Basic troubleshooting for screen sharing

Note 

Display refers to the SMART Board interactive display.

Device refers to the iOS device, Android device, or Windows computer that is sharing its screen.

Before you begin, remember these general tips and information when using any screen sharing technology:

  • Check with your device’s manufacturer to confirm that your device and its operating system support screen sharing.

  • If you are having issues connecting, check that your device is on the same network. In many cases, devices and the display need to be on the same network to connect and start sharing.

  • Some displays support different screen share apps, and different screen sharing methods have different features. Learn how to tell which method your display uses and which features that method provides.

Use the following troubleshooting wizard to help you resolve common screen sharing issues such as:

  • Finding the display and connecting to it from your device

  • Screen sharing frequently disconnecting

  • The shared screen lagging behind or poor resolution

Open the basic troubleshooting wizard

If you continue to experience issues, see the following sections for more tips and basic troubleshooting for screen sharing. If you are a network administrator, check out the advanced troubleshooting page.

  • General troubleshooting tips

    • Restart your mobile device. Restarting your device can clear the device’s cached network address information. Restarting the device can also reinitialize audio and video encoders that might have stopped working.

    • Restart the display. If you’ve restarted your display and still don’t see the display’s name in the list of devices, wait several minutes and then try to connect to the display again.

  • I can’t connect to the display.

  • I can’t find the display to connect to.

    • On the device, turn Airplane mode on and then off to reset the network and clear any cached network data.

    • Contact your network’s administrator to confirm the network is configured correctly for screen sharing. The network administrator should check whether the required ports are enabled and network services such as mDNS are allowed.

      SeeConfiguring the network for screen sharing

  • Screen sharing frequently disconnects, or the video on the display lags behind the video on the connected device.

    • If you're using SMART Screen Share, screen sharing stops if you tap the Home button to return to the iQ Home screen. To maintain screen sharing, do not tap the display's Home button.

    • There might be an issue with your network. There could be excessive latency with the network, or the devices are intermittently disconnecting from the network. Contact your network’s administrator for further assistance with troubleshooting.

      SeeAdvanced screen share troubleshooting.

    • Refer to this troubleshooting article for more information about addressing this issue.

  • When I try to share my screen, it won’t show up on the display.

    This may occur because moderator mode is enabled, which requires a person at the display to allow or invite you to share.

    This may occur because permissions are enabled, which requires a person at the display to allow the device to connect.

  • The resolution of the shared screen or video is poor, and the connection lags.

    • For best performance, SMART recommends connecting the display to the network using a wired (Ethernet) connection.

    • Turn off power-saving mode on your device. Power-saving mode can limit the mobile device’s processing power, which could affect quality and performance of screen sharing.

    • Lower the device’s resolution to allow the device to encode the image more quickly.

    • The shared screen or window might have a lower resolution on the display than it does on the device.

    • Refer to this troubleshooting article for more information about addressing this issue.

  • I’m having issues when trying to share a video.

    Sharing highly interactive screens, such as videos, uses a great deal of processing power, which can affect the quality of the shared screen. A device may not be able to encode the video quickly enough to send to the display in real time for a smooth playback. If the video is available online, SMART recommends using the Browser app.

    Note 

    Many video content providers, such as Netflix, have Digital Rights Management (DRM) licensing restrictions that prevent the use of screen sharing technology. To play a video from these providers, use the Browser app or connect a computer to the display.

    To use screen share to play a video, here are some general tips to help you get the best performance:

    • For best results, share videos with a resolution that doesn’t exceed 720p.

    • To avoid high latency (or lag) between the display and device, queue the video on the device before sharing the device’s screen.

    • Unmute your computer. Sometimes the audio can’t be heard from the display.

    • Check that sound is not muted in the settings of the device's SMART Mirror or SMART Screen share app.

  • I don’t know if my display supports screen sharing or which screen share app it supports.

    See About the SMART screen sharing apps to learn about the different screen sharing options and their features.

  • I want to change the display’s name.

    Use the screen share settings to change the display’s name for easier identification.

    Use the SMART Mirror settings to change the display’s name for easier identification.

  • A specific feature of my display (for example, audio or Touchback) does not work.

    The features available vary depending on the device that’s sharing and the way that device is connected. See About the SMART screen sharing apps for information about the features supported by different apps and connection methods.

  • I get no sound when sharing my device’s screen to the display.

    • Check that sound is not muted on the display or the device.

    • Mac computers have certain security and permissions that need to be granted to enable sharing screens and audio. Ensure screen recording permissions are allowed in the Mac computers’ Security & Privacy settings.

  • I get a “Something went wrong” error message

    Check with your organization’s network administrator to make sure that the network has been configured correctly.

    SeeConfiguring the network for screen sharing

  • I can’t connect using the SMART Mirror web page when I use a 10-digit session ID.

  • I can't view multiple connected devices at the same time in SMART Mirror.

    Enable Moderator mode or unlimited connections to use grid view for seeing multiple shared screens at the same time.

  • I want to get rid of the yellow text that appears in the top left corner of the display.

    This message displays performance data. To hide the message, tap the border at the top of the screen four times.

  • I can’t use the display's pens to write during a SMART Mirror screen sharing session.

    Hardware pens are not yet supported in SMART Mirror. To write or draw, use your finger.

  • I have a 10-digit session ID for SMART Mirror. When I try to generate a new session ID, it does not change.

    SMART Mirror uses the computer's IP address to generate the 10-digit session ID. The ID cannot be changed manually.