The age of living digitally
The dlna (digital living network alliance) is a standard being used by manufacturers of electronic media devices, which allow them to interact with each other.
Your flat screen would be able to play media or other content from your laptop or other device across a home network. A person could buy a device of any brand and also be sure that those devices would work with each other, seamlessly.
As of August 2009 there were over 5,500 devices certified as being dlna compliant. So the next time you are out shopping, make sure that the device you are looking for is dlna compliant.
There are some manufacturers like Panasonic and Samsung that have a proprietary link between various devices like LCDs and DVD players but I didnt know about DLNA. thanks!
dlna will allow all devices to talk to each other irrespective of the brand. Most Sony (big fan) are dlna compliant.