Although DLNA is a standard, different devices have different sets of capabilities when it comes to playing media formats.

 

Media files can be characterised by two properties - their media container (aka file format) and codec (aka compression system).

 

The following table shows the key container and codecs supported by iTunes and therefore we assume that the content of your library will be in one of these formats:

 

Type	Container	Codec
Audio	MP3	MP3
Audio	M4A	AAC
Video	MP4	H264 / AAC
Video	M4A	H264 / AAC
Video	MOV	H264 / AAC

 

Many DLNA devices may be able to support the above formats natively, in which case, most of your media files should play fine using iHomeServer as a DLNA server for your iTunes content.  Note that some devices have further constraints on the videos they can play, for example, they must have a certain resolution or framerate.

 

Other DLNA devices may be able to play some of these combinations and not others although virtually all DLNA devices support MP3 at a minimum.  In situations where the DLNA device cannot process the original media file either because of its container or codec, iHomeServer provides on-the-fly transcoding features that should allow the media to be played.

 

Please see the topic on Transcoding for further information on how transcoding is configured within iHomeServer for both DLNA streaming and iHomeServer Web Access.