February 15, 2017

HbbTV Association welcomes NorDig’s adoption of HbbTV 2 specification

HbbTV Association welcomes NorDig’s adoption of HbbTV 2 specification

GENEVA – 15 February, 2017 – The HbbTV Association, a global initiative dedicated to providing an open standard for the delivery of broadcast and broadband services through connected TVs and set-top boxes, today applauds NorDig for releasing specifications to support the adoption of HbbTV 2. The update represents the first steps by the region to move from HbbTV1.5 to HbbTV 2.

The new specification by NorDig, which specifies the technical specifications for digital television in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Ireland, will see the region become the third region to take up HbbTV 2, after the UK and Italy. The new NorDig specifications will further increase the current 46 million TVs and STBs that have HbbTV installed. With the release of the specification, new HbbTV devices that fall under NorDig’s remit will have until 1 July 2018 to support HbbTV 2 version 2.0.1.

HbbTV 2 builds on previous versions of the HbbTV specification to provide new functionality in HbbTV terminals, including enhanced dynamic ad insertion support, improved accessibility, seamless cross-device viewing and standardised Ultra HD delivery with HEVC. By issuing this specification NorDig is enabling broadcasters, Pay-TV operators and OTT providers to introduce advanced TV services that enhance the consumers’ experience.

Klaus Illgner, chairman of the HbbTV Association said: “It is exciting to see a third region begin integration of HbbTV 2 into its products. With many broadcasters and content providers already using the ecosystem, it’s important that the industry takes up HbbTV to enable faster growth and delivery of content to consumers.”

For further information on NorDig’s specification, please visit http://nordig.org/nordig-unified-specification-2-6/

-ENDS-

About HbbTV Association (www.hbbtv.org)

Hybrid broadcast broadband TV (or “HbbTV”) is a global initiative aimed at harmonizing the broadcast and broadband delivery of entertainment services to consumers through connected TVs, set-top boxes and multiscreen devices. The HbbTV specification is developed by industry leaders to improve the video user experience for consumers by enabling innovative, interactive services over broadcast and broadband networks. The specification uses elements of existing specifications from other standards including OIPF, CEA, DVB, MPEG-DASH and W3C. In June 2014, the activities of the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) were transferred to the HbbTV Association. This broadened the HbbTV Association’s mandate to include defining specifications for service providers and technology suppliers that streamline and accelerate deployment of IPTV services.

For further information on HbbTV please contact:

Matthew Huntington

Chair, HbbTV Marketing and Education Group

Email: press@hbbtv.org