Introduction 4
A Brief History of Home Media Entertainment 4
Scenarios 6
Overview of Networked Media Device Roles for Windows 7 8
Digital Media Server 8
Supported Formats 13
Music /Audio 13
Photos / Pictures 14
Video 14
Recorded TV 14
Playlists 15
Additional Formats 15
Supported Streaming Protocols 15
Format Transcoding 15
Multiple Resolutions 16
Digital Media Renderers 16
Digital Media Players 19
Digital Media Controllers 22
Building a Great Network Media Device 23
Initial Network Media Device Discovery and Installation 23
Internet Protocol Addressing 25
Staying Connected and Troubleshooting 25
PnP-X Metadata 25
Device Announcement and Communication 27
Additional Metadata Requirements 28
Simple Service Discovery Protocol 30
Same Subnet 30
Device Performance 31
Device Startup Performance 31
Audio Latency 31
Track-to-Track Audio Latency 31
Gapless playback 31
Video Latency 31
Track-to-Track Video Latency 31
Building a Great Digital Media Renderer 32
Codec and Digital Rights Management Support 32
Support for Windows Media Codecs 32
Playing the Correct RES Element 33
Digital Rights Management 33
Playback Requirements 33
Seek Requirements 34
Pause Requirements 34
Volume Control Requirements 34
Playback Recommendations 34
Choosing the Optimal RES Element 34
Fast Forward and Fast Rewind 35
Search Requirements 35
Robustness Requirements 35
Robustness Recommendations 35
Wake on LAN Requirements 35
Wake on LAN Recommendations 35
Metadata Update Requirements 36
User Experience Recommendations 36
Building a Great Digital Media Server 36
Codec Support 36
Support for Windows Media Codecs 37
Playback 37
Seek 37
Trick Modes (Fast Forward/Fast Rewind) 37
Search 37
Robustness 38
Wake on LAN 38
User Experience 38
Album Art 38
Thumbnails 39
Metadata 39
Building a Great Digital Media Controller 39
Recommended Digital Media Controller Features 39
User Experience: Playback 40
User Experience: Browse 41
Glossary of Acronyms 42
Resources 44
Windows Logo Resources 44
Windows Media Resources 44
Rally Technologies 44
Windows Driver and Metadata Resources 44
Industry Resources 44
Appendixes 45
Appendix 1: Sample Simple Service Discovery Protocol Announcement Messages 45
Appendix 2: Resource Elements for Transcoded Content 47
