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SmartTUBE is a complex solution that enables operators to deliver both OTT and IPTV services to subscribers. Its primary objective is to offer a range of subscriber-level services, including:

• Live TV, Catch-up, nPVR and other related services
• VoD content watching and purchase directly in the app
• High quality content playback on end-user devices of various types 
• Access services and watch content on multiple devices at the same time 
• Fast and convenient search for TV channels, programs and VoD content

The SmartTUBE comprises the SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform (SDP) and SmartTUBE Applications tailored for different end-user devices such as STB, mobile, tablet, Smart TV, media players, and PC.

SmartTUBE SDP is the core component of the SmartTUBE, responsible for managing services, users, content, pricing, metadata, end-user device provisioning, and dynamic ad insertion. It provides seamless interaction with billing systems, payment gateways, and third-party information systems installed on the operator’s side. All features and capabilities of the SmartTUBE SDP can be managed through a single web-based SmartTUBE Admin Console. 

SmartTUBE architecture

The SmartTUBE SDP architecture integrates 5 functional modules:

• Subscriber Management: Enables operators to oversee service accounts, end-user devices, profiles, service bundling, tariff plans, and multiple tenant configurations. A comprehensive and time-tested API provides seamless integration and interaction with OSS/BSS systems and payment gateways. Learn more…
• Content Management: Offers comprehensive support for both TV-related services and xVoD services:
  • Enables operator to manage TV services, including control over channel streaming and encryption settings, channel bundling and regional availability, EPG import from external providers, support for nPVR and Catch-up service assurance subsystems, and other functionalities. Learn more…
  • SmartTUBE SDP supports all models of Video on Demand (VoD) content, enabling operators to manage the movie and series library from both local operator’s sources and external content providers. The SmartTUBE SDP empowers operators to oversee content metadata, regional accessibility, pricing policies, and other key features of the VoD service. Learn more…
• Marketing: Offers operators various tools and opportunities to promote content and services to subscribers, such as banners, custom content rails, automatic content recommendations, marketing notifications, and dynamic ad insertion management with an option to integrate with external ad management system. Learn more…
• Reporting & Analytics: Provides operator with current statistics on content consumption, subscriber demand for specific services, and customer base analytics, enabling timely business decisions. Learn more…
• System Management: Ensures the operation of the platform as a whole, allowing operators to manage system settings, automate system processes, control access for platform users, alert for failures, provision end-user devices, localize and customize the SmartTUBE Apps, and more…

SmartTUBE Apps are a range of user-friendly and highly customizable applications compliant with the most current streaming industry standards. Tailored for popular device platforms, these applications seamlessly integrate established user interaction patterns to offer a superior viewing and application experience. Users have access to a diverse content selection, including live TV, video-on-demand, catch-up TV, nPVR, and shared TV recordings, all enriched with advanced features of cutting-edge streaming applications. Learn more…

SmartTUBE Applications

Subscriber Management Entities

• Service Account
• Device
• User Profile
• Service Bundle
• Pricing Plan
• Price List
• Discount

The diagram below demonstrates the relationship of these entities:

Diagram 1. Relationship of SmartTUBE SDP subscriber management entities

Service Account

Service Account contains information about a subscriber and uniquely identifies it on the platform. It is characterized by a unique identifier, status (active, blocked, etc.), and login/password common for all subscriber’s devices (used for device authenticating).

The following operations can be performed on Service Accounts:

• Multiple Devices can be linked to a Service Account for using them in parallel by a subscriber.
• The set of services available to the subscriber is determined by the Pricing plan assigned to the Service Account. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to a Service Account.
• Multiple User Profiles containing personalized content consumption restrictions and settings can be assigned to the Service Account.
• Operator can specify the trial period for the account and manage its duration, along with setting the account status after the trial period expires.
• Management and synchronization of the linked SmartTUBE SDP and OSS/BSS accounts are performed via SmartTUBE API. Subscriber’s personal data is stored on the OSS/BSS side only.

