title: “How To Optimize Chromecast” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-22” author: “Richard Chapman”
How Can I Speed Up My Chromecast?
There are a few ways you can improve the data transfer speed of your casting, reducing the oddes of your video lagging or pausing.
Cast Local Content
One of the easiest ways to make your casting experience with your Chromecast faster is by streaming content directly from your device rather than over the internet.
This works because whenever you cast from a service like YouTube or Netflix, the data transfer for that stream happens over the internet from the streaming service to your Chromecast device. By casting directly, you remove the lag introduced by the internet.
Cast local videos from your mobile device. You’ll need to use a streaming service which allows downloading content. For example, in the mobile Netflix app just tap the Download icon at the bottom of the display. In the Download section of the Netflix app, you’ll see a list of content available to download to your device. Just select the content and tap the Download button. If you already have videos stored on your mobile device, just open the File Manager, locate the app, and launch it using an app that is compatible with Chromecast. One example of this is the Plex app. From within an app like Plex, you’ll see the Chromecast icon to cast your local video. Cast local videos from your computer. From any computer, you can also cast local videos using the Chrome browser. In the Chrome browser, select the three dots at the upper right to open the menu. Select Cast. At the bottom of the Cast menu, select Sources. Then select Cast file from the list. Finally, select the Chromecast device you want to cast to and your local file will start casting to that display.
Lower the Video Quality
You can also speed up Chromecast casting by reducing the amount of data the Chromecast device has to transfer from the internet. You can do this by reducing the selected video quality in the streaming service you’re casting from.
When you play a video on the YouTube site, select the settings icon at the bottom of the video. Then select a lower quality than the default to improve casting speed. Select the cast icon to cast to your Chromecast device. On the Hulu website, when you play a video just select the Settings icon and select Quality. This opens a window where you can set the quality to Data Saver which will increase casting speed to Chromecast. The quality setting for Netflix is only available in the Profile settings. On the home screen, select the dropdown menu at the upper right and select Account. In the Profile & Parental Controls section, and select Change next to Playback settings. In the Data usage per screen section, select Low. Most other streaming services also have the ability to adjust video playback quality. Lower this setting to optimize your Chromecast experience.
How Do I Optimize Chromecast Full Screen?
If you’re casting content from your browser to another display in full screen, there’s another way to optimize so the stream works more efficiently. This is a feature in the Chrome browser cast feature which lets you optimize fullscreen videos.
To enable this feature, just right-click the Chromecast icon at the upper right corner of your browser, and select Optimize fullscreen videos to enable this feature.
When this feature is enabled, it will turn off mirroring so the data stream for the video goes entirely to the display you’re casting to and consumes much less of your computer’s CPU. It also adjusts the quality of the video stream for the resolution of the display that you’re casting to.
