In todays hospitals, patients expect the same seamless connectivity they experience at home. Just as streaming content from our phones is effortless in familiar surroundings, many assume it should be equally simple during a hospital stay. As hospitals seek to provide home-like entertainment experiences, connecting personal devices like smartphones or tablets to in-room TVs is desirable. Three common methodscasting, mirroring, and pairingfacilitate this connectivity, each with its own distinctions and applications. When deciding which method is best, there are essential security and privacy factors you need to consider that differentiate connectivity in a hospital environment from a home.
Casting
Casting means solving the following problem: I want to select videos, songs, movies, or other content from my personal device to a play on a Television in the same room.
Casting involves wirelessly streaming content from a mobile device to a TV. Popular casting technologies include Google Chromecast and Apple AirPlay. In a hospital setting, casting allows patients to display their personal content such as videos, music, or third-party media content on the TV screen in their room. This method provides patients with a personalized and familiar entertainment experience.
Casting is typically initiated by having devices that are either paired or are connected to the same network and have undergone authentication. Importantly with casting, the content is not streamed from the mobile device itself. Instead, the casting protocol involves providing the display device with a content location, which it then uses to stream the content directly. The patients mobile device functions only as a media controller or remote.