Device

Device uniquely identifies subscriber’s device on the platform. Each Device can only be linked to a single Service Account and characterizes by

• Unique identifier (UID)
• Device Type: Determines the device functionality when interacting with the platform. For example, use different TV streams on devices of different type, use different banners or channel logos, etc.
• Individual login/password used for authenticating device on the platform.

Operator can perform the following actions with Devices:

• Limit the number of Devices that can be linked to the same Service Account (with differentiation by device type) and/or simultaneously consuming services. Subscribers can exceed the set limits by purchasing a corresponding Service Bundle.
• Link Devices to a specific region, allowing for the management of regional streaming.
• Enable/disable DVB-T input, unprotected analog outputs, and HDCP protection of HDMI outputs on STBs that support this functionality.
• Factory reset and reboot on STBs
• Create an SSH tunnel to Devices (if it is technically possible)
• Manage firmware and installed apps on Linux and Android-based STBs, as well as configuration parameters on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including mobile and Smart TV platforms. These actions are performed with SmartTUBE Device Manager.

User Profile

User Profile contains individual age restrictions for viewing/purchasing content and TV channel sorting settings. Each User Profile also stores individual viewing history, lists of favorite channels, movies, reminders, recordings, and purchased movies.
Multiple User Profiles can be linked to the Service Account, meaning they can be shared across all Devices linked to the Service Account.

Profiles have the following set of parameters:

• Nickname
• Collection of Profile Icons to choose from
• PIN code: Used to secure the profile from unauthorized access and editing, and to prevent unauthorized purchases of content and subscriptions to services.
• Default Access Level: The highest age rating of content that a user can view without entering a PIN. Content with a higher age rating is considered adult content.
• Maximum access level: The highest age rating of content to be displayed in the TV channel list and VoD library. Content rated above this level is hidden from the app’s UI.

Pricing Plan

Pricing Plan is a collection of multiple Service Bundles and Discounts that enable operator to manage the service provisioning rules for subscribers. For this purpose, the Pricing Plan is assigned to the subscribers’ Service Accounts. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to the same Service Account. Each Pricing Plan can be shared across multiple Service Accounts.

Pricing Plan allows to control the following provisioning conditions of each Service Bundle and Discount:

• Validity period of the bundle/discount within the Pricing Plan
• Type of devices to which the bundle/discount to be applied
• Bundle/discount status at the time the Pricing Plan is applied. Can be Active, Not active or Invisible (the bundle/discount is disabled and hidden for subscribers).
• Duration following the Pricing Plan activation, after which the bundle/discount becomes inactive.

• Allow subscribers to enable/disable the bundle/discount in the app
• Hide the bundle/discount from subscribers within the app. This way, the bundle/discount can only be activated by the operator or through subscription to other dependent bundles/discounts.
• Hide the bundle/discount after unsubscribing and set the corresponding Service Account state accordingly

Service Bundle

Service Bundle is a collection of content or services offered to subscribers for a fee or at no cost. For the Service Bundle to be available to subscribers, it must be included into the Pricing Plan. Multiple Service Bundles can be included into multiple Pricing Plans.

The cost of a Service Bundle for a subscriber is determined by the Price Lists.

SmartTUBE supports the following types of Service Bundles:

• TV Channel Bundle: A collection of channels provided to subscribers within the bundle.
• DVR Bundle: A set of TV channel with Catch-up services enabled. It offers control over archive storage depth, as well as the provision of TSTV and/or Pause Live services for each channel individually.
• VoD Bundle: Outlines the pricing model (TVoD, SVoD, AVoD, FVoD) for the movies/series within the bundle, their linkage to the operator’s local movie/series library or external content providers, offline movie viewing capabilities, and connection to a VAST server for AVoD content.
• nPVR Bundle: A collection of channels eligible for nPVR services. It allows to manage the following bundle attributes:
  • Recording Time Quota: Maximum duration of all subscriber recordings.
  • Recording Storage Quota: Storage duration of subscriber recordings.
  • Notification Quota Level: Threshold at which the subscriber is notified about approaching to the Recording Time Quota.
  • Quota Overspending Limit: Maximum amount a user can go over their Recording Time Quota. If the quota is exceeded, the user must delete the extra recordings before scheduling more.
  • Restriction to record the ongoing or finished TV programs
  • nPVR Duration: Period within which the recording of finished TV programs is allowed.
• PPV Bundle: Sets the pricing rules for pay-per-view TV programs. The operator can choose to charge a fixed price for the whole program or charge based on the minutes watched.
• Device / Session Limit as a Bundle: Allows subscribers to increase the number of devices linked to the Service Account and/or Devices simultaneously consuming services beyond the limit set by the operator.

