I have long dreamed of building a computer that would not use wires to communicate with peripheral devices. That is, place the system unit in one room, connecting it only to the power supply, and place all the peripherals - mouse, keyboard, monitor, speakers - in another room at the workplace. Wireless keyboards and mice have not surprised anyone for a long time. But transferring an image to a monitor without using a wire seems like a non-trivial task. This article is dedicated to this problem.
Currently, Intel offers WiDi (Wireless Display) technology for transferring images from a laptop, tablet, or phone to a monitor. I was interested in the question of how to connect WiDi to a desktop computer.
What I was missing from all this was a wireless display adapter and a WiDi-enabled network card. I couldn’t find where to buy these things in Russia, so I ordered them on Amazon.com. I ordered a NETGEAR Push2TV 3000 and an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 for Desktop network card.
Installing Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 for Desktop is not difficult. You just need to insert the network card into the PCI-E slot, take it from the included disk or download and install the drivers.
Setting up NETGEAR Push2TV 3000.
This will update your NETGEAR Push2TV 3000 software to the latest version. To complete the adapter setup, all you have to do is connect it to your monitor or TV with an HDMI cable. I would like to note that the NETGEAR Push2TV 3000 does not include an HDMI cable, so it must be purchased separately.
As I wrote above, Windows 10 has a Projector function that allows you to connect to a WiDi display without third-party software, provided you have a network card that can work with WiDi. To connect to the projector you need:
If you are using the old version - Windows 8.1 and older, then the instructions below are for you.
That's all about how to connect WiDi on a desktop computer.
I will say right away that I immediately refused to use this technology on my PC; this technology will be interesting when used with smartphones or tablets, or in cases where it is necessary to connect a TV and a computer at a considerable distance, but not for the usual conditions in which it is used computer. So what I didn't like:
Thus, I can assure you that it is too early to use a wireless monitor on a desktop. I have no doubt that the times will come when wires to connect the monitor to the system unit will not be needed, but those times have not come yet.
But the telephone is not the only device capable of broadcasting an image to the TV screen. There are others - for example, laptops. And they have no less opportunities in this regard. So, today we’ll talk about how to connect a laptop to a TV via Wi-Fi and wired interfaces.
You probably remember what Wi-Fi Miracast and WiDi (Intel Wireless Display) are from the previous article. We hasten to please you: these technologies are supported not only by smartphones, but also by mobile computers. However, not all, but only those equipped with Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors of the second and subsequent generations.
WiDi and Miracast support is implemented differently in different versions of Windows. Namely:
Laptops based on AMD processors are also capable of transmitting images to the TV via Wi-Fi. The technology they use is called AMD Wireless Display. This, so to speak, is an analogue of WiDi, developed by AMD for wireless connection of its devices and Miracast-compatible TVs.
AMD Wireless Display is officially supported by Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 systems. To check whether the processor is compatible with this technology, the manufacturer recommends the proprietary AMD Catalyst Auto Detect utility.
To transfer an image from a laptop to a TV screen using any of the above standards, an access point is not needed. It is only necessary that both the laptop and the TV receiver support Miracast (as you already know, if such an option is not available on the TV, an external adapter can make up for it).
So, before establishing a connection, let’s make sure that Wi-Fi is turned on on both devices. Next we activate the Miracast function on the TV. Which menu it is in should be indicated in the instructions. Next we move on to the laptop.
If you have Windows 10, press Win+P on your keyboard to open the Project menu. If you want the desktop to be displayed on both your computer and TV, select “Repeating”; To display the picture on TV, select “Second screen only.”
If you have Windows 8.1, open the Charms bar, go to “Devices” - “Projector” and select the “Wireless Display” option. After this, the TV will work as a monitor.
To connect via WiDi, Intel previously offered users its own tool - the Intel Wireless Display utility, but it is no longer available.
AMD Wireless Display has always used only the Windows interface described above.
DLNA is another technology that allows home network devices to share multimedia content without complex settings and wires. However, not only without wires - one or both paired devices can be connected to the network via a cable. Unlike Miracast, DLNA does not provide the ability to link them directly.
