DLNA

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Set of wireless technology protocols

title: "DLNA" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2003-establishments-in-oregon", "computer-companies-established-in-2003", "computer-companies-disestablished-in-2017", "consumer-electronics", "open-standards", "digital-television", "digital-audio", "non-profit-organizations-based-in-oregon", "technology-trade-associations"] description: "Set of wireless technology protocols" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DLNA" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Set of wireless technology protocols ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox protocol"]

FieldValue
nameDLNA
imageDlna.svg
developerDigital Living Network Alliance
industryLocal area networks
introdate
hardware{{plainlist
::

| name = DLNA | image = Dlna.svg | developer = Digital Living Network Alliance | industry = Local area networks | introdate = | hardware = {{plainlist|

DLNA was created by Sony and Intel and the consortium soon included various PC and consumer electronics companies, publishing its first set of guidelines in June 2004. The Digital Living Network Alliance developed and promoted it under the auspices of a certification standard, with a claimed membership of "more than 200 companies" before dissolving in 2017. By September 2014 over 25,000 device models had obtained "DLNA Certified" status, indicated by a logo on their packaging and confirming their interoperability with other devices.

Specification

The DLNA Certified Device Classes are separated as follows:

Home network devices

  • Digital Media Server Application (DMSA): store content and make it available to networked digital media players (DMP) and digital media renderers (DMR). Examples include PCs and network-attached storage (NAS) devices.
  • Digital Media Player (DMP): find content on digital media servers (DMS) and provide playback and rendering capabilities. Examples include TVs, stereos and home theaters, wireless monitors and game consoles.
  • Digital Media Renderer (DMR): play content as instructed by a digital media controller (DMC), which will find content from a digital media server (DMS). Examples include TVs, audio/video receivers, video displays and remote speakers for music. It is possible for a single device (e.g. TV, A/V receiver, etc.) to function both as a DMR (receives "pushed" content from DMS) and DMP ("pulls" content from DMS).
  • Digital Media Controller (DMC): find content on digital media servers (DMS) and instruct digital media renderers (DMR) to play the content. Content does not stream from or through the DMC. Examples include tablet computers, Wi-Fi enabled digital cameras and smartphones.
  • Generally, digital media players (DMP) and digital media controllers (DMC) with print capability can print to DMPr. Examples include networked photo printers and networked all-in-one printers.

Mobile handheld devices

  • Mobile Digital Media Server (M-DMS): store content and make it available to wired/wireless networked mobile digital media players (M-DMP), and digital media renderers. Examples include mobile phones and portable music players.
  • Mobile Digital Media Player (M-DMP): find and play content on a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS). Examples include mobile phones and mobile media tablets designed for viewing multimedia content.
  • Mobile Digital Media Uploader (M-DMU): send (upload) content to a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS). Examples include digital cameras and mobile phones.
  • Mobile Digital Media Downloader (M-DMD): find and store (download) content from a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS). Examples include portable music players and mobile phones.
  • Mobile Digital Media Controller (M-DMC): find content on a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS) and send it to digital media renderers (DMR). Examples include personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones.

Home infrastructure devices

  • Mobile Network Connectivity Function (M-NCF): provide a bridge between mobile handheld device network connectivity and home network connectivity.
  • Media Interoperability Unit (MIU): provide content transformation between required media formats for home network and mobile handheld devices.

The specification uses DTCP-IP as "link protection" for copyright-protected commercial content between one device to another.

