Ever wished to have Netflix at your home to access all the movies, documentaries and videos when you are needed. You may hear about DLNA. The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a technology to stream media files from your computer’s hard drive to other devices on the network. An audio-video receiver that supports DLNA can stream videos, photos, and music from an attached storage device to a network of devices or to your supported smart TV.
Windows DLNA Server
As I said earlier, DLNA is a protocol that allows devices to access media files over a network. Windows 10 operating system has a built-in DLNA client, multimedia player, and DLNA server. By using DLNA a media file can stream from the storage server to the media player to play it in realtime. You can connect your PC to a Smart Tv using a wireless Wi-Fi connection. Your TV performs as a Digital media receiver (DMR) client. You need to enable the DLNA service in Windows 10 to use it. First, open the Control Panel, then Network and Internet, click Networking and Sharing Centre. In the left panel, you can see Change advanced sharing settings. In the Advanced sharing settings, click All Networks to expand it. Under Media streaming, click Choose media streaming options… In the Choose media streaming options for computers and devices, you can see Media streaming is not turned on. Turn on media streaming by clicking the button. You can Name your media library whatever you need. Allow devices that you want to access your files over a network. You can choose Local network or All network in show devices on. If your TV is not displayed on the local network (see above picture), check your PC and TV are connected to your local network.
After enabling the service, the service will automatically be started whenever the PC is powered on. Do you want to disable DLNA? It is a bit tricky, follow the instruction. Press Windows key and R together to access Run dialog box or you can type Run in the Windows search box. Enter services.msc in the Run dialog. In Services, scroll down, double click on Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service to open its Properties window. Stop the Service by clicking on the Stop button, change the Startup type to Manual from the drop-down. Click OK and close the Services panel. You can refer to this tutorial from Microsoft to configure DLNA settings.
You can use other third-party apps to stream media content to other devices.
Serviio
(https://serviio.org/)
Serviio can stream audio, video, and photos in their native format or can transcode in real-time. This free media server also supports subtitles. This app allows you to stream your media files like video, images, and music to renderer devices like TV, Bluray player, games console or to your mobile phone on your connected home network. Serviio can work with many devices like TV, Playstation, Xbox, smartphones, tablets, etc. Serviio is based on Java technology and it can run on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Universal Media Server
(https://www.universalmediaserver.com/)
Universal Media Server is a DLNA, UPnP and HTTP/S Media Server. It can serve videos, photos, audio to any DLNA-capable device. It can stream to devices like Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox, TVs, smartphones, and Blu-ray players.
Plex Media Server
(https://www.plex.tv/)
Plex automatically scans and organizes your files and sort your media files into the plex library. Download and install Plex media server software for your operating system (use the above link), ten install plex app on your devices like smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and smart TV. Launch the app to stream media files from the Plex media server. You can install a Plex media server on your Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices.
Kodi
(https://kodi.tv)
What exactly is Kodi? Kodi is an entertainment hub that brings all your digital media together into a beautiful and user-friendly package. Kodi is an open-source home theatre software. Kodi (formerly known as XBMC) can run from any devices like Windows, ios, Android, Linux and from Raspberry Pi. You can install your favorite skin to change the look of Kodi. To watch and record your favorite tv shows install the PVR addon. Kodi has a huge catalog of extra Add-On components to customize the Kodi. You can install all Add-Ons through the Kodi application and they will be automatically updated to the latest versions as it released. Kodi allows us to play and view videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the internet.
