The big screen phone connect

With smartphones packing  more and more power, who needs a PC? The latest models come with more processing power than many desktop PCs or laptops had last year!

Most phones launched in 2014 can handle and display High Definition (1080p) video with full-featured Dolby audio. The Sony Xperia Z2 phone launched in India this week, is the first to reach this country with the ability to shoot video in the Ultra High Definition 4K format that is four times sharper than full HD.

But let’s face it, a 5-inch or even a 6-inch phone screen is no way to enjoy these superior video  content or for that matter  much of the ultra-realistic video games that are available today. Ironically, the Z2s camera can capture 4k video, but its own display is not up to the 4k quality.  So there’s  no easy way today to smoothly stream video or for that matter any data, from a phone to a larger display like a TV or a PC, without degrading the content.

Which is why a group of mobile and consumer electronics companies including Nokia, Samsung, Silicon Image, Sony and Toshiba have come together to create technology that allows consumers to connect mobile phones, tablets, and other  portable devices to high-definition televisions (HDTVs) and audio receivers without losing quality during the transfer. The standard they have created is called Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) and the latest - version 3 of MHL supports up to 4K (Ultra HD) high-definition video and 7.1 surround sound audio.

“Last year, one in four TVs, computer monitors and smart phones, had quietly added a chip created by Silicon Image, a California-based connectivity specialist and included a tiny port it looks like the mini HDMI port that makes the device MHL-ready. By end 2014, every other smartphone from all the leading makers  will be MHL compliant,” says Vipin Sawhney, India Country Manager of Silicon Image.

In other words, all you need is an MHL cable, that will effectively use the computing power of your phone to drive a movie, a game or just a browser on your big TV. Imagine playing Candy Crush on a 50-inch television! There is also a secret weapon that comes bundled with MHL while streaming content from phone to TV or PC, it simultaneously charges your phone!

“Interestingly, Hyderabad-based Indian engineers of Silicon Image worked in partnership with colleagues in the US Silicon Valley and Shanghai in China to create the MHL standard,” Sawhney adds.

For so many of us, the phone is the centre of  our  universe. It had one downside small screen. Now, with MHL it seems the power of a phone has just grown to embrace the largest screen to be found at home or a hotel room.