HbbTV 1.5 and FreeView Plus

[cafelattegames]

I'd like to know if there are plans to support HbbTV 1.5 so that FreeView Plus can work.

[IanB]

See post by peteru Re: Freeview Plus Announced, post #112055

[cafelattegames]

IanB, none of the posts on that thread answers my question. FreeView plus is only working for ABC iView currently. FreeView Plus uses the HbbTV 1.5 protocol but the T3 only supports HbbTV 1.0

[prl]

The posts pointed to say that the problem with getting Freeview Plus services to work is first a problem with Digital Rights Management (DRM in the posts). The content is intended only to be decoded by Freeview-approved devices, and the T3 doesn't have the necessary decryption keys.

There may also be problems with HbbTV 1.5 compatibility, but fixing them won't give the T3 the authorisation needed to decode shows that have DRM applied.

[IanB]

Yes the significant difference between 1.0 and 1.5 is the DRM support.

HbbTV-specification-1-5.pdf, See Figure 1 on page 7 for a gross summary.

[prl]

Ah. OK.

But won't the T3 still need whatever authorisation keys that the DRMed content requires, and presumably they will only be made available for Freeview-qualified devices?

[IanB]

But won't the T3 still need whatever authorisation keys that the DRMed content requires, and presumably they will only be made available for Freeview-qualified devices?

Exceedingly yes. There are open source attempts at 1.5 but they all come unstuck with authorisation keys.

[prl]

"Freeview:" masters of irony.

Even its broadcast content isn't the advertised "for free". It's just not feasible to avoid paying for it.

[Paul55]

The content is intended only to be decoded by Freeview-approved devices, and the T3 doesn't have the necessary decryption keys.

And long may it remain thus!!

[prl]

The content is intended only to be decoded by Freeview-approved devices, and the T3 doesn't have the necessary decryption keys.

And long may it remain thus!!

Well, depends. Neither going with Freeview or not going with Freeview is a particularly attractive choice is the "Free"view Plus content is DRMed, though on balance the latter would be my preference.