HbbTV Association releases free-to-use DASH DRM Reference Application

HbbTV Association announces release of its free-to-use DASH DRM Reference Application

GENEVA — The HbbTV Association, a global initiative dedicated to providing an open standard for the delivery of broadcast and broadband services through connected TVs and set-top boxes, is proud to announce the release of its DASH DRM Reference Application. Although the HbbTV specifications are agnostic with respect to DRM systems, the ability of content providers to deliver DRM protected content to consumers via MPEG-DASH using an HbbTV application is key to enabling the monetisation of HbbTV content and services. The DASH DRM Reference Application provides a model that makes it easier to deploy services that require HbbTV together with DRM and DASH. The model has been successfully tested on TV sets representing a large proportion of the installed base in the market, on HbbTV 1.5 and 2.0.1 terminals, and with some limitations, on generic web browsers supporting W3C MSE and EME.

This application and sample content serve as a showcase of the HbbTV technology and as a useful resource to help members validate their tools, content and devices. The reference application is freely distributed under an open source MIT licence and includes documentation covering the creation of valid MPEG-DASH files from users’ own video content. Furthermore, the reference application facilitates code reusability for anybody implementing their own DASH video streaming application. The Request for Proposals was published in January 2017 and Sofia Digital was chosen as the supplier in May 2017.

The reference application is expected to be used by HbbTV Members as well as non-Members.