Why do my TVs appear in the Devices and Printers window?

[JeffL]

I have two Smart Samsung TV's. The firmware and internet functionality is updated via my wi-fi, but I can't recall ever having and connection between the TVs and my Desktop or Windows Tablet. The capture below shows that 40" set grayed out (it is currently turned off), and the 46" set is currently turned on.

 

[JeffL]

This is the picture that should have been in my message above.

 

[Ztruker]

They are both wireless capable so are detected and shown.

 

[derekimo]

My TV shows up too, they are connected by the network,



You can remove it at the top if you want, it's not really bothering me so I just let it stay.

 

[Itaregid]

Hmmm, I am not seeing my wireless devices. I have 3 categories, Devices, Printers and Unspecified. In Devices, I see the devices physically connected to my computer (monitors, keyboard & mouse, router, UPS, speakers), In Printers, I see my printing devices, and in Unspecified, I see the BT dongle for my BT keyboard & mouse.

I don't see my TV (connected to network via Ethernet), cell phone (which has wifi enabled), tablet (also wifi enabled), or Roku (which is both Ethernet and wifi enabled).

 

[broe23]

Any DLNA device on your network, will show up in Windows Networking. It is because they are capable to have media like music and photos streamed to them.

 

[broe23]

Hmmm, I am not seeing my wireless devices. I have 3 categories, Devices, Printers and Unspecified. In Devices, I see the devices physically connected to my computer (monitors, keyboard & mouse, router, UPS, speakers), In Printers, I see my printing devices, and in Unspecified, I see the BT dongle for my BT keyboard & mouse.

I don't see my TV (connected to network via Ethernet), cell phone (which has wifi enabled), tablet (also wifi enabled), or Roku (which is both Ethernet and wifi enabled).

I never see the tablets or cellphones, unless they are set to be DLNA servers. Anything that can capture a stream through DLNA will show up in Windows Networking.

 

[Itaregid]

Okay, now that makes sense. Roku devices are not DLNA either. Still, I will have to do some reading on this because I am pretty sure my Samsung Blu-ray player is DLNA certified. I just turned it on and still don't see it. But I don't want to hijack this thread I'll look into it later.

 

[ComputerGeek]

I don't fully understand all the detail behind it but might help shed some light with a generalized overview (as best I understand it). Microsoft added the concept of device "containers" in Vista (but tweaked the concept in Win 7). From an MS spec:

A container ID is a system-supplied device identification string that uniquely groups the functional devices associated with a single-function or multifunction device installed in the computer

• Container IDs are generated for plug and play devices (so a DLNA device on the network wouldn't be included). Though the "Computer" container is one exception i can think of
  
• Device and Printers displays the device containers that have been created on the computer
• @JeffL: Windows treats each monitor as it own container. Thus you get two monitors show up
• Right click a Container. Click Hardware tab to see all the devices that are logically included in the container (You'll see the lower level device names that you find listed in device manager)
• If any device in a Container shows the yellow bang symbol, the Container will show the yellow bang symbol. Use the Hardware tab to scroll through devices in the container to see which one has the problem
• Windows includes some generic icons for common containers but a vendor can supply its own container icon within their software

Hope that helps explain at least some of it