Embedded Files
Digital Living Network Alliance
Digital Living Network Alliance
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is an industry specification for a class of devices which enable the sharing of media files. The MicroPi operates within this standard as a Digital Multimedia Server. It advertises and streams audio, video and images to DLNA compatible content players on the same local network.
Many currently marketed devices meet this specification. "Smart" TVs, set-top boxes, network enabled BluRay players, gaming machines, as well as media player apps for computers, tablets, and phones, are often compatible with DLNA and will support the browsing and streaming of media files from the MicroPi. On some viewing devices, an app is required to enable this feature. Check with the manufacturer. The same protocol is sometimes called "Universal Plug and Play" (UPnP). Note that the MicroPi has not been formally evaluated by the alliance and does not claim full compatibility with the standard..
UPnP Example: VLC Media Player
UPnP Example: VLC Media Player
The popular multi-platform media player, VLC is DLNA compatible. The image above shows VLC browsing a MicroPi loaded with several languages. To produce the display shown, follow these steps:
Connect MicroPi the the same network as the device running VLC. This could be done either by:
connecting the device directly to the MicroPi's WiFi signal, or
connecting the MicroPi to the same external WiFi network as the viewing device.
Open VLC's "Playlist" view.
Click on "Universal Plug n' Play"
In the right-hand window, a list of DLNA/UPnP devices discovered on the local network is shown. The MicroPi will be found in the list.
Two directories are shown enabling searching the materials in different ways. All files are listed in both views.
"Shared" find files by type then language.
"data" find files by language, then type (three letter ISO code).
Clicking twice on a file opens it for streaming to the viewing device.
Note that some clients will simply combine all playable files together in one list. This is dependent on the player.
Some clients require the user to choose a media type, video audio, etc. before searching. If "video" is chosen, it will show only those types of files when browsing. If then a folder containing only audio is opened, the folder will appear empty because it contains no video files.
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