Discovery and Launch


Discovery and Launch is a protocol co-developed by Netflix and YouTube with help from Sony and Samsung. It is a mechanism for discovering and launching applications on a single subnet, typically a home network. It relies on Universal Plug and Play, Simple Service Discovery Protocol, and HTTP protocols. The protocol works without requiring a pairing between devices. It was formerly used by the Chromecast media streaming adapter that was introduced in July 2013 by Google. DIAL enables what the TV industry calls second screen devices, such as tablet computers and mobile phones to send content to "1st screen" devices, such as televisions, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes.

Terminology and operation

The DIAL protocol has two components, DIAL Service Discovery and the DIAL REST Service. The DIAL Service Discovery enables a DIAL client device to discover DIAL servers on its local network segment and obtain access to the DIAL REST Service on those devices. The DIAL REST Service enables a DIAL client to query, launch and optionally stop applications on a DIAL Server device.