 8.1 machine are:<\/p>\n