A TV connected to a laptop via DLNA will not replace the monitor - it will play only those multimedia files that the user selects, and the desktop, shortcuts and everything else will remain on the laptop display.
To connect a mobile computer to a TV via DLNA, three conditions must be met:
After making sure that the computer and TV are connected to the same network, open the folder where the multimedia file is stored, right-click on it and select the “Transfer to device” option. In the list of devices, select your TV.
Most often this is enough to start playback. In case of problems, do the following:
If you want all the media content stored in the Music, Pictures, Videos, etc. libraries to play on your TV, spend a few minutes creating and configuring a DLNA server.
For this:
This completes the creation and configuration of the DLNA server. Now laptop folders containing multimedia files will be displayed on TV.
By the way, proprietary technologies for connecting mobile devices and computers to a TV, which we wrote about in the previous article, are also primarily based on DLNA standards. For LG it is “Smart Share”, for Sony, in particular Sony Bravia, it is “VAIO Media Server”, for Samsung it is “AllShare”, for Apple TV set-top boxes it is “AirPlay”. Their advantages over regular DLNA are a wider range of capabilities.
To connect a laptop, for example, to an LG TV, just install the free proprietary application LG Smart Share. If you have a TV of a different brand, you can easily find similar software on the manufacturer’s official website. Installation and configuration of such programs is very simple, the system requirements are low.
The HDMI digital interface, which supports the transmission of FullHD quality images and multi-channel sound, is perhaps the best way to cable connect a laptop to a TV, since most mobile computers are equipped with this interface. Modern TVs also have an HDMI port. To connect devices, a cable of the appropriate type is enough: HDMI-HDMI or micro- (mini-) HDMI-HDMI (if one of the connectors is small).
Connecting a cable to the ports is only permissible after turning off the power to the devices (otherwise you can damage them). Switching between displays (laptop and TV) is done by pressing the key combination Fn+F*, where F* is a function key with an icon in the form of two screens, for example, as in the photo below.
The parameters for displaying a picture on an additional display - appearance, resolution, etc., are configured through the Control Panel, the “Screen” applet and the “Setting screen parameters” section.
Audio is configured through the Sound applet. The TV's speakers will appear in the Playing Devices list. To make them the host, open the context menu and check “Set as default.”
The analog VGA interface is also very common on laptops and TVs. A TV connected to a laptop with a VGA cable will only be able to reproduce the image, and the sound will come from the laptop's speakers.
DisplayPort connectors are found on laptops less often than the first two. This is also a digital interface, like HDMI, capable of transmitting both image and sound.
Ports of these types today can only be found on old laptops, and they are used mainly for connecting to equally old TVs.
Thunderbolt is a relatively new interface designed to transfer data of any type at very high speeds. It is most often found on MacBooks and can be used to connect them to an external monitor or TV.
Since there are no TVs with Thunderbolt yet (and if there are, they are unknown to the author), to connect a MacBook you will need additional equipment - a Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter and an HDMI-HDMI cable.
Remember: the fewer transformations and breaks in the transmission medium, the higher the quality of image and sound on the playback device. A direct cable connection from the laptop port to the TV port always gives better results than using adapters.
If your laptop only has a VGA port and your TV has both VGA and HDMI, it is preferable to use a direct VGA-to-VGA cable rather than an HDMI to VGA adapter and an HDMI-to-HDMI cable. The adapter does not improve the analog signal to the digital level, but simply converts it to another format, often with a loss of quality.
Happy owners of Smart TVs can connect their laptops to them in many ways. If one doesn't fit, there is always an alternative. And owners of ordinary, especially old television receivers, sometimes have to suffer: either the required adapter is not on sale, or the connection does not work.
In this case, the best solution would be to buy a set-top box with SMART functions, like Apple TV or Android Box. It’s not very expensive, and it also eliminates the hassle of connecting other equipment to the TV forever.