Price List

Price List determines the cost and provision conditions of the Service Bundle. Price Lists can be of two provision types:

• One-time Purchase: Involves a single payment for the Service Bundle for a specific rental period (such as a day, month, year, or lifetime). Payment is handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.
• Subscription: The Service Bundle is provided for a certain period of time and involves periodic payment. The subscription charges and payment frequency are handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.

Multiple Price Lists of the same provision type but with different prices and non-overlapping validity periods can be assigned to the same Service Bundle. That is, at any given time, a Service Bundle can have only one active Price List of a certain provision type.

For the TVoD content, it is also possible to set different prices and rental periods for each type of movie assets (e.g. SD and HD). Additionally, the asset price may vary depending on the Service Bundle or content provider.

Discounts

Price List can be optionally adjusted with Discount of the following types:

• Overriding discount: Overwrites the cost of the Price List with its own.
• Percentage discount: Specifies the percentage of discount applied to the cost of Price List.

The Discount is applied to the Pricing Plan. Thus it overlaps all Price Lists of all Service Bundles included in the Pricing Plan.

The provision conditions of Discount (validity period, device type dependence, etc.) are managed by the Pricing Plan.

The Price List and Pricing Plan can only have one active Discount at any given time, but one Discount can be applied to multiple Price Lists and Pricing Plans.

Subscriber Registration and Sign-In Options

SmartTUBE SDP offers various options for registering and signing in subscribers on the platform:

• Sign-in by Login and Password: These credentials can be set for the entire Service Account or a specific Device.
• Passwordless Sign-in: Operators can register devices on the platform without requiring login credentials if they manage the customer’s home network and know their IP address.
• Trial Sign-in: Operators can set a trial period for subscribers and specify what types of devices they can use during this period.

Multiple Tenancy Configurations

The multitenant configuration allows the following resources and features to be individualized for each tenant:

• Service Accounts and Devices
• Service Bundles and pricing rules
• Access rights to SmartTUBE Admin Console for tenant employees
• Statistical reports
• Limited apps’ UI customization:– Tenant logo on the splash screen when starting the app

  – Tenant logo on the status bar

  – Selector color

  – Limited styling features on the Home screen

  Please note that the app remains the same for all tenants. The operator cannot change the app icon and name individually for each tenant!

• Subscriber notifications
• Licensing calculations

At the same time, each tenant may utilize shared content (TV channels, EPG, VOD library) and metadata sets.

Platform administrators have full access to all platform resources.

SmartTUBE SDP provides a suite of tools designed for Content Management Departments to control TV-related content and VoD movie/series library. The platform also supports the import and management of multilingual Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and VoD-related metadata.

TV-related Content

SmartTUBE SDP capabilities enable operators to manage TV content distributed over IPTV, OTT, and DVB-T/T2/C networks and provided with the following TV services:

• Live TV: Real-time television streaming.
• Catch-up: Services allowing subscribers to watch TV programs for a period after they have aired. Recording of the source streams is done on the operator’s equipment using hardware or software (e.g. SmartMEDIA Content Delivery Subsystem). Services include:
  • Pause Live (Restart TV): Allows to pause, rewind, and fast-forward within the ongoing TV program.
  • Start Over: Allows to start watching the ongoing TV program from the beginning.
  • Time Shift (TSTV): Allows to play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward completed TV programs within a time frame determined by the operator.
  • Catch-up Content Library :  Enables access to selected TV programs recorded by operator and provided to subscribers via content rails on the SmartTUBE Apps’ Home screen.
• nPVR: Cloud recording of completed, ongoing, and upcoming TV programs initiated by a subscriber.

