Home IP networks are increasingly equipped with network drives. The Network Attached Storage (NAS) is used to create data libraries as well as backup storage. More and more space in the store is taken by multimedia files - photos, movies, music - so it is logical to connect the network to the stereo, HD television, home theater projector.

There is available home equipment with LAN ports, among other things televisions that can cooperate with other devices compliant with DLNA (The Digital Living Network Alliance) certificate. The standard developed by this international body is being implemented in televisions, digital video recorders (DVRs), cellular phones, NAS drives, stereos, home theaters, PCs, laptops, netbooks, palmtops, network printers.

Connecting the TV set to the home network, the user gets access to the media in the home archive or stored e.g. on his/ her mobile phone. For example, selected photos from the mobile phone can be printed during watching them on TV.

If the devices use different standards, it may cause problems. On the Internet the users can find lists of compatible software, operating systems and types of multimedia, as well as appropriate transcoders.

To avoid such problems, simpler solutions are based on hard drives equipped with USB ports (for recording the files) and HDMI, RCA or optical outputs for connection to a home theater.

An integrated concept of home multimedia system was shown at CeBIT 2009 by NETGEAR Inc.
The solution combines in one network with Internet access a number of devices:

* desktop and mobile computers with wired and wireless cards

* NAS drives

* wireless USB print server

* WiFi SKYPE phones

* powerline Ethernet adapters

* multimedia players (digital entertainers)

The core of the home system is one or more multimedia players. They provide access to the multimedia from the archive, home LAN or the Internet. The signals from the players are available in AV, Component Video, Cinch, S/PDIF (coaxial/optical), S-Video, HDMI connectors. The "digital entertainers" are equipped with both wired and wireless Ethernet interfaces.

For transmitting HD video, the company recommends wired links. The reason is that wireless networks (aside from IEEE802.11n draft 2.0) are not suitable for such transmissions. Typical HD movie requires effective (and stable) throughput at a level of about 20 Mbps (it is close to the practical limits of the devices using IEEE802.11a or EEE802.11g standards).



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