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About DLNA

The Possibilities

If you own two devices, you want them to be compatible. The same is true for three devices, or four or ten.

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DLNA Certified™ products are built to work together, even though they come from many different companies. Finally, you have the freedom to choose the DLNA Certified device that's right for you, regardless of the manufacturer, and to create a digital network that fits your life.

Here are just a few examples of what's possible with DLNA Certified products:

  • Watching home movies

    PC to network attached storage to television

    You recently downloaded your daughter’s birthday party video from your digital camcorder to your PC, and stored it on your DLNA Certified network attached storage (NAS) drive. Now you want to share it with your parents who are visiting. Step one: Use the TV’s remote to call up the video on your DLNA Certified TV. That’s it. No step two.

    Before DLNA: You probably had to burn a DVD of that video, taking hours, or you had to hook up the camcorder to the TV to watch it, fiddling with messy cables that are never where you thought you put them.

    Watching home movies

  • Listening to music

    PC to network attached storage to television

    It’s your monthly poker night and you want the guys to hear all the music you’ve copied onto your DLNA Certified PC. Your computer’s speakers are in the office, so send the songs from your PC to your DLNA Certified home stereo in the family room.

    Before DLNA: You probably had to burn CDs of your playlists, taking hours, or you had to hook up your portable music player to your stereo.

    Listening to music

  • Watching photo slideshows

    Mobile to television to network attached storage

    You can’t wait to show everyone the shot of your son’s game-winning goal captured on your mobile phone. With a DLNA Certified phone, just send the pictures to your DLNA Certified TV to relive the goal in all its triumphant detail. Then send the photo over to your DLNA Certified network attached storage (NAS) for safe keeping.

    Before DLNA: You would’ve been out of luck if you wanted to show your photo on anything other than your mobile phone’s tiny screen.

    Watching photo slideshows

  • Enjoying music
    On-the-go

    PC to mobile phone

    You want to get some music together for your family road-trip to Niagara Falls. You’re going to let your teenage son choose some of it, but you want your own tunes, too. So, from that same DLNA Certified PC on which your music is stored, you send your favorite songs to your DLNA Certified mobile phone to take with you.

    Before DLNA: Burning CDs of your road-trip playlists would just take too long, so you’d end up having to endure your son’s music.

    Enjoying music on-the-go

  • Watching TV shows

    DVR to television

    You’ve been waiting all day to watch last week’s episode of your favorite show stored on your DLNA Certified DVR. But the kids have commandeered the family room for a marathon gaming-fest. With digital living, you just get the show from the DVR, and send it to the DLNA Certified TV in your bedroom, where you can enjoy it in peace.

    Before DLNA: You might as well join the gamers since the only way to watch a recorded show was on the TV connected to the DVR.

    Watching TV shows

  • Printing photos

    Mobile to television to printer

    Your coworker just sent your phone a hilarious multimedia message photo of himself in Las Vegas. After sending the photo to your DLNA Certified TV to view it on a large screen, you know you have to share it with everyone at work. With DLNA Certified devices, just print the photo to your DLNA Certified printer, with a few simple clicks from your phone, and you can make copies for the whole office.

    Before DLNA: The only way to print photos was to get them to the PC first. And good luck figuring out how to do that from your phone.

    Printing photos

Just the beginning

We're continually updating our DLNA Design Guidelines, which means there will be more DLNA Certified devices, and even greater possibilities, over time.

Finally, because DLNA Certified products are based on industry guidelines established by our more than 250 member companies, all leaders in their industries, you can count on easier upgrades in the future, support and interoperability for your DLNA Certified products.

To learn how DLNA Certified products work to makes these possibilities possible, visit How It Works.