Intel Showcases Updated Wireless Display Technology Coming In May

At Intel’s recent Innovation Showcase event in New York, the company gave us a quick demo of its updated Wireless Display technology for laptops. Expected to hit portable computers in May, this latest 2.1 version will bring pleasing new capabilities such as full 1080p HD quality video, digital surround sound,  plus access to paid content.

Wireless Display, otherwise known as WiDi, lets users output video directly to compatible HDTVs. Intel WiDi already comes in many notebooks today such as the Samsung RV511 we reviewed a little while ago. That said, the RV511 we tested used the first generation of WiDi and was limited to a resolution of 720p HD video.

During the WiDi 2.1 demonstration, we observed a new Samsung RV512 notebook sending a wireless 1080p HD video stream to a nearby HDTV. The TV set received the incoming WiDi signal via a special Netgear adapter. Digital surround sound was also supplied to the sample home theater setup over HDMI connection.

Intel also plans tighter integration with paid content providers, specifically the BestBuy CinemaNow download service and premium Blu-ray movie discs.  A Windows widget is in the works that will provide greater visibility and control of the WiDi feature. It all sounds pretty nice and we certainly liked what we saw. Check out our video below though and decide for yourself.