I very often have to answer questions that sound something like this: “Is it possible to use the TV as a wireless monitor for a laptop or smartphone?” “How to display an image on a TV from a tablet, computer, or phone, but not via cable, but via Wi-Fi?” “How to make it so that everything that is on a tablet or smartphone is displayed on the TV, and that everything is over the air?”
In this article, I will try to answer the questions posed. We will figure out whether it is possible to display an image on a modern TV without a cable, and how to do this using Intel WiDi or Miracast technologies.
Before we get to the main part, in which I plan to tell you how you can turn your TV into a wireless monitor, you need to understand something:
Air may slow down, use cable
If you want to display a picture on TV from your laptop in order to play games or watch movies, then it is best to do this via an HDMI cable. There shouldn’t be any problems with the computer, since now almost every laptop or video card has HDMI, and this is no longer uncommon on TVs. How to connect all this, read the article How to connect a TV to a computer (laptop) using an HDMI cable? TV as a monitor.
No wireless technology will provide the same picture quality that you get over a digital HDMI cable (at least not yet). Yes, I want it wirelessly, but with wireless technology there will be slowdowns, although not much. But playing games or watching movies with some kind of delay in the image is not very pleasant.
You can display videos and photos on TV without any special technology
In this article we are talking about duplicating absolutely everything that happens on the screen of your device onto your TV.
But in order to simply broadcast photos or videos from your computer, smartphone, or tablet to TV via Wi-Fi, you don’t need any special technology. Almost every modern TV supports DLNA technology (if you have a Smart TV, it definitely supports it). Computers and mobile devices can also transmit media content using DLNA technology. Android definitely can, iOS can too (if I’m not mistaken), and in Windows Phone, such an opportunity will appear after updating to version 8.1 (at the time of writing, the official update will still have to wait about a month).
In order to set up broadcasting photos and movies over the air from your computer to your TV, see these instructions:
Setting up DLNA (Smart Share) on your LG Smart TV. We watch movies and photos that are on the computer
We configure the DLNA server using the “Home Media Server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP)” program. View files from your computer on your TV
If the first article is suitable only for LG TVs, then the second can be called universal.
I wrote in a separate article how to display photos and videos from a device on Android: “We view photos and videos on the TV directly from the phone (tablet). Setting up DLNA between TV and smartphone.”
Well, if you still need to completely duplicate the picture on your TV, and even without wires, then read on.
I noticed that many people want, for example, to start watching an online movie on a tablet in a browser and display it on a TV. But in order to stream a movie via DLNA, you must first download it. Not everyone likes this, and not everyone knows how to download movies on a tablet or smartphone. If you have a Smart TV, then you can watch online movies directly from the TV, and you do not need any additional devices for this. How to do this, read this article.
There are two main technologies that allow you to wirelessly duplicate everything you see on the screen of your laptop or mobile device onto your TV. This is technology Intel Wireless Display(Intel WiDi), and Miracast. Most likely, you have already heard about these technologies, or seen them in the settings of your devices.
If you explain their work in your own words, then everything happens something like this: the image that is displayed on the screen of your computer or mobile device is compressed and transmitted via Wi-Fi to the TV. All this happens very quickly, and the delays are almost unnoticeable.
You simply turn on Miracast or Intel WiDi on your TV (if it supports this technology, if not, then you need a special HDMI adapter), and start the broadcast on your mobile device or laptop using a special program. The devices are connected and the picture is transmitted to the TV. By the way, a Wi-Fi network (router) is not needed at all, the TV itself creates a network to which you just need to connect. Something like Wi-Fi Direct.
At first glance, everything is very simple. But, at the moment, not all devices support these wireless technologies. Although, I think that in a year this will no longer be a problem.
By the way, Intel WiDi (starting from version 3.5) is compatible with Miracast. Therefore, Intel's technology can be considered universal.
You can read how to display an image on a TV from an Android tablet or phone using this technology in this article.
