any difference between DLNA and UPnP?

Question

I know the DLNA is subset of UPnP. I read this post : What's the difference between UPnP AV and DLNA?

But, i still can't understand clearly. Are there any features inside DLNA? how to define this device is DLNA or UPnP? Why make people confused about DLNA & UPnP?

Please advice!!

Answer 1

There are two main differences, I would say: scope and organisation.

UPNP's scope is limited to the upnp standards and protocols. As long as a device has the protocols done right, by upnp's behalf it is compatible. But that's not the whole truth, as we know. For instance the media may be incompatible. The result is that the end user expects the system to work, but it does not.

DLNA on the other hand does not concentrate to upnp standards, it places requirements to ALL standards that are being used. Upnp AV happens to be one of those standards, but included are others, for instance:

• media (ensuring media in devices is compatible, and devices recognise is media compatible instead of trying and failing)
• mediaservers (exact requirements to HTTP headers and timeouts)
• etc

As an oeganisation, UPNP is essentially a collection of protocols, a number of people that are working in developing that protocol. DLNA on the other hand (like the name suggests) is an alliance of companies that saw that they need to do something that their devices start talking to eachother - without errors.

A rough analogue to mobile phone world:

• UPNP: phone has correctly implemented GSM/3G stack
• DLNA: you can actually call from one phone to another and have a conversation :-)

From this analogue you can assume that DLNA specs are more complex. They are.