Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV
Encyclopedia
Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) is both an industry standard and promotional initiative for hybrid digital TV
to harmonise the broadcast
, IPTV
, and broadband
delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs (Smart TV
s) and set-top box
es. The HbbTV consortium, regrouping digital
broadcasting
and Internet
industry companies, is establishing a standard for the delivery of broadcast TV and broadband TV to the home, through a single user interface, creating an open platform as an alternative to proprietary technologies. Products and services using the HbbTV standard can operate over different broadcasting technologies, such as satellite, cable, or terrestrial networks.
HbbTV was first demonstrated in 2009, in France by France Télévisions and Pleyo for the Roland Garros tennis sport event on a DTT transmission and an IP connection and in Germany using the Astra
satellite at 19.2° east
during the IFA
and IBC
exhibitions.
broadcasting in the home is well established across Europe. Internet TV and the delivery of multimedia content to the home user via the Internet are also becoming increasingly common, although such content is often viewed on a PC or fed to a TV screen from a PC via a media player connected to a home network.
HbbTV is intended to extend the reach of multimedia content directly to the television set in a seamless, viewer-friendly manner and to enable the TV viewer to more conveniently access both broadcast digital content (especially HD) and Internet multimedia content (including Internet TV and IPTV) on a TV set using a single remote control/box and a single on-screen interface.
, catch-up services, video-on-demand, EPG, interactive advertising, personalisation, voting, games, social networking, and other multimedia applications.
At the May 2010 Broadcast and Beyond Conference in London, Thomas Wrede, VP Product Management Media at SES Astra, said that he expected HbbTV devices to be launched commercially from June 2010 with a consumer market introduction at the IFA consumer electronics trade fair in Berlin in September 2010. Wrede also noted that Humax and Videoweb both had conformant products and that at the recent ANGA Cable trade fair in Cologne, 12 manufacturers exhibited HbbTV devices, with another six working on product introduction.
In 2010 German broadcaster RTL Television
introduced a new information service, HD Text, making use of HbbTV and the CE-HTML
user interface language.
Freesat
, a UK free-to-air
satellite TV service broadcast via Astra 28.2°E
, has revealed that the second generation "G2" specification for Freesat receivers will use HbbTV, to take advantage of the digital TV chipsets being developed for that standard (but retaining MHEG compatibility of the first generation Freesat receivers).
The Dutch national public networks, Nederland 1
, 2
, and 3
have begun broadcasting HbbTV "red button
" applications instead of continuing to develop apps for particular platforms. Applications broadcast include an program guide
and catch-up TV.
and Broadcast industries, including:
The HbbTV consortium steering group members are:
HbbTV is the association of two projects born in February 2009, with the French "H4TV" project and the "German HTML profil" project. Samsung and Sony joined the original consortium in September 2009; ITV and BSkyB joined in 2010.
In May 2011, in an email sent on behalf of the HbbTV Consortium steering group, supporters of the consortium were invited to become full members. The transitional arrangements towards the opening of membership would involve withdrawal of a number of privileges, including participation in meetings and contribution to further versions of the specification, from supporters that did not sign up. The cost of membership is around €7,000 for the first year.
The full list of companies officially supporting the initiative is provided on the HbbTV website.
The HbbTV specification was developed by industry members of the consortium and is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including the Open IPTV Forum, CEA
, DVB, and W3C.
The European Broadcasting Union
General Assembly has given its support to the HbbTV initiative and described the technology as "one of the most exciting developments in the media today".
The standard specification has been submitted by the end of November 2009 to ETSI, who published it under reference ETSI TS 102 796 in June 2010.
Hybrid digital TV
Hybrid digital TV can show digital TV content from a number of different sources including traditional broadcast TV, internet, and connected devices in the home. To watch hybrid digital TV, consumers will need a hybrid IPTV Set-Top Box with a range of input connectors, including Ethernet as well...
to harmonise the broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
, IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
, and broadband
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs (Smart TV
Smart TV
Smart TV, which is also sometimes referred to as "Connected TV" or "Hybrid TV", , is the phrase used to describe the current trend of integration of the internet and Web 2.0 features into modern television sets and set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence between computers and these...
s) and set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es. The HbbTV consortium, regrouping digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
and Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
industry companies, is establishing a standard for the delivery of broadcast TV and broadband TV to the home, through a single user interface, creating an open platform as an alternative to proprietary technologies. Products and services using the HbbTV standard can operate over different broadcasting technologies, such as satellite, cable, or terrestrial networks.
