Fraunhofer IIS and Vewd show MPEG-H Audio support in HbbTV

IBC 2018: Fraunhofer IIS and Vewd Demonstrate MPEG-H Audio Support in HbbTV

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands/ERLANGEN, Germany/OSLO, Norway — At the IBC Show in Amsterdam, Fraunhofer IIS and Vewd, the world’s largest smart TV OTT software provider, will showcase a HbbTV demo that includes DVB DASH streaming on a set-top box running Vewd Core and Vewd HbbTV Module with MPEG-H Audio support, as defined in the latest HbbTV 2.0.2 specification.

Vewd is the first OTT software provider to enable support for MPEG-H Audio in its HbbTV browser SDK, which allows broadcasters to explore the advanced features of MPEG-H Audio in their HbbTV applications. Together with Fraunhofer IIS, the Oslo-based company implemented the first HbbTV application enabling the interactivity and personalization features of MPEG-H Audio. This implementation will be presented at the IBC Show in Amsterdam (September 14-18, 2018) with a demonstration of the first set-top box with MPEG‑H Audio enabled in the Vewd browser.

Visitors to the Fraunhofer IBC booth (8.B80) and the Vewd booth (14.F02) will be able to experience user interaction and accessibility features of MPEG-H in Vewd-powered HbbTV: they will be able to select between different versions of the content such as “default mix” or “dialog enhancement”, as well as choose between various available languages (e.g., English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese). Additionally, for content with accessibility features, the user can select the audio description in their preferred language.

About MPEG-H Audio

MPEG-H Audio is part of the ATSC 3.0 and DVB TV standards. In South Korea, terrestrial ATSC 3.0 broadcasting with MPEG-H Audio is already on air, making MPEG-H the world’s first commercialized next-generation TV-audio technology.

Professional broadcast equipment, including encoders and monitoring solutions, as well as decoders and consumer products such as TV sets and soundbars, have been announced and introduced with MPEG-H support.