Management of TV-related content

• Channel Management
  • Channel Metadata: Provides control over the channel title, description, number in the channel list, and topics. The channel can have a single logo for display on all device types or multiple logos optimized for each one.
  • Streaming Settings: Allow to configure channel streaming sources, URLs for multicast or unicast outgoing streams, URLs of DVR and nPVR servers, define encryption types for different device types, set regional restrictions or block the channel broadcast immediately.
  • Age Restrictions: Each channel is assigned an age access level, dictating its visibility in apps and user access with or without a PIN code. For more details, check User Profile.
  • Channel Sorting: Operator can control channel sorting in apps by combining sorting by channel number and fixed channel position.
• Program Management
  • Program Metadata:  Provides control over original and custom program titles, serialized TV show attributes, release country and year, poster, age rating, genre, personalities, awards, and so on.
  • Automatic EPG Import: Supports XMLTV, a widely used standard for describing TV listings, and SmartLabs EPG XML, a simplified XML format developed by SmartLabs and detailing all EPG metadata processed by the SmartTUBE SDP.
  • Catch-up Options: Allows to manage the availability of the program for catch-up services and the duration of availability.
  • Blackout: Operator is able to block broadcasting of certain programs by replacing the video stream with a predetermined image.
  • Restriction for nPVR Recording for Certain Device Types
  • Additional Program Logo Overlay: Overlaying additional logo on top of the video stream of a specific TV program. Implemented in conjunction with the SmartMEDIA Content Delivery System.
• Closed Caption (CC) Management: Allows to manage the selection of CC tracks present in the original channel stream and available to subscribers.

SmartTUBE SDP supports all models of the Video on Demand (VoD) content providing, allowing operators to manage the movie and series library from both local storage and external content providers:

• TVoD (Transactional Video on Demand): Allows a user to access a movie/series by making a one-time payment. After the purchase, the user has a limited time to watch the movie.
• SVoD (Subscription Video on Demand): Provides a user with long term access to a range of movies/series by subscribing either through a single payment or periodic charges.
• AVoD (Advertising Video on Demand): Offers a user free content access supported by ads that are displayed before (pre-roll), after (post-roll), or during (mid-roll) video playback.

Management of xVoD Library

• Content Metadata: Operator can manage a wide range of content metadata including original and custom titles, release country and year, posters and screenshots, distribution period, age rating, genre, personalities, awards, and so on.
• Content Assets: Enables operator to manage assets for movies, series episodes and their trailers. Each movie and episode can have several asset versions (e.g. SD, HD, UHD) for different device types, encryption options, content providers, pricing and bundling rules. Assets can be individually enabled for offline viewing by subscribers within the SmartTUBE Apps.
• Regional Restrictions: Regional restrictions can be applied at the movie and series level.
• Integration with VoD Content Providers: SmartTUBE offers streamlined integration schemes with a number of content providers.

Radio Stations

SmartTUBE SDP provides features for managing radio station broadcasting with configuration options similar to those available for TV-related content.

The SmartTUBE solution provides Marketing Departments with a variety of tools to promote content and services within the SmartTUBE Apps:

• Banners
• Content Rails
• Content Recommendation Engine
• Ad Insertion Management
• Marketing Messaging

Banners

The banner carousel is located at the top of the Home screen of all SmartTUBE Apps. Each banner may have individual images for end-user devices of different types and can lead to the TV channel, program, xVoD content, genre, service, or external URL. Operators can manage the following banner attributes and options:

• Display Options of Banner Carousel:
  • Regular Banners: Regular opaque banners with a clear bottom edge, not overlapped by any other UI elements.
  • Faded Banners: Banners with a faded bottom edge typically overlapped by the Main menu and first Content rail.
  • Banners with Auto-play Trailers: Faded banners of the movie or series that starts playing the trailer automatically when it’s in focus after a set time.
• Display frequency in the carousel: Allows to set each banner to high, medium and low priority for display in the carousel.
• Time frame and duration to display
• Display only for certain Device types and Pricing plans

