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| DLNA Logo |
come a long way in a fairly short
time, and it's now easy to stream
music, video and other media
around the house without any
hassle.
Technologies such as DLNA
(Digital Living Network Alliance) are a big part of that - so what is
it, and where can you get it? Let's
find out.
DLNA is an organisation
The Digital Living Network
Alliance is a non-profit trade
organisation, and it was started
by Sony way back in 2003. The
DLNA defines standards that
enable devices to share stuff -
photos, video, music - with each
other, and it has more than 200
members responsible for more
than 9,000 different DLNA
devices.
DLNA brings all your tech
together
DLNA is designed to act as a
bridge between your various bits
of kit, so you can watch a film
from your PC on your big-screen
TV, play an MP3 from your
smartphone on your stereo, or
send shots from the family photo
album to your wireless printer via
your tablet. Think of it as a kind
of home cloud: it shouldn't matter
where your media is or what
device you're currently holding;
with DLNA, whatever you want
should come to wherever you are
and whatever you're using.
DLNA needs a network
As you might expect, DLNA
hardware is designed to work on a
home network. It doesn't matter
whether that network is wired or
wireless, although with Wi-Fi
you'll need to ensure that your
network has sufficient bandwidth
for what you want to do. We'd
recommend 802.11n Wi-Fi for
serious home sharing.
You've probably got DLNA kit in
your home already
There are a lot of DLNA devices
out there, and by "a lot" we mean
"440 million": that's the installed
base of DLNA as of January 2012.
DLNA devices include PS3s and
home media servers, Windows
PCs, Android phones (like the
Sony Xperia U ) Blu-Ray disc
players, tablets, wireless printers,
camcorders, flat-screen TVs and
routers, and odds are that at least
some of the kit in your home is
DLNA Certified. You'll find DLNA
in stacks of Android devices, and
Nokia's bringing it to Windows
phone too .
DLNA is based on Universal Plug
and Play
DLNA-compatible devices use
UPnP to communicate, and there
are three classes of DLNA devices:
Home Network Devices, Mobile
Handheld Devices and Home
Infrastructure Devices. The first
category encompasses media
servers, AV receivers, TVs,
consoles and tablets; the second
category includes smartphones
and media tablets; and the third
category covers routers and hubs.
DLNA Certification means it'll
work
DLNA Certified devices have been
tested to ensure that they'll play
nicely with other DLNA devices.
Non-certified devices can be made
DLNA compatible with software,
so for example PCs can be DLNA
servers if they're running version
11 or later of Windows Media
Player.
DLNA Premium Video should
make streaming simple
In January, the DLNA added a
new standard: DLNA Premium
Video, or the not very short
DLNAPV for short. The idea is to
make it easier to share copy-
protected content around the
house by enabling a single device
to act as a hub for all your other
ones. For example, your set-top
box might be a DLNAPV device,
and it could then stream copy-
protected content such as movies
or TV programmes to your other,
non-DLNAPV devices. The
technology has been developed by
partners including Microsoft, Sony
and Broadcom, although as yet
no DLNAPV-certified devices have
been announced.
DLNA is everyone but Apple
That's how it looks, anyway: the
current DLNA membership reads
like a Who's Who of the tech
world, with big hitters including
Intel, HP, Motorola, HTC,
Microsoft, Samsung, LG and
Panasonic making products that
will happily communicate with
each other. Apple has decided not
to join that particular party.
DLNA and AirPlay won't talk to
each other
Choosing a home entertainment
platform is a bit like picking sides
in a battle: there are two rival
standards, DLNA and AirPlay.
Where DLNA works across
thousands of different devices,
AirPlay (and AirPrint) is more
selective and only works on Apple
or Apple-approved products.
That's the official line, anyway,
but there are ways around it:
apps such as AirSync bring
AirPlay streaming to Android
phones too!
Hope this post was able to explain you what DLNA actually means!
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