This new Samsung feature might change the way you watch TV

With the amount of media consumption we do these days, the modern ubiquity of smart TVs is no surprise. However, in many cases, system navigation with TV remotes still has a ways to go before it can really rival the intuitive taps and swipes of smartphone touchscreens. That’s why inter-device screen mirroring is such a useful feature to have- and Samsung might be preparing to make it a whole lot better.

As LetsGoDigital spotted, the South Korean tech giant just filed a patent for a technology called “Samsung Tap View”, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like- a nifty new feature that allows you to easily mirror your smartphone’s display just by tapping it on a smart TV.

Software systems like Miracast or Chromecast have made mirroring much more seamless, but it can still be a bit finicky, sometimes requiring you to fiddle with Wi-Fi settings or sign into your Google account. On the other hand, Samsung’s Tap View might make the whole process painlessly simple. It might come in extra handy for mirroring to a display at your friend's house, or at a hotel. 

What exactly powers the new feature isn’t yet known, but an obvious choice would be NFC, or near-field communication, the same stuff that makes contactless payments possible. In fact, NFC is already being used on plenty of Bluetooth devices to facilitate seamless pairing, so using it to build easier mirroring systems makes a lot of sense.

If Samsung does use NFC, it wouldn’t be the first to do so either; Sony has also incorporated NFC mirroring into recent smart TVs, though the feature hasn’t received a lot of spotlight. First or not, Tap View is an exciting (and cool!) step towards a more connected future, so we’re excited to see where and when it might pop up.