Frequently Asked Questions About DLNA

What is Digital Living Network Alliance's (DLNA's) vision/charter?: Consumers are acquiring, viewing and managing an increasing variety of digital content on their PCs, consumer electronics products and mobile devices. They want to be able to easily and conveniently enjoy this content using any electronic device, and from any location in their home, and beyond. That is the DLNA vision, and it will be made possible through the creation of a network of compatible devices that have earned DLNA certification. This digital network will deliver the freedom that consumers desire, while providing manufacturers the opportunity to innovate and differentiate their products.
What are DLNA's goals?: DLNA's Overview and Vision White Paper (pdf, 447k) outlines the potential of digital living and also describes design guidelines. The goals include promoting functional components and technology issues related to both implementation and the Certification and Logo Program to ensure adherence to DLNA guidelines and interoperability. The DLNA Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines v1.5 build on and expand the focus on interoperability among networked CE devices, home PCs and mobile handheld devices for media applications involving imaging, audio and video.
How does DLNA differ from existing organizations like the UPnP™ Forum and the Internet Home Alliance, which have similar visions?: The UPnP Forum is an industry initiative aimed at connectivity between stand-alone devices and PCs from different vendors. UPnP technology is a key standard required for an interoperable network in the digital home. On the other hand, the Internet Home Alliance, a cross-industry network of leading companies advancing the home technology market, explores new uses and conducts field trials to validate consumer needs. Both organizations are complementary to the vision of DLNA, which is focused on developing and promoting an interoperable network through a specific framework.
What business opportunities does DLNA offer its member companies?: Because all devices designed around DLNA guidelines will be able to communicate, manufacturers and content providers will have an opportunity to explore new ways to differentiate and expand existing product categories. The value of the digital living vision is in its ability to provide consumers with a wide range of compelling uses and experiences. This requires the availability of a broad spectrum of products across many categories. These products range from intelligent source devices such as advanced digital set-top boxes, PCs, and access platforms (i.e., residential gateways), as well as simple sink and source devices that provide content acquisition, recording, playback, rendering, storage, sourcing capabilities and content protection. Some examples of these devices include PDAs, notebook PCs, broadcast tuners, networked storage units, CD/DVD players and recorders, TV monitors, stereos, multimedia mobile phones, home theaters, wireless monitors and game consoles as well as other video, audio and image capturing devices.
For more information, please see the DLNA Value Proposition for member companies.
How does a company join DLNA?: DLNA welcomes new companies at the Contributor level. For more information, refer to our membership section.
How was DLNA formed, and when do meetings take place?: DLNA was formed in June 2003 as the Digital Home Working Group (DHWG), and was renamed DLNA in June 2004. Today, DLNA is led by 25 promoter member companies, which include AMD, Broadcom, Comcast New Media Development, DigiOn, Dolby Laboratories, HP, Huawei, Intel, IBM, Kenwood, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, NXP Semiconductors, Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial), Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Toshiba. The first meeting of the DLNA board of directors was held in May 2003. Annual meetings are held for the entire membership, as well as quarterly meetings for promoter members. Committees driving each DLNA initiative also meet regularly. Exact dates and locations are determined prior to each meeting.
See the complete DLNA member company roster.
Are the Home Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines currently available?: Building on the 1.0 guidelines, DLNA released the Home Networked Device Interoperability Guidelines v1.5 in March 2006, which was then further expanded in October 2006. Significant changes included the addition of two new product categories – printers and mobile devices – and an increase of DLNA Device Classes from two to twelve. There was also a corresponding increase on the different user scenarios possible, from printing photos to sharing digital content to and from mobile devices. There is also specification for link protection that can protect copyright-protected commercial content between one device to another.