Content Rails

Operators have the ability to populate the content pages (Home, Movies, TV Series, and My Profile) with an unlimited number of predefined and custom Content rails:

• Manually recommended content: Curated xVoD content or TV programs manually selected by the operator.
• Auto recommended content: Automatically generated xVoD content based on user viewing history, leveraging the SmartTUBE Recommender module.
• TV Channels: Display of TV channels presented as posters of currently streaming programs. User-favorited channels are prioritized, followed by operator-sorted channels.
• Top 10 TV programs: Compilation of the most popular TV programs viewed by all subscribers.
• Applications: List of integrated applications defined by the operator. Available only for the Android TV / STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App is a launcher.
• Continue watching: List of xVoD content and TV programs that the user has not finished watching.
• Watch history: Chronological listing of xVoD content and TV programs watched by the user.
• Favorite channels: Channels and movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Favorite movies: Movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Personal recordings: Recordings of TV programs initiated by the user within the nPVR service.
• Reminders: Alerts for upcoming TV programs set by the user.
• Purchased movies: List of xVoD content purchased by the subscriber.
• Custom rails: Operator-filtered xVoD content or TV programs based on various content and subscriber’s account attributes (for example, French comedies of 80-th, Modern Bollywood movies, Jackie Chan action movies, etc.). The filtered TV programs and xVoD content can be sorted by various attributes.

Content Recommendation Engine

SmartTUBE SDP features an integrated module for the automatic generation of xVoD content recommendations called SmartTUBE Recommender. This module periodically analyzes subscriber views of content, content characteristics (such as genres, countries, descriptions, etc.), and optionally, user characteristics (such as gender, age, geolocation). It then generates ordered sets of xVoD content recommendations for each user and sets of similar movies/series for each user.

SmartTUBE Recommender provides two types of recommendations:

• User-based: Calculated based on the user profile settings, the user’s viewing preferences and their similarity to other subscribers, and so on. This type of recommendation is only available in conjunction with the SmartCARE (SmartLabs analytics software for IPTV/OTT networks).
• Context-aware: Calculated based on the similarity of movie metadata (description, genres, cast, etc.)

The generated recommendations can be displayed in SmartTUBE Apps on content rails, in movie detail cards, and in the player.

Ad Insertion Management

SmartTUBE is an integral component of SmartLabs Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) solution that enables operators to dynamically insert or replace ad blocks in live video streams, pre-recorded, and xVoD content. Thanks to VAST protocol support, operator can partner with third-parties or create its own campaigns within SmartTUBE SDP without relying on external ad services.

The SmartLabs DAI solution is made up of three key modules:

• SmartTUBE Advertising Decision System (ADS): Carries information about advertisers, ad campaigns, ad creatives, placement dates and duration, types, target devices, target content, and other parameters. Using this data, ADS can make a decision which ad fits a specific insertion opportunity. The ADS also provides campaign performance reports highlighting key metrics. Implemented as a component of SmartTUBE SDP.
• Server-side Ad Insertion Module: Implemented as a component of SmartMEDIA Content Delivery System
• Client-side Ad Insertion Module: Implemented as a component of SmartTUBE Apps
  The Server-side and Client-side ad insertion modules request an ad decision from the ADS via the VAST protocol. The ADS finds a matching set of ads based on the request targeting criteria and responds with a VAST response carrying the data about the ad to be inserted.

There are 2 use cases for using the SmartTUBE DAI:

• Ad insertion into HLS / DASH streams for OTT subscribers: Involves inserting ad blocks on the SmartTUBE App side and getting data on them within the stream playlists/manifests. The preparation of playlists/manifests and ad creatives to be sent to the device is performed on the SmartMEDIA side.
  
