DLNA-Certified TVs On Upswing

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 8/4/2009

Beaverton, Ore. - The number of TVs certified by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) soared by more than 400 in the past three months to 669, the alliance said. Most models are available in the U.S., and some are due here in the fall.
The DLNA interoperability standard ensures that DLNA-certified TVs are capable of streaming video, audio, and digital images from networked PCs and network-attached storage (NAS) devices that are also DLNA-certified, regardless of brand name. The TVs can also share content from select networked mobile devices, such as cellphones, that are also DLNA-certified.
"Televisions are the focal point of entertainment for many households, making it essential that they interoperate with other devices that make up the digital home," said Scott Smyers, DLNA chairman and Sony Electronics senior VP.
The alliance has certified more than 5,000 devices worldwide as interoperable so they can share content. The devices include cameras, printers, PCs, set-top boxes and others.
TVs that are DLNA-certified identify the formats in which content is stored on a networked DLNA server, such as a PC, and whether that content is in a format that the TV supports. If so, the content is transferred automatically in that format. If not, the server automatically transcodes the content into a DLNA-mandatory format for transfer. For home servers and TVs, the mandatory formats for transferring media are JPEG for images, PCM for audio and MPEG-2 for video.