The HbbTV Association has announced the release of its free-to-use DASH DRM Reference Application.
In a statement, it says that 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 HbbTV Association adds 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.
It concludes by saying that the application and sample content serve as a showcase of the HbbTV technology and a useful resource to help members validate their tools, content and devices.
It 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 and non-members. The code and an address for a live instance is available at the following link.
The HbbTV Association says that more details about the application can be found on its website.