How to Stream Videos Using VLC 3.0
VLC, the Swiss army knife of media players, has been updated to version 3.0. The latest version adds some much-needed features to the player, including one that could make it much easier to stream all of this content from your computer to your living room TV: Chromecast support (among other things).
How to start streaming with VLC
VLC Chromecast support is only available for Windows PCs and Android devices right now, and should be considered beta in terms of functionality (other platforms will get Chromecast support in a later update). You also won’t find the familiar Cast button on the player. You will need to quickly go to the menu bar to stream your content.
To send this completely legitimate .mp4 you downloaded from the internet to your living room TV, you need to download and install the latest version of VLC first. Then: open VLC, choose Play> Renderer and select your Chromecast device from the list of available options. On Android devices using the Cast feature, battery life will decrease if any media content you are streaming is not supported by the Cast receiving device due to VLC transcoding and live streaming, so keep an eye on battery life.
Support for 360-degree video and HDR included
Chromecast support isn’t the only new feature included in the update. Fans of immersive audio and video will be happy to see support for both 3D audio and 360-degree video enabled, hardware acceleration enabled by default, which improves 4K and 8K video playback (and negatively impacts processor and battery life.) And support HDR.