What are the differences in DLNA device classes?

DLNA Certified televisions, Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) players, computers and mobile phones are not all the same. While the certification assures that the devices will operate to a certain standard, the DLNA® capabilities will allow them to play different roles on the network. The following is a list of classes of DLNA products based on their capabilities as listed on the DLNA.org website:

NOTES:

• Please refer to the operations manual or help files for model-specific information regarding the DLNA functionality of your devices.
• The number and types of classification are subject to change, visit the DLNA.org web site for additional and up to date information.

Home Network Devices:

Digital Media Server (DMS):

• These devices store content and make it available to networked digital media players (DMP) and digital media renderers (DMR). Some digital media servers can also help protect your content.
• The most common examples of DMS enabled devices are computers and network-attached storage (NAS) devices

Digital Media Player (DMP):

• These devices find content on digital media servers (DMS) and provide playback and rendering capabilities.
• The most common examples of DMP enabled devices are TVs, stereos and home theaters, wireless monitors and game consoles.

Digital Media Renderer (DMR):

• These devices play content received from a digital media controller (DMC), which will find content from a digital media server (DMS).
• The most common examples of DMR enabled devices are TVs, audio/video receivers, video displays and remote speakers for music.

Digital Media Controller (DMC):

• These devices find content on digital media servers (DMS) and play it on digital media renderers (DMR).
• The most common examples of DMC enabled devices are Internet tablets, Wi-Fi-enabled digital cameras and personal digital assistants (PDA).

Digital Media Printer (DMPr):

• These devices provide printing services to the DLNA home network. Generally, digital media players (DMP) and digital media controllers (DMC) with print capabilities can print to DMPr.
• The most common examples of DMPr enabled devices are networked photo printers and networked all-in-one printers.

Mobile Handheld Devices

Mobile Digital Media Server (M-DMS):

• These wireless devices store content and make it available to wired/wireless networked mobile digital media players (M-DMP), digital media renderers (DMR) and digital media printers (DMPr).
• The most common examples of M-DMS enabled devices are mobile phones and portable music players.

Mobile Digital Media Player (M-DMP):

• These wireless devices find and play content on a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS).
• The most common examples of M-DMP enable devices are mobile phones and mobile media tablets designed for viewing multimedia content.

Mobile Digital Media Uploader (M-DMU):

• These wireless devices send (upload) content to a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS).
• The most common examples of M-DMU enable devices are digital cameras and mobile phones.

Mobile Digital Media Downloader (M-DMD):

• These wireless devices find and store (download) content from a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS).
• The most common examples of M-DMD enable devices are portable music players and mobile phones.

Mobile Digital Media Controller (M-DMC):

• These wireless devices find content on a digital media server (DMS) or mobile digital media server (M-DMS) and send it to digital media renderers (DMR).
• The most common examples of M-DMC enable devices are personal digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones.

Home Infrastructure Devices

Mobile Network Connectivity Function (M-NCF):

• These devices provide a bridge between mobile handheld device network connectivity and home network connectivity.

Media Interoperability Unit (MIU):

• These devices provide content transformation between required media formats for home network and mobile handheld devices.