Advanced Television

Digital TV Labs opens HbbTV App Lab

April 17, 2015

Media and device testing specialists, Digital TV Labs has launched what it claims isthe world’s first independent ‘HbbTV App Lab’ to assist HbbTV Application Developers in testing their applications on a wide range of real HbbTV devices to ensure interoperability in the real world.

In a predominantly horizontal, retail market, HbbTV devices can show a wide variation in behaviour and specification conformance. For the first time, app developers can have access to an independent facility to allow them to find compatibility issues before field deployment which reduces costs and ensures consumer credibility. The HbbTV App Lab will enable developers to maximise quality on launch and avoid the need for continued capital investment from broadcasters and application developers.

Variations in screen sizes, middleware, browser capability, audio and video codec, Digital Rights Management (DRM) and most importantly HbbTV specific API implementations between manufacturers, can create significant difficulty for developers when bringing an application to market. Broadcasters and application developers face significant testing costs and have to ensure that their applications work optimally with every new generation of devices for each release cycle. This can significantly delay or extend the launch process. Digital TV Labs’ HbbTV App Lab services will reduce this time by making a range of devices available at the developers disposal, decreasing release cycle times without compromising quality, and ensuring that the broadcaster brand is maintained whilst increasing revenue through improved user engagement.

Speaking on the launch of the HbbTV App Lab, Digital TV Labs CEO, Andy Hickman commented: “Building HbbTV apps that work in the real world requires detailed domain expertise and is not easy. With HbbTV adoption growing rapidly, we have become the partner of choice for broadcasters, operators and device manufacturers as we are effectively able to maximise user engagement and revenue streams for our clients.”

Categories: Articles, HbbTV, OTT