Everything about the networking possibilities with DLNA, WHDI, WHID and WiDi

We have more and more devices in our living rooms, bedrooms, computer rooms, hobby rooms (and many other rooms), but until recently it was difficult to get these different devices to communicate with each other. Each product group was somewhat on its own island. For example, you had the audio / video island, the PC / printer island and the portable island with laptop, PDA, MP3 player, etc. According to studies, the Dutch have an average of 65 devices at home and many of these devices also have multiple connections and still others have large libraries of files. This can sometimes cause chaos and does not make life easier.

A network in which all devices (or most of them at least) are connected to each other is the ideal solution. But how do you set up such a network? For this, all devices must be able to communicate with each other and that is quite difficult when they all have their own specifications and are of different brands. We can sometimes connect a PC with a smartphone or an iPod with a receiver, but this is done with certain software, via Bluetooth or via a certain WiFi connection. Really everything could never communicate with each other.

To bring some order to this chaos, various manufacturers of consumer electronics, computers, and portable products have joined forces and developed something new; A protocol called DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance). All these manufacturers have decided to make their devices conform to the DLNA protocol. If devices meet the requirements of DLNA, it becomes easy to access (digital) files of music and photos and you can watch a movie or make a print in every room of your home. all equipment can (provided they are products that can exchange or display files) ‘talk’ to each other, without having to use complicated techniques or software.

For example, you can easily synchronize a PDA with the PC or operate a computer with your PDA. You can even watch a Blu-ray movie in the bedroom while the player is in the living room. All you need to do all of this is a simple home network, a network in which all devices are connected. This network can be set up wired or wireless and is basically the same as the internet network that you already have at home (WiFi or with ethernet cables). When you then reconnect the various devices to this network (basically just give them access to the network via a simple configuration), the DLNA connection does the rest.

Currently there are already many products that are DLNA certified , which means that these products can easily communicate with other DLNA products. In this way, products also get more functions than we were used to. In this way, a TV becomes not only a static playback medium, but also a computer screen with which you can browse files. The center of a home network is often a media center or a receiver with multimedia capabilities. Through this device everything can be found on other equipment, you can browse through them, in some cases save files, and play and display everything.

About the networking possibilities- AirPlay

Apple has created a counterpart to DLNA in the form of AirPlay. AirPlay is a technology that makes it possible to stream files wirelessly between two devices equipped with the technology. All products launched by Apple itself are equipped with AirPlay as standard. Currently only music can be played wirelessly via an AirPlay device, but Apple wants to add video (and perhaps more) to this in the future. If you have an iPhone, iPod or iPad, you can see an AirPlay device (for example receiver) when both are connected to the WiFi home network. With a simple push of a button you can then choose to play your music not via the built-in speakers but via the receiver.

About the networking possibilities – WHDI

A large number of AV manufacturers (including Hitachi, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony) have jointly decided to create one standard for the exchange of multimedia HD files in-house using the WHDI technology. WHDI stands for Wirelss Home Digital Interface , which means that you can wirelessly exchange HD material with equipment that contains the WHDI logo, without the need for any cabling, so you can connect a Bu-ray player wirelessly to an HD TV.

Now that there is a fixed protocol (WHDI 2.0) for wireless HD transmission and a number of brands, albeit more expensive, are already using it, the way now seems to be cleared for the WHDI standard to appear on products such as set-top boxes, HD TVs. , media centers, etc. This way we will be able to stream 1080p material wirelessly from one device to another (if equipped with the WHDI standard) over a distance of up to 30 meters. WHDI is compatible Full HD signals, 3D signals and up to 5.1 audio signals.

In addition to WHDI, you can also exchange wireless material with DLNA certified equipment in a home network. The only difference is that DLNA uses compressed transfer of multimedia files so that you can connect all devices together. WHDI uses uncompressed HD files, so you cannot connect all devices (only those that can handle HD as source or receiver), but you can have better quality. Currently DLNA is still the most used.

About the networking possibilities- WiHD

Some time after the release of WirelessHD (WiHD) version 1.0, this standard for wireless signal transmission is still struggling to really break through in the HD streaming battle. However, WirelessHD is going to get a big boost with the launch of the WirelessHD 2.0 standard. Naturally backwards compatible with “older” WirelessHD hardware, the latest standard has been upgraded with a higher transfer rate and bandwidth (up to 28Gbps), which is enough to stream 4K resolution ( 4K Ultra HD ), Deep Color and 3D signals.

WiDi (Wireless Display)

Just like the above techniques, WiDi (Intel) is a protocol to allow different multimedia devices to communicate wirelessly with each other and to exchange data. The name suggests it; WiDi is based on the Wifi technology. But, unlike a normal WiFi network, WiDi does not require a router or home network to establish a connection between two devices. When two devices are WiDi certified, they can set up their own (small) network via the WiFi module in order to exchange material. So it is a bit like Bluetooth.

Find out more about the networking possibilities with  what WiDi is and how it works