DLNA guideline versions

  • 1.0: released June 2004; 2 volumes: Architecture & Protocols, Media Formats; 2 Device Classes: DMP, DMS; About 50 media format profiles
  • 1.5: released March 2006; 3 volumes: Architecture & Protocols, Media Formats, and Link Protection; 12 Devices Classes and 5 Device Capabilities; About 250 media format profiles
  • 2.0: released August 2015; Includes topics like EPG, Content Sync, GUI, WPS, Media Formats, Scheduled recording, DRM
  • 3.0: released August 2015; enhanced response time, improved power efficiency, HEVC support
  • 4.0: released June 2016; solves the "media format not supported" problem between PCs, TVs and mobile devices while supporting Ultra HD TV content streaming

Products supporting DLNA

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Media_sharing_in_Windows.png" caption="The '''media streaming''' dialog built into [[Windows 10]] which uses DLNA to share media locally"] ::

Main article: List of UPnP AV media servers and clients

DLNA-certified devices

Some of the earlier devices with DLNA included the PlayStation 3, the Nokia N95 and the Pioneer BDP-HD1 Blu-ray player. By 2014 over 25,000 DLNA-certified products were available, up from 9,000 in 2011. This includes TVs, DVD and Blu-ray players, games consoles, digital media players, photo frames, cameras, NAS devices, PCs, mobile handsets, and more. According to a 2013 study from Parks Associates, nearly 3 billion products were expected to be on the market in 2014, increasing to over 7 billion by 2018. DLNA certification of devices can be determined by a DLNA logo on the device, or by verifying certification through the DLNA Product Search.

DLNA-certified software

TwonkyMedia server, Serviio and BubbleUPnP are known examples of DLNA server software. All versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 7 have native DLNA server and client support through Windows Media Player (it is named "media streaming").

In many cases DLNA protocols are in use by services or software without openly stating the name: examples include Nokia's Home Network functionality in Symbian OS, Samsung's All Share, the Play To functionality in Windows 8.1, and in applications such as VLC media player or Roku Media Player.

History and member companies

| image = Dlna.svg | name = Digital Living Network Alliance | established = {{Cite press release |title = DLNA Strides Toward Consumer-Friendly Home Networked Devices with New Interoperability Guidelines |place= San Francisco |date = June 22, 2004 |author = Digital Living Network Alliance |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050205001215/http://www.dlna.org/news/DLNA_Press_Release_June2004.pdf |archive-date = February 5, 2005 |url = http://www.dlna.org/news/DLNA_Press_Release_June2004.pdf |access-date= June 26, 2015}} | founder = Intel | type = Trade organization | headquarters = Lake Oswego, Oregon, US | membership = 200 companies{{cite web |author = Digital Living Network Alliance |access-date= June 26, 2015 |url= http://www.dlna.org/about/organization |title= About Us: Organization | dissolved = February 2017 | website =

Intel established the Digital Living Network Alliance along with Sony and Microsoft in June 2003 as the Digital Home Working Group (DHWG), changing its name 12 months later, when the first set of guidelines for DLNA was published. Its board members as of 2007 were: HP, Intel, Matsushita, Microsoft, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, and Sony.

Home Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines v1.5 was published in March 2006 and expanded in October of the same year; the changes included the addition of two new product categories — printers, and mobile devices — as well as an "increase of DLNA Device Classes from two to twelve" and an increase in supported user scenarios related to the new product categories.

DLNA worked with cable, satellite, and telecom service providers to provide link protection on each end of the data transfer. The extra layer of digital rights management (DRM) security allows broadcast operators to communicate digital media to certain devices (e.g. to those of their customers) in such a manner that further, unauthorized, communication of the media is difficult.

In 2005, DLNA began a software certification program in order to make it easier for consumers to share their digital media across a broader range of products. DLNA is certifying software that is sold directly to consumers through retailers, websites and mobile application stores. With DLNA certified software, consumers can upgrade products from within their home networks that may not be DLNA certified and bring them into their personal DLNA ecosystems. This helps in bringing content such as videos, photos and music stored on DLNA certified devices to a larger selection of consumer electronics, mobile and PC products.

In March 2014, DLNA publicly released the VidiPath Guidelines, originally called "DLNA CVP-2 Guidelines." VidiPath enables consumers to view subscription TV content on a wide variety of devices including televisions, tablets, phones, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes (STBs), personal computers (PCs) and game consoles without any additional intermediate devices from the service provider.

In November 2015 there were 13 promoter members and 171 contributor members. The promoter members were:

Arris, AwoX, Broadcom, CableLabs, Comcast, Dolby Laboratories, Intel, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Sony Electronics, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon.

