Wii HDMI

The Wii gaming console is certainly popular, but like Nintendo’s other consoles the Wii is not necessarily a graphical or audio powerhouse. This means that the Wii does not ship with native HDMI technology, which is what virtually all modern HDTVs are using. While the absence of an HDMI connector and native support for HD may seem like an oversight by the usually sharp engineers at Nintendo, consumers are not without options to connect their Wii gaming consoles to HDMI ports on their television sets or even computer monitors.

The solution to the Wii HDMI quandary lies in the realm of third party hardware. The term third party hardware can be enough to make some Nintendo owners cringe, primarily because third party products are not necessarily approved by Nintendo, and some third party products do not work well with all Nintendo titles. This should not be a serious concern for anyone willing to spend a reasonable amount of money to enable HDMI on their Wii, but there still exists a slim possibility of a hardware incompatibility. Regardless, most of the Wii HDMI adapters plug directly into the Wii AV Multi-Out socket, located on the back of the Wii video game console.

HD Pro Component Cable for the Wii:

Once connected to the Wii AV Multi-Out socket, the Wii HDMI adapter generally connects directly to any HDMI-equipped television set, monitor or other device. The problem that many consumers experience with Wii HDMI kits is that there is little-to-no visual improvement over component video. This is primarily due to the fact that Wii video games and the Wii console itself are not designed with HDMI in mind. In fact, the current HD standards were still being ironed out when the Wii was on the drawing board, and it takes a long time for a video game console to go from the drawing board to store shelves. Simply put, the Wii was being developed in the timeframe where HDMI and its attendant HD standards were available, but it appears that Nintendo was less than certain about the future of such standards.

There are a few Wii HDMI kits on the market that offer video upscale processors that do help clean the video up and improve overall quality of Wii videos on HDMI connections, these kits can also produce artifacts and other visual anomalies in certain games and under certain situations. These situations are few and far between, but it is difficult to recommend spending any money on a Wii HDMI kit when the results are not going to be 100% satisfactory, even the kits do typically cost between $25 and $35.