• Ad insertion into linear TS streams: Involves inserting ad blocks directly into the source TS streams using SmartMEDIA components. The resulting TS output can be distributed over IPTV networks, or pushed to satellite or DVB-C head-ends:

Marketing Messaging

SmartTUBE allows to send messages to the end-user devices via SmartTUBE Admin Console or OSS/BSS API. It can be used for notification about new services, promotions, technical works, etc. The messaging can be performed either individually to a specific subscriber or massively using filters on the subscriber base.

Message sending can be scheduled with filtering recipients by user identifier, pricing plan, and tenant. Additionally, messages can be sent automatically for events like first authorization, account creation, service subscription/unsubscription, and pricing plan changes.

Operator can manage the following message attributes:

• Message text: Allows to insert such user-identifying variables as user ID, device ID, and service account number.
• Expiration period
• Display duration
• Number of message reminders and their display duration
• Tenant relation
• Appearing animation: Slide-down or pop-up
• Image, icon, and URL of a video to be attached to the message
• Message opacity
• Link to the service bundle, xVoD content, TV channel
• Delivery type:
  • Long Polling: Messages are sent using Long Polling mechanism and displayed as a modal window in the SmartTUBE App only after it is launched.
  • Push: Messages are sent using the Apple APN and Google GCM services and displayed additionally in the notification shade regardless of whether the SmartTUBE App is running or not.

Message recipients can be specified by a list of device IDs or selected based on the following criteria:

• Account login, number, name, status
• Account creation date
• Pricing plan
• Service bundle presence in the Pricing plan
• Status of the service bundle
• Device type
• App version
• STB UID
• IP address
• Date of linking the device to the account
• Last stored device location
• Last device authorization date

The SmartTUBE reporting system offers Marketing, Sales, and Content Management Departments with real-time and historical statistics of content consumption and specific resource/service demand among subscribers.

• Service accounts and devices:
  • Created/deleted accounts report: Number of accounts added/deleted for the period.
  • Service accounts not authorized till now: List of accounts without authorizations for the period until today.
  • Service accounts without new connections: List of accounts without new device connections for the period until today.
  • Individual service account reports: History of service bundle subscriptions, status changes, nPVR usage stats and errors, accepted text offers, and pricing plan changes.
  • Number of pricing plan changes:  Number of pricing plan shifts for the period with specifying the previous/new plan.
  • Percentage of accounts by state: Number and percentage of accounts by status on the day specified.
  • Percentage of users by pricing plan: Number and percentage of accounts by pricing plan on the day specified.
  • Devices: Detailed info on the devices authorized during the period with filtering by the service account, as well as device name, UID, and type.
  • Device UID changes:  Change history of the unique identifier of each registered device.
• Service and content consumption:
  • Service consumption:  Number of service accounts subscribed to specific service bundles during the period.
  • Service consumption in detail: Details on subscriptions to service bundles during the period with details on accounts and pricing plans.
  • Purchased TVoD movies: Brief report on TVoD content purchases during the period.
  • Purchased TVoD movies in detail: Detailed report on TVoD content purchases during the period.
  • SVoD metacontent view count: Report on SVoD content views during the period with filtering by service bundles and content providers.
  • Detailed report by SVoD: Detailed report on SVoD content subscriptions during the period with filtering by service bundles and content providers.
  • VoD view statistics: General report on the number and duration of xVoD content views with grouping of results by periods (hour, day, etc.) and filtering by viewing duration of each movie/episode.
  • Channel coverage: Details on TV channel audience and viewing duration in live and catch-up modes with grouping of results by periods (day, month) and filtering by channel, device type, pricing plan and viewing duration.
  • Channel viewing statistics: Number and duration of the channel views in live and catch-up modes with grouping of results by periods (5 min, hour, day, etc.) and filtering by channel, device type, and viewing duration.
  • TOP 10 most viewed TV programs: Number of viewers of the 10 most popular TV programs for the period with filtering by channel.

The following reports provide a real-time view of the devices and apps used by subscribers:

• Service account w/o devices:  List of accounts with no devices connected or devices with no UID.
• Device combinations on service accounts: All unique combinations of devices linked to accounts, itemized by state and number of accounts, as well as by number of devices. 
• Statistics by device types: Number of devices of different types currently registered on the platform.
• Statistics by app versions: Number of devices of different SmartTUBE app versions with filtering by device type, device model, and app version.

