DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) are widely used guidelines for facilitating interoperability among different devices over the network.

QNAP DLNA media server allows you to stream the multimedia content stored on the NAS to various media devices throughout your house, while offering useful features to enhance your viewing experience, such as multi-language support and advanced privilege settings. It also supports using multiple network interfaces and adding subtitles on the fly when streaming videos.

To use QNAP NAS DLNA server, follow these steps:

• Prerequisites
• Setting the DLNA media server on QNAP NAS.
• Enjoying multimedia via DLNA/UPnP.

1. Prerequisites

1. Enable the DLNA media server in “Control Panel” > “Applications” > “DLNA Media Server” > “Enable DLNA Media Server”.
   
2. The Media Library service must be enabled before using the DLNA server. You can enable the Media Library service in “Control Panel” > “Applications” > “Media Library” > “Enable Media Library”.
3. Check if the Media Streaming add-on has been installed.
4. Check if sharing to new media receivers is enabled. You can do so in “Media Streaming add-on” > “Media Receivers” > “Enable sharing for new media receivers”.
5. We recommend installing the CodexPack to enhance DLNA streaming quality.

2. Setting the DLNA media server on QNAP NAS.

1. Click “Advanced Settings” or open the Media streaming add-on.
   

1. General Settings
   
   1. Service name: Your QNAP NAS DLNA media server name.
   2. Default user account: Content will be shown based on the user account.
   3. Network interface: Choose the network interface to use. If “Automatic” is selected, all of network segments on your NAS will be available for DLNA media server.
   4. Port: The port used by DLNA media server.
   5. Menu language: Choose the language used.
   6. Default menu style: Choose the default menu style or customize the menu style.
      • Default menu style:
        • Simple:
          Music: All songs, Artists, Albums, Playlists, By folder.
          Photos: All photos, Photo albums, By folder.
          Videos: All videos, By folder, By category.
        • All category
      • Custom
        Click “Customize” to select the display items in the Music, Photo and Video categories. Click “Apply All” to finish.

   

   Note:
   1. Not all languages and menu styles are supported by media receivers.

   If “Embedding subtitles when playing videos” is enabled, then available subtitles will be automatically embedded into videos.

   Note:

   1. The CodexPack must be installed to use this function.
   2. Videos will be transcoded on-the-fly when this option is enabled.
   3. Subtitle files must be in the same folder and have the same name as video files.
2. Browsing Settings
   
   1. Display Photo: “Large thumbnail” and “Original”.
   2. Music title display style: “Only display titles”, “Track-Title”, “Title/Album”, “Title/Artist” and “Track-Title/Artist-Album”.
   3. Video title display style: “Using embedded information” and “Using file name”.
3. Media Receivers
   All connected media receivers are listed, including device names, IP addresses and MAC addresses.
   In “Menu Style”, you can quickly set the display items in media receivers.

   In “User Profile”, you can quickly set the user account. Content will be shown based on the privileges of each user account.

   

   3. Enjoying multimedia via DLNA/UPnP.

   After configuring the DLNA media server, you can browse all folders on the QNAP NAS and play music, photos and videos.

   In this section, we use a Samsung TV and the BubbleUPuP app as examples to demonstrate how to play multimedia via DLNA/UPnP.

   1. Samsung TV
      1. Press “Source” on the remote control and choose your QNAP NAS.
         
      2. The TV will display Music, video and photo folders respectively.
         
      3. After choosing a folder, the system will display the menu style. This style can be modified in “Media streaming add-on” > “General Settings” > “Default menu style”.
         
      4. You can now play your multimedia content.
         
   2. BubbleUPuP
      1. Open BubbleUPnP.
      2. Click  and choose your QNAP NAS.
         
      3. The system will display Music, video and photo folders respectively.
         
      4. After choosing a folder, the system will display the menu style. This style can be modified in “Media streaming add-on” > “General Settings” > “Default menu style”.
         
      5. Your multimedia content can now be played.