The board of directors oversaw the activity of the four following committees:

  • Ecosystem Committee, planning the future development of DLNA guidelines
  • Compliance & Test Committee, overseeing the certification program and its evolutions
  • Marketing Communication Advisory Council, actively promoting DLNA worldwide
  • Technical Committee, writing the DLNA guidelines On January 5, 2017, the DLNA organization announced, "The organization has fulfilled its mission and will dissolve as a non-profit trade association." Its certification program continues to be conducted by SpireSpark International of Portland, Oregon.

DLNA technology components

As the past president of DLNA pointed out to the Register in March 2009:

DLNA Interoperability Guidelines allow manufacturers to participate in the growing marketplace of networked devices and are separated into the following sections of key technology components:

  • Network and Connectivity
  • Device and Service Discovery and Control
  • Media Format and Transport Model
  • Media Management, Distribution and Control
  • Digital Rights Management and Content Protection
  • Manageability
  • Efficient Power Management

References

References

  1. Ansaldo, Michael. "Everything you need to know about DLNA: The de facto home-entertainment network standard".
  2. Digital Living Network Alliance. (n.d.). "DLNA for HD Video Streaming in Home Networking Environments".
  3. EDN. (2005-09-09). "How DLNA and UPnP will enable easy home video networks".
  4. (2022-06-24). "DLNA Help".
  5. Jacobi, Jon. "Best NAS drive for media streaming and backup in 2024".
  6. (September 13, 2014). "DLNA intros VidiPath".
  7. "The DLNA Certified Logo Program". Sony.
  8. "Certified Device Classes". DLNA.
  9. "Whitepaper - DLNA for HD Video Streaming in Home Networking Environments". DLNA.
  10. "DLNA Announces 3.0 Certification Program and Updated Guidelines Helping Manufacturers Differentiate Product Offerings". DLNA.
  11. (August 18, 2015). "DLNA Announces 3.0 Certification Program and Updated Guidelines Helping Manufacturers Differentiate Product Offerings".
  12. "DLNA 4.0 Transforms Connected Home Experience". DLNA.
  13. (2007-11-12). "FWLabs: Nokia N95".
  14. Moskovciak, Matthew. "Pioneer BDP-HD1 review: Pioneer BDP-HD1".
  15. (January 14, 2011). "DLNA Empowers the Connected Consumer". Connected World magazine.
  16. "UPnP and DLNA—Standardizing the Networked Home". Instat.
  17. (2013). "DLNA Market Overview Report". Parks Associates.
  18. "Products". DLNA.
  19. [https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00013399 How to set up a DLNA server using the Windows 7 operating system]
  20. "How Samsung AllShare and SmartView Make TV More Awesome".
  21. "Play To feature reliability update for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 - Microsoft Support".
  22. Digital Living Network Alliance. "Frequently Asked Questions About DLNA".
  23. "FAQ".
  24. (2007-09-06). "Digital Media Format War 2.0 is About to Begin".
  25. Digital Home Working Group. (June 24, 2003). "17 Leading Companies Form Working Group to Simplify Sharing of Digital Content among Consumer Electronics, PCs, and Mobile Devices".
  26. Grabham, Dan. (March 22, 2013). "DLNA: What It Is and What You Need to Know".
  27. "DLNA Certification Program".
  28. "Increasing DLNA Software Certification Will Propel the Adoption and Connection of Devices within the Home Network". ABI research.
  29. "Member Companies".
  30. "About Us". DLNA.
  31. "DLNA".
  32. Mellor, Chris. (March 2, 2009). "Iomega Muffs Hard Drive DLNA Testing". The Register.
  33. "The DLNA Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines". DLNA.
  34. "Network and Connectivity". DLNA.
  35. "Device and Service Discovery and Control". DLNA.
  36. "Media Format and Transport Model". DLNA.
  37. "Media Management, Distribution, and Control". DLNA.
  38. "Digital Rights Management and Content Protection". DLNA.
  39. "Manageability". DLNA.

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