As for computers (laptops), for Intel WiDi technology to work, you need a 4th generation Intel processor, Intel graphics, and an Intel wireless Wi-Fi adapter. As you already understand, not every laptop can boast of such a configuration. Or, you will need a special attachment.
If we talk about mobile devices, they should also have support for Intel WiDi or Miracast. If you plan to use these technologies, then look at the characteristics of the devices and check the availability of these technologies before purchasing.
Detailed information on devices that support this technology can be found on the official website http://www.intel.ua/content/www/ua/uk/architecture-and-technology/intel-wireless-display.html.
We've figured out the devices that will transmit images over the air, now as for the TVs that will display this same image. The TV must either have built-in support for Intel WiDi/Miracast, or you will need to buy a special receiver that connects to the HDMI connector of your TV.
As far as I understand, almost all TVs from popular manufacturers: LG, Samsung, Toshiba - starting with the 2013 line, and which have support for Smart TV, have built-in receivers and can work with the Intel WiDi/Miracast standard.
If the TV does not have built-in support, then, as I already wrote, an external HDMI adapter will help. By the way, the image flows through it even better than through the built-in one.
For example, the LG 32LN575U TV, an inexpensive model with the Smart TV function, has support for Intel WiDi/Miracast. She looks like this:
Perhaps I’ll somehow demonstrate how this technology works, but that will be in another article.
Let's summarize. If you want to use your TV as the main or second monitor for your computer or mobile device, and you do not have an urgent need to connect them over the air, then it is best to do this using a cable. It’s cheaper and the picture quality will be better.
Don't forget that using DLNA technology and Wi-Fi, you can broadcast photos and videos to your TV. But you won’t be able to display the image by launching the game while in the browser or on the desktop.
If you still want everything that is displayed on the screen of your computer, smartphone, or tablet to be displayed on the TV screen, then look towards Intel WiDi and Miracast technologies. If your devices do not support these standards, you will have to buy special set-top boxes and receivers.
If you are just planning to buy new devices and are going to use these wireless technologies, then before purchasing, check whether they support these standards.
That's all. Best wishes!
Do you want to enjoy watching multimedia and online content on a big screen TV using a computer-to-TV connection?
Of course, you can connect your laptop to your TV using an HDMI cable, but this is not always convenient, if only because of cable length restrictions.
Intel LGA1200 socket for PC processors
The release of 10th generation Intel Core Comet Lake processors for desktop PCs and motherboards based on 400 series chipsets (Z490, W480, Q470 and H410) is expected in the second half of 2020.
NVIDIA GeForce Experience has been updated to version 3.20.2
On December 23, 2019, NVIDIA updated the NVIDIA GeForce Experience (GFE) application for Windows to version 3.20.2.
The update fixes the dangerous vulnerability CVE-2019-5702.
Perhaps Microsoft will make life easier for Windows 10 users
According to insider WalkingCat, Microsoft plans to radically change the update scheme for its Windows 10 operating system.
But it is not always convenient to lay the cable; thanks to the cable, you are “tied” to a place and cannot move freely. There are technologies that will allow you to wirelessly display the screen of a laptop, netbook or tablet on a TV, one of these technologies is WiDi.
WiDi (Intel Wireless Display)- wireless transmission of content from a mobile device (laptop, ultrabook, tablet) to a TV (Smart TV), developed by Intel. The technology is based on the Wi-Fi standard. (Wikipedia).
In order to be able to connect your TV to a laptop/ultrabook/tablet using WiDi, it is necessary that each device supports this technology. No additional equipment (routers, routers, access points, etc.) is needed.
In order to understand whether your TV supports WiDi or not, you need to read its technical capabilities; it’s easier to do all this by going to the TV manufacturer’s website, find your model and get acquainted with the technical characteristics.
