HbbTV Association releases test suite for HbbTV 2

Klaus Illgner-Fehns

The HbbTV Association has released its test suite version 9.0, which will support the HbbTV 2 specification.

According to the association, the new test suite expands on the existing suite, making it 50% larger with an additional 350 new tests covering HbbTV 2 functionality as well as improving test coverage of the HbbTV 1.1 and 1.5 standards.

The test suite is designed to enhance interoperability between HbbTV services and HbbTV devices.

HbbTV 2, which has so far been adopted by Italy and the UK, builds on the previous version of the hybrid interactive TV standard with additional new features including seamless viewing of video content across TVs and mobile devices, standardised delivery of Ultra HD content with HEVC, improved accessibility of services and enhanced support for dynamic ad insertion.

The test suite has been made available through HbbTV registered test centres. Qualified HbbTV members may also license the suite for use in their own facilities.

The current version of HbbTV 2 is 2.0.1 (ETSI TS 102 796 1.4.1). This version adds features to 2.0 that were requested for the UK and the Italian markets, and addresses a small number of issues found during early implementation work on version 2.0, according to the HbbTV Association and ETSI, which have withdrawn version 2.0 (ETSI TS 102 796 1.3.1) from publication, replacing it with version 2.0.1.

The next release of the test suite will be version 9.1, due to be released before the end of 2016. It will include tests cases for the features that were added to address requirements from the UK and Italy, and will also expand the coverage for previous HbbTV versions, according to the HbbTV Association.

Klaus Illgner, President of the HbbTV Association said: “We’re extremely pleased to reach a new milestone with the release of test suite version 9.0. It’s an important step towards enhancing interoperability of HbbTV products, enabling manufacturers and TV platforms to improve services and offer advanced interactive features to consumers.”