I did some research on using Chromecasts for dashboard TVs.
A custom Chromecast app can be made in HTML5 but that seems like too much hassle. A simpler solution is to just cast from a computer. Casting a Chrome browser tab works, but doesn’t seem to be the best image quality. A higher quality image is obtained by casting a whole 1920×1080 monitor.
Initial Setup
- For the best image quality with Chromecasts, add a 1920×1080 display to the computer.
- For each Chromecast, make a new user in the Chrome browser named the same as the Chromecast if the user doesn’t already exist.
Start Casting
For each Chromecast:
- Open a new Chrome window as a different “chrome user”
- Begin casting the whole 1920×1080 monitor (… menu, Cast…, click “Cast to”, choose “Cast Desktop”, Choose right Chromecast, Choose monitor, click Share)
- Optional: Go to http://bigtextbox.com/ and type in the Chromecast name so you can find the window again
- Optional: Minimize the Chrome window.
Fix Casting
Find the right chrome window, and follow the same steps above.
Observations
- It seems to send somewhere around or under 200 KB/s per Chromecast to stream a 1920×1080 static display (no animations or motion).
- 2nd generation Chromecast seems to have a better picture quality than 1st generation.
- The sending computer will use some CPU power for each Chromecast that will depend on the computer used and what is being cast.
- A dedicated monitor is not really needed on the sending computer and instead a fake HDMI monitor could be used, but the lag will drive you crazy setting it up by using mouse and keyboard while watching a Chromecast.
- Instead of dedicated physical monitor and computer, a virtual machine can be used on a computer connected to the same WiFi as the Chromecasts. Then the whole virtual machine can be minimized etc.