To understand whether your laptop/ultrabook or tablet supports WiDi technology, you need to met the requirements for WiDi , namely:
| Conditions | Intel® WiDi | Intel® Pro WiDi |
| operating system | Windows 7, Windows 8/ 8.1 (Windows 10) | |
| CPU | - 2,3,4,5 generation Intel® Core™ i3/i5/i7 |
4th Generation Intel® Core™ Mobile and Desktop Processors with Intel® vPro Technology |
| Graphic arts | Intel® Iris™ Graphics 5100 Intel® HD Graphics 5000, 4600, 4400, 4200, 4000, 3000 (mobile), 2500, 2000 (mobile) |
Intel® Iris™ Pro Graphics 5200 Intel® Iris™ Graphics 5100 Intel® HD Graphics 5500, 5000, 4600, 4400 |
| Wi-Fi cards |
Centrino® Wireless-N 1000, 1030, 2200,2230 BCM43228 |
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7265 |
In order to see what processor, wireless adapter and graphics you use, I recommend reading the article -.
If your mobile device meets the requirements and your TV supports WiDi, you can set up a WiDi connection.
In this example we will use a TV LG with WebOs, enable this feature on other TVs ( Samsung, Philips, Sony, Toshiba etc.), will occur by analogy.
Open the Smart Applications menu, to do this:
On a standard remote control, press the "Smart" button.
On the Magic Remote, press the "Home" button
Then open the full application menu.
Select "Screen Share".
Thus, you have enabled the WiDi function on your TV.
In order to use WiDi technology on a laptop, ultrabook, tablet, you need to install the appropriate software. For this it is necessary download program for WiDi .
For Intel WiDi download Intel® Wireless Display Software for Windows, for Intel Pro WiDi - Intel® Pro WiDi Software for Windows.
Installing the program for WiDi is extremely simple and boils down to clicking the “Next” button and agreeing to the license agreement.
After installation, a shortcut will appear on your desktop Intel(R) WiDi.
Launch the Intel(R) WiDi application. When turned on, it automatically scans for the presence of wireless displays and, having found it, will offer to connect.
After agreeing to connect, numbers will appear on the TV that must be entered on the laptop, ultrabook, tablet in the Intel WiDi program. Then the connection will occur within a few seconds. As a result, everything you see on the screen of your mobile device will be displayed on your TV.
In addition to duplicating the image, the TV can be used as a second screen. To do this, press the "Win" + "P" key and select "Extend" (suitable for Windows 8/8.1, for Windows 7 follow the steps described below). Thanks to WiDi technology, your TV becomes a full-fledged monitor; you can change the resolution, screen orientation, etc. To do this, right-click on the desktop, select " Screen resolution"or come in "Control Panel" - "Display" - "Setting Screen Resolution".
In the window that opens, you can change the screen resolution, both on a laptop, ultrabook and on a TV, choose to expand or duplicate the image, and change the screen orientation.
To disable the WiDi connection, in the Intel WiDi application, on the corresponding wireless display, click "Disable".
WiDi is a great way to get rid of some wires in an apartment/house; in addition to a wireless connection that displays the screen from a laptop, ultrabook, tablet on a TV, it can act as a second monitor, which allows you to use one laptop or ultrabook by several people at once. For example, by expanding the screen, you can turn on a movie/presentation/photo on the TV, and at the same time surf the Internet, play a game, etc. on your laptop, ultrabook.
But this method of wireless connection has disadvantages, since this development by Intel has tightly linked this technology to its products and this technology can only be used on a limited number of laptops, ultrabooks and tablets. WiDi is also not suitable for demanding games, since processor graphics power is relatively scarce, plus there is a noticeable delay in video display on a mobile device and TV. It is a fraction of a second and will not prevent you from viewing videos, photos, presentations, but is critical for action games where instant reactions are required.
In my opinion, WiDi technology is a very good solution for wireless connection, and it is ideal for most tasks.
Pros of using WiDi:
1 Allows you to wirelessly connect mobile devices to your TV;
2 Supports high resolution FullHD (4K support will be available soon) + 5.1 sound;
3 It is possible to expand the screen (use the TV as a second monitor).
Disadvantages of using WiDi:
1 Not every device supports WiDi technology (this applies to laptops, ultrabooks, tablets and TVs);
2 Delay of a fraction of a second on the TV screen.