The majority of SmartTUBE system functions are accessed and controlled through the web-based SmartTUBE Admin Console. Fine-tuning of platform functionality is carried out through configuration files of SmartTUBE SDP components. Together, these management tools provides System Administration Departments with complete control over platform aspects and features described below:

• End-user Device Provisioning: SmartTUBE SDP includes SmartTUBE Device Manager, a service with the web console for managing firmware, apps and configurations on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including Linux and Android STBs, mobile and Smart TV platforms.  This console enables software artefacts management (STB Linux and Android firmware, private app repository for AOSP, configuration files), device grouping (production, staging, etc.), HTTP and Multicast firmware distribution, software version tracking, update strategies management (soft update, force update, minimal allowed version), etc.​
• Process Automation: Various service tasks (e.g. EPG import, cache data reload, etc.) can be performed automatically at set schedule.
• Admin Console Access: Operators can manage users with specific access roles like Administrator, Content Manager, Business Manager, Technical Support Specialist, and Analyst. Multiple roles can be assigned to a user, defining access to different features within the console.
• Failure Alerts: Provides email alerts for failures related to OSS integration, EPG and VoD metadata import, database connection limits, and SmartMEDIA warnings.
• Device Geolocation:  To manage access to content based on IP address range, operators can assign IPTV devices to specific subnets or utilize data from third-party services like Maxmind (under a separate contract) to determine the geo or network location of OTT devices. Operators can also restrict access to services for mobile devices when transitioning between network connections (e.g., from home network to cellular one). 
• License usage statistics: Provides detailed information about installed licenses, including their types, number of service accounts and active devices used.  
• License features: Operators can manage the availability of features that depend on the license type. 
• Rebooting STBs: Enables remote reboot of STBs  by a list of UIDs or by matching conditions.
• Cache Server Data Reload: Allows to manually update metadata and system settings on cache servers to quickly pass changes to devices. 
• Data Export: SmartTUBE Admin Console allows to export any data stored in the SmartTUBE SDP database to CSV format.

Apps Localization and Customization

SmartTUBE provides a comprehensive toolkit for localizing and customizing SmartTUBE Apps’ UI and UX. This process occurs in two stages:

• Initial: Performed by SmartLabs specialists at the stage of system commissioning.
• Operational: Performed by the operator during the system operation.

Initial customization allows to adjust the UI within the existing structure (layout of the main components, animation logic, etc.) and includes the following possibilities:

• Interface Localization: SmartTUBE provides the ability to localize the interface to the operator’s language by the operator. English is supported by default. Localization in languages using fonts containing hieroglyphs, arabic script and other specific alphabets, is discussed separately.
• Operator Logo: Can be placed in the various parts of UI (upper left corner, placeholders, splash screen, etc.);
• Color of Selected Elements
• Animation of Waiting States

Operational customization allows the operator to change the representation of the Home screen and Movies/Series sections by uploading the corresponding configuration files to devices via SmartTUBE Device Manager, a service for managing firmware and apps on all types of IPTV/OTT devices.

Security Mechanisms 

SmartTUBE system protects IPTV / OTT services and confidential information from unauthorized access at different levels utilizing the following mechanisms:

• Device activation and user authorization: Each time a device attempts to connect to the SmartTUBE SDP, the system compares its device ID and serial number with the values stored in the DB when the device was activated. If the device ID and serial number do not match, the device is not allowed to access services.
• Connection sessions management: SmartTUBE SDP uses special identifiers to manage each connection session with devices. Each connection session lives for a limited period, after which the session closes and SmartTUBE SDP stops the information delivery to the device. This also avoids the memory shortage and related security issues on STB devices.​
• Token-based authorization: SmartTUBE SDP issues a unique token to each device upon authorization on the platform. This token is then passed by the device in all requests to the platform and SmartMEDIA streaming servers for the OTT TV channel streams. This process ensures that only authorized devices can access the SmartTUBE platform and view content securely.
• Secure access to SmartTUBE Admin Console: Provided by the authorization mechanism with the login and password issued by the system administrator.
• OSS/BSS API Access: Interaction with SmartTUBE SDP from the OSS/BSS side via API can be protected with login and password. 
• Network-level security: The HTTPS protocol with SSL certificate management is used for interactions between devices, external systems, and SmartTUBE SDP. Session control is used for interactions between platform nodes and the database.
• Protection against STB duplication: STB has built-in protection against duplication, which prevents the possible device counterfeiting.

