A cross-industry consortium of European companies has launched a major pan-European initiative called 'Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV' (HbbTV), aimed at "harmonising the broadcast and broadband delivery of news, information and entertainment to the end consumer" through TVs and set-top boxes with an optional Internet connection.
The new consortium includes broadcasters Canal+. France Televisions and TF1; German research institute Institut für Rundfunktechnik; satellite operator SES Astra; and software and media solutions providers ANT and OpenTV. The new HbbTV specification was developed by the companies to "effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of available content targeted at today's end consumer". It is based on elements of existing standards and Web technologies, including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C.
HbbTV products and services are hoped to provide the consumer with a seamless entertainment experience with the combined richness of broadcast and broadband services, delivered through the simplicity of one remote control, on one screen and with existing ease-of-use.
Through the adoption of HbbTV, consumers are expected to be able to access new services from entertainment providers such as broadcasters, online providers and CE manufacturers - including catch-up TV, video-on-demand, interactive advertising, personalisation, voting, games and social networking, as well as programme-related services such as digital text and EPGs. HbbTV products and services are expected to be developed for all broadcasting technologies (including DTT, satellite, IPTV and cable).
“HbbTV will build on the success of the existing SD teletext service which is used by more than 14mn consumers each day in Germany by providing a high quality video text service more suited to HD receivers," said Dr. Klaus Illgner-Fehns, Managing Director, Institut für Rundfunktechnik. "It will deliver an open platform for broadcasters, manufacturers and service providers to deliver value added on-demand services to consumers of digital content.
"HbbTV not only allows service providers to enrich their offering, but results in considerable benefits to the end consumer who will no longer be challenged by usability issues across multiple platforms," he added. "By making the most of today’s hybrid receivers, HbbTV merges broadcasting and broadband services seamlessly to deliver value added content such as web and on demand in addition to traditional linear broadcast TV.”
