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Intel's Wireless Display technology connects PCs and TVs

While many media consumers have connected laptops, desktops, and small form factor PCs to their large plasma and LCD monitors for years, Intel aims to radically change this equation with its new Wireless Display technology, also known as "WiDi."

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman
2 min read
Watch this: Intel Wireless Display
Update: Intel's Wireless Display technology has been nominated for the Best of CES Awards in the Computers and Hardware category.

LAS VEGAS--While many media consumers have connected laptops, desktops, and small form factor PCs to their large plasma and LCD monitors for years, these setups typically required either a direct video connection or the use of clunky media extender boxes, with limited functionality and file format compatibility.

Intel aims to radically change this equation with its new Wireless Display technology, also known as "WiDi."

The process involves taking a WiDi-enabled laptop with one of Intel's new Core-series CPUs, and wirelessly connecting it to an adapter box that plugs into the HDMI port of any display.

Intel describes the process as follows:

Intel Wireless Display requires a laptop PC based on select 2010 Intel Core processors, Intel HD Graphics, and Intel Centrino wireless with Intel MyWiFi Technology enabled. In addition, the laptop needs to have Intel Wireless Display preinstalled. Finally, an adapter featuring Intel Wireless Display is required to receive the signals from the PC and display them on the TV. This adapter is connected to the TV via either HDMI (preferred) or standard AV cables.

We've seen the technology in action behind closed doors, and it certainly seems promising, although our early hands-on experiences were a bit laggy, so not ideal for PC gaming, which we can see as major future selling point.

Intel expects WiDi systems from several PC makers to be available in Best Buy stores by January 17. The adapter that connects to your TV is being bundled with select system. Check out more details on the Netgear-branded Wireless Display adapter here.