You have probably already heard of the DLNA connection on occasion , and even already use it regularly at home. For those who have not yet started using this technology, it can be a leap forward in the home multimedia experience. Especially for houses where there are several types of devices such as smartphones, tablets, televisions and PCs . Its operation is simple and its main advantage is that it is not necessary to download any type of driver or configure the devices that will be part of the network. We tell you all the details about what DLNA is and how to use it.
DLNA stands for Digital Living Network Alliance. It is a non-profit organization founded by Sony a decade ago and made up of numerous manufacturers. The idea behind DLNA is to create an easy way to connect devices that are part of a network and share content such as photos or movies. There are currently more than 440 million devices with this technology, both mobile devices such as computers and televisions (the vast majority of Smart TVs have this connection as standard). To use it, it is necessary that the devices we are going to use are connected to the same home network, either through WiFior wired via Ethernet .
Once they enter the network, the DLNA certified computers are automatically recognized without the need for the user to perform any type of configuration. Of course, it must be taken into account that the interface to use this technology is different depending on the manufacturer , so the ease of handling the content will depend a lot on the device that we use as a receiver. The great advantage of this technology is that we can broadcast images or videos from one device to another in real time . For example, we can have a hard drive connected to the network with our movies or songs and broadcast them directly through the television. Or a guest can connect the smartphone to the home network and display thephotos of the last party without using cables.
One limitation that must be taken into account is that of the Internet connection . Since DLNA uses the WiFi network , the speed with which the signal is transmitted will largely depend on the speed of our broadband and the traffic that is being generated in it. For example, if we are currently using bandwidth to download files or perform other actions on the network, it is likely that the content transmitted through DLNA will suffer. Meanwhile, if we have a fast connection, the transmission will be very fluid.
You also have to keep in mind the limitations of the television when playing content, as there may be audio and video formats that are not compatible with the specific model. But it is undoubtedly a very useful technology to be able to turn the home into a true multimedia center and share files such as videos or music through network devices.