There's one thing that prevents my enthusiasm to get in sync with some posts here. Maybe I just don't see it, so please explain it to me: for videos, audio and pictures - ALL of them, not just some of them - how do you fit an AV receiver in this DLNA chain? Say the server is in one room, the player is in another room, the renderer I guess would be a TV with DLNA support, same room with the player. What is a receiver?
A receiver might also have DLNA capabilities. This is rare now, but will be more common in a few years.
In previous posts the description (or implied description) was hooking up the player to the renderer. So am I supposed to play the sound through the TV speakers??? Tell me it's a joke...
You could feed a TV or a receiver. My TV can switch the sound to the receiver if necessary, and it's done automatically.
If I hook up the player to the receiver then I doubt the receiver will passthrough everything and the player can control the renderer through the receiver. If the receiver is DLNA certified it knows only audio (correct me if I'm wrong),
It can be audio or video. As you know HDMI can be either or both.
if it's not DLNA certified then even less chances; plus HDMI handshake problems, etc.
Now you're expecting it to work. That's another matter.
This obviously is up to the particular devices. Like other things, it will get better over time.
DLNA certification costs $10,000 a year, so it doesn't necessarily mean it's better.
So all in all, I don't see how this whole DLNA thing can compare to an HTPC + ANY receiver + ANY TV.
An HTPC is more capable, but also more work to keep running.
A DLNA device will generally be more like typical CE devices. Less expensive, less capable, but probably more foolproof, and much easier to set up.
