Can You Stream HD Netflix Over the Wii?

The Wii

• The first version of the Nintendo Wii didn̵7;t play games in high definition and wasn̵7;t capable of HD output at all, even though its native 480p resolution was quite good for gaming and streaming. Netflix is basically an app on the Wii, and is limited to the restrictions of the system. It can use your Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable to connect to the Internet and can stream high-definition videos to your device, but the output won̵7;t be in HD because the Wii isn̵7;t capable of it.

How Netflix Streams

• When you choose a television show or movie to watch on Netflix, the service begins streaming based on your Internet speed. Netflix doesn̵7;t know which device the video is streaming to, it only detects bandwidth and then chooses video quality based on that. For a steady stream in basic quality, Netflix needs 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth; for DVD quality -- the best output the Wii can achieve -- Netflix needs around 3.0 Mbps. If your connection reaches speeds over 5 Mbps, Netflix will stream in HD, whether or not your device can display it.

HD Adapters

• Many companies sell HDMI adapters for the Wii, which offer some picture upscanning to create a better-looking picture on HDTVs. These adapters effectively only convert the picture from the Wii so that you can connect it to your HDTV via an HDMI port and free up the component input (that three-colored red, white and yellow cable) for another device. The Wii can̵7;t output a 720p or 1080p picture, so these devices can̵7;t magically create high-resolution pictures for you to watch HD videos through Netflix.

Wii U

• Nintendo̵7;s new version of the Wii gaming system performs in full high definition at 1080p. This means, accordingly, that Netflix streams can be in HD or Super HD, as long as your Internet connection supports the transfer speeds. For Super HD streams, Netflix recommends at least 7 Mbps. If your Wii U is streaming in 720p or lower, you can manually adjust the stream quality to HD by changing the video quality (from the settings page in Netflix) to ̶0;Best.̶1;