HbbTV was first demonstrated in 2009, in France by France Télévisions and Pleyo for the Roland Garros tennis sport event on a DTT transmission and an IP connection and in Germany using the Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
satellite at 19.2° east
Astra 19.2°E
Astra 19.2°E is the name for the group of communications satellites co-located at the 19.2°East orbital position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES Astra, a subsidiary of SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg....
during the IFA
Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin
The IFA or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany. Between 1924 and 1939 it was an annual event, but as from 1950 it was organized on a two yearly basis until 2005. Since then it has become an annual event again, held in September...
and IBC
International Broadcasting Convention
The International Broadcasting Convention, more commonly known by its acronym IBC, is an annual trade show for broadcasters, content creators/providers, equipment manufacturers, professional and technical associations, and other participants in the Broadcasting industry...
exhibitions.
Background
The reception of digital TV and, in particular, high definitionHigh-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
broadcasting in the home is well established across Europe. Internet TV and the delivery of multimedia content to the home user via the Internet are also becoming increasingly common, although such content is often viewed on a PC or fed to a TV screen from a PC via a media player connected to a home network.
HbbTV is intended to extend the reach of multimedia content directly to the television set in a seamless, viewer-friendly manner and to enable the TV viewer to more conveniently access both broadcast digital content (especially HD) and Internet multimedia content (including Internet TV and IPTV) on a TV set using a single remote control/box and a single on-screen interface.
Applications and Consumer Products
Services delivered through HbbTV include enhanced teletextTeletext
Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules...
, catch-up services, video-on-demand, EPG, interactive advertising, personalisation, voting, games, social networking, and other multimedia applications.
At the May 2010 Broadcast and Beyond Conference in London, Thomas Wrede, VP Product Management Media at SES Astra, said that he expected HbbTV devices to be launched commercially from June 2010 with a consumer market introduction at the IFA consumer electronics trade fair in Berlin in September 2010. Wrede also noted that Humax and Videoweb both had conformant products and that at the recent ANGA Cable trade fair in Cologne, 12 manufacturers exhibited HbbTV devices, with another six working on product introduction.
In 2010 German broadcaster RTL Television
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
introduced a new information service, HD Text, making use of HbbTV and the CE-HTML
CE-HTML
CE-HTML is a language for creating user interface pages for Consumer Electronics devices such as televisions. These CE-HTML pages are typically placed online and are based on a 10-foot user interface for easy control from a distance. It is profiled on XHTML and associated standards with special...
user interface language.
Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...
, a UK free-to-air
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
satellite TV service broadcast via Astra 28.2°E
Astra 28.2°E
Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
, has revealed that the second generation "G2" specification for Freesat receivers will use HbbTV, to take advantage of the digital TV chipsets being developed for that standard (but retaining MHEG compatibility of the first generation Freesat receivers).
The Dutch national public networks, Nederland 1
Nederland 1
Nederland 1 is the first national television station in the Netherlands, it was launched on 2 October 1951. It provides public broadcasting and currently exists next to sister channels Nederland 2 and 3. The several broadcasting organisations of the Publieke Omroep deliver programmes. A wide...
, 2
Nederland 2
Nederland 2 is a Dutch television channel, one of three alongside Nederland 1 and Nederland 3. It was established in October 1964 and tends to broadcast sports, light entertainment, news and current affairs programming....
, and 3
Nederland 3
Nederland 3 is the third and youngest of the terrestrial television channels operated by the Dutch public-broadcasting organization NPO in the Netherlands and carries programs provided by member-based non-profit broadcasting associations. It is oriented towards children, youth and innovative...
have begun broadcasting HbbTV "red button
Red Button (Digital Television)
Red Button is a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and By Directv in the USA. It is for interactive television services such as BBC Red Button and Astro...
" applications instead of continuing to develop apps for particular platforms. Applications broadcast include an program guide
Electronic program guide
Electronic program guides and interactive program guides provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus displaying broadcast programming or scheduling information for current and upcoming programming...
and catch-up TV.
Consortium membership
The HbbTV consortium has over 50 supporting members from the CECE
CE, Ce or ce may refer to:* Common Era , secular alternative to Anno Domini * Cerium, chemical element with symbol Ce- Titles :* Chief Executive, administrative head of some regions...
and Broadcast industries, including:
- ACCESS CO.ACCESS (company), founded in April 1979 and incorporated in February 1984 in Tokyo, Japan, by Arakawa Toru and Kamada Tomihisa, is a company providing a variety of software for connected and mobile devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs, video game consoles and set top boxes....
- BSkyB
- Canal+ GroupCanal+ GroupCanal Plus Group is a French film and television studio and distributor. It is controlled by Vivendi and has a film library in excess of 5,000 films. Vivendi has sold some parts of Canal Plus to private investors which are still using the name of Canal Plus...
- HumaxHumaxHumax is an electronics company. Founded in South Korea in 1989, it manufactures set-top boxes, digital video recorders and other consumer electronics. It is publicly traded on KOSDAQ....
