Many TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, Roku, Vizio and Hisense support AirPlay 2, but AirPlay only accepts certain formats. An MKV or AVI won’t go across directly, and mirroring your screen gives you a re-encoded copy of your desktop.
The quick way
- Install Driftcast, a free Mac app.
- Make sure your Mac and TV are on the same network, and that AirPlay is on in the TV’s settings.
- Drag your video onto the Driftcast window and start it playing.
- Choose Apple TV or AirPlay TV… from the Output menu, then pick your TV.
Driftcast sends the TV a stream it can read, passing through whatever is already compatible and converting only the rest. This has been tested on a Samsung AirPlay 2 TV, including HEVC HDR10 video with converted audio and subtitles.
If the TV connects but nothing plays
The TV fetches the video from your Mac, so it has to be able to reach it. Driftcast shows a warning when a TV connects but never asks for the stream. The usual causes are:
- the Mac and the TV are on different networks or Wi-Fi bands that are kept apart,
- a VPN is running on the Mac,
- a firewall is blocking incoming connections to Driftcast.
Get Driftcast
Driftcast is free and open source, with no account, trial or ads. It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later, on an Apple silicon or Intel Mac.
Download Driftcast · Source code on GitHub · Everything it plays
More guides
- How to cast MKV files to Chromecast from a Mac
- How to play MKV files on Apple TV from a Mac
- How to send any video from a Mac to a Samsung or LG TV
- How to get subtitles on Chromecast from a Mac
- How to play DTS audio on Chromecast from a Mac
- How to cast 4K HDR video from a Mac
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