dlna/UPnP both have nice green logos.

Getting started transforming your home into a digital palace of on-demand goodness can be a lengthy process. The important thing is to understand the parts that make up the whole. One of the most important things is how do you get all your digital devices to play nice together? If you have all of your shows and movies stored on a media server, or network attached storage (NAS), how do you access and play that content on other devices? That is where DLNA/UPnP comes in to play.

Digital Living Network Alliance(DLNA) is an open standard that was created in June 2004. DLNA was created because companies finally figured out that their products work better and more effectively when they work together with other companies products. This realization gave us the most important step to a connected digital home. In early 2001 DLNA finally started to certify software products. This allows you to take a computer or other device that does not have native support for DLNA and add the features and functionality though the use of a program. According to the official DLNA site, only one (1) software product has been Certified, and that is Skifta for Android. We are expecting many, many more.

Why should you care about DLNA? Simple. All those shows, movies and songs that are stored on your media server/NAS can be accessed and played by any other device on your network, as long as both the player and server/storage and DLNA enabled. This makes playing media in multiple locations in your home much easier.

The list of products that are DLNA enabled is amazing and growing all the time. TVs, cell phones, tablets, software products, set top boxes, DVD/Blu-RAY players, even digital photo frames and refrigerators. Check out the DLNA Certified Product Searchon dlna.org for a complete list of certified products.

How does UPnP come into play in this equation?
It seems that DLNA has everything covered. You can share, copy and play media to and from devices. Why do you need anything more? Well all these wonderful tasks that DLNA performs, can’t be done unless every device supports it. A lot of devices do, but not everything. Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols for primarily residential networks without enterprise class devices that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other’s presence on the network and establish functional network services for data sharing, communications, and entertainment. This means that UPnP will detect the device, establish what it can do, and integrate it into the network of other devices. This is how things on your network get to know each other.

UPnP operated with a set of defined jobs for particular devices.

  • UPnP Media Server DCP– This is the master UPnP server. This is where the Media is stored. This device streams content (music, video, pictures, etc.) to the other UPnP Devices on your network. This is commonly played by media server software such as XBMC, mythTV, or FUPPES
  • UPnP Media Control Point– This is a client device like a set top box, software media player or tablet. It can auto-detect the UPnP Media server, and stream their content. The WD Live HD Media Player, Netgear ReadyNAS and Playstation 3 are examples of hardware Media Control Points. Software applications that can perform this task include VLC Media Player, WinAmp, and Microsoft Windows Media Player. Most Software Media Servers can also double as Media Control Points as well.
  • UPnP Media Renderer DCP – This is a simple device that can play media. All previous devices listed also fall into this category.

UPnP is supported by your computers operating systems including Windows Vista, Windows 7, and with a little bit or work, windows XP. Mac OS X and Linux also have support for UPnP. For a much more detailed list of UPnP AV media servers and clients check Wikipedia.

UPnP, DLNA and a combination of the 2 form a rich and user friendly backbone to sharing media in the home environment. They make life easy. They allow all your devices, be it Windows, Mac OS, Linux, or a network appliance to all speak the same language, allowing you the joy of experiencing your media on your terms.

Your thoughts and ideas are welcome. Please use the comments section below.

Nick Hill is a systems administrator with 10+ years of experience in the I.T field. His hobby/passion is to fully integrate all the features and conveniences of a monthly TV service into a full featured and fully on-demand home viewing experience without an outrageous monthly fee!