- ITV plcITV plcITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
- NDS GroupNDS GroupNDS Group Plc. is a developer of pay TV technology. NDS was established in 1988 as an Israeli start up company. It was acquired by News Corporation in 1992. The company is currently headquartered in Staines, United Kingdom...
- Opera SoftwareOpera SoftwareOpera Software ASA is a Norwegian software company, primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers with over 220 million users worldwide. Opera Software is also involved in promoting Web standards through participation in the W3C. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is...
- STMicroelectronicsSTMicroelectronicsSTMicroelectronics is an Italian-French electronics and semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.While STMicroelectronics corporate headquarters and the headquarters for EMEA region are based in Geneva, the holding company, STMicroelectronics N.V. is registered in Amsterdam,...
The HbbTV consortium steering group members are:
- AstraSES AstraAstra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
- Ant Software Ltd
- European Broadcasting UnionEuropean Broadcasting UnionThe European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
- France TélévisionsFrance TélévisionsFrance Télévisions is the French public national television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the bringing together of the public television channels France 2 and France 3 , later joined by the legally independent channels France 5 , France Ô , and France 4 France Télévisions ...
- IRTInstitut für RundfunktechnikThe Institut für Rundfunktechnik GmbH is the research centre of the German broadcasters , Austria's broadcaster and the Swiss public broadcaster . It is located in Munich and is responsible for the research and standardisation of broadcasting technology...
- OpenTVOpenTVOpenTV is an interactive television company founded in 1994. Its main business involves the sale of set-top-box operating systems and software. On March 28, 2010 OpenTV became a fully owned subsidiary of the NAGRA Kudelski Group and officially delisted from the NASDAQ, where it was previously...
- PhilipsPhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
- SamsungSamsungThe Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
- SonySony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
- TF1TF1TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
HbbTV is the association of two projects born in February 2009, with the French "H4TV" project and the "German HTML profil" project. Samsung and Sony joined the original consortium in September 2009; ITV and BSkyB joined in 2010.
In May 2011, in an email sent on behalf of the HbbTV Consortium steering group, supporters of the consortium were invited to become full members. The transitional arrangements towards the opening of membership would involve withdrawal of a number of privileges, including participation in meetings and contribution to further versions of the specification, from supporters that did not sign up. The cost of membership is around €7,000 for the first year.
The full list of companies officially supporting the initiative is provided on the HbbTV website.
Standard
As well as helping consumers/viewers, the introduction of the HbbTV standard is of benefit to both equipment manufacturers and content providers who at the moment have to produce hardware or content specific to each country to meet the de facto standard in that country. The establishment of a unified European HbbTV standard means "content owners and application developers can write once and deploy to many countries".The HbbTV specification was developed by industry members of the consortium and is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including the Open IPTV Forum, CEA
Consumer Electronics Association
The Consumer Electronics Association is a standards and trade organization for the consumer electronics industry in the United States. The Consumer Electronics Association is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $173 billion U.S...
, DVB, and W3C.
The European Broadcasting Union
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
General Assembly has given its support to the HbbTV initiative and described the technology as "one of the most exciting developments in the media today".
The standard specification has been submitted by the end of November 2009 to ETSI, who published it under reference ETSI TS 102 796 in June 2010.
Tools
OpenHbb is a collaborative project funded by the French government (DGCIS), the Pays de la Loire and Ile de France regions, and the Conseil Général des Hauts de Seine (council for the département of Hauts de Seine) as part of the Images & Réseaux and Cap Digital competitiveness clusters.See also
- Hybrid IPTV Set-Top BoxHybrid IPTV Set-Top BoxA hybrid IPTV set-top box enables the aggregation of traditional linear TV broadcasts with video delivered via both managed and unmanaged IP networks...
- Hybrid digital TVHybrid digital TVHybrid digital TV can show digital TV content from a number of different sources including traditional broadcast TV, internet, and connected devices in the home. To watch hybrid digital TV, consumers will need a hybrid IPTV Set-Top Box with a range of input connectors, including Ethernet as well...
- Smart TVSmart TVSmart TV, which is also sometimes referred to as "Connected TV" or "Hybrid TV", , is the phrase used to describe the current trend of integration of the internet and Web 2.0 features into modern television sets and set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence between computers and these...
- Globally Executable MHPGlobally Executable MHPGlobally Executable MHP is a DVB specification of a Java based middleware for TV broadcast receivers, IPTV terminals and Blu-ray players. GEM is an ETSI standard and an ITU "Recommendation...
- IPTVIPTVInternet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
- SES AstraSES AstraAstra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
- YouView, formerly known as Project Canvas
Further reading
- HbbTV Standard Overview: a white paperWhite paperA white paper is an authoritative report or guide that helps solve a problem. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions, and are often requested and used in politics, policy, business, and technical fields. In commercial use, the term has also come to refer to...
on the standard.