Licensing 

The SmartTUBE licensing policy offers two license types, SmartTUBE Basic and SmartTUBE Ultra, providing operators with different levels of features and functionality to choose from.

How many licenses do I need? 

SmartTUBE is licensed according to the number of service accounts and active devices. You can purchase one or more simultaneously active licenses of the following subtypes:

• License by accounts: This method considers only active service accounts — accounts with the status other then Suspended, Trial closed, Closed, Deleted, regardless of whether the subscriber uses the services or not.
• License by devices: This method considers only active devices — devices with a non-empty UID and linked to the active account, which were authorized at least once and (optional) with the date of the last authorization is no more than N days ago. Operator can specify which device types will be considered by this license.
• License by service account with devices: This method considers only active service accounts to which only the specified types of devices can be linked. The operator should specify the number of active devices licensed under one license.

SmartTUBE Apps are a range of user-friendly and highly customizable applications compliant with the most current streaming industry standards. Tailored for popular device platforms, these applications seamlessly integrate established user interaction patterns to offer a superior viewing and application experience. Users have access to a diverse content selection, including live TV, video-on-demand, catch-up TV, nPVR, and shared TV recordings.

Note:  As we continually enhance the UI and UX of SmartTUBE Apps, please note that the screenshots below might not reflect the latest versions.

Home Screen

The Home screen is the first screen the user sees after loading the app or hitting the ‘Home’ button. Operators can customize it’s layout by managing Top banner, Main menu, and a set of Content rails.

Top Banner

Operator can choose one of the following options to display the Top banner:

• Regular banner: A regular opaque banner with a clear bottom edge, not overlapped by any other UI elements.
• Faded banner: An opaque banner with a faded bottom edge typically overlapped by the main menu and first content rail. Optionally, the faded banner can automatically play the movie trailer after a set amount of time when it is in focus.

Main Menu

The Main menu on large-screen devices can be displayed in either a vertical or horizontal arrangement. For horizontal layouts, menu items can be enhanced with icons or presented as plain text. The Main menu may include the following items:

• TV: Displays channels and programs as a vertical scrollable list for easy navigation. Includes detailed information about current broadcasts, channel guides, and completed/upcoming programs with description and screenshot.
• EPG: Displays a classic EPG grid showcasing TV programs’ durations on a horizontal timeline. Users can to select a program for additional information and functions, with a window displaying the current broadcast.
• Search: Allows to search through all types of content, displaying TV programs and VoD content on one screen.
• Movies: Displays the movie library with posters and titles in a mosaic view or as a list of content rails.
• TV Series: Displays the series library featuring posters and titles presented in either a mosaic view or themed rails list. Each poster serves as a visual representation of a series, enabling users to delve into a series card. From there, subscribers can choose the desired season and episode for viewing.
• Radio: Opens the list of IP radio stations available for listening.
• My [operator name]: Allows a subscriber to access personalized content such as watch history, favorite channels and movies, personal recordings, reminders, and purchased movies.
• Applications: Provides access to the library of Android apps available on Android TV / Android STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App acts as a launcher.
• Settings: Provides access to the user profile settings and system settings (time zone, network settings, video output modes, etc.).

The main menu on mobile devices typically includes the following items: Home, My, Search, and Downloads. The Downloads section allows users to access content that has been downloaded for offline viewing. Additionally, users can navigate to the TV, Movies, and Series pages using the top menu located on the Home screen.

Content Rails

Operators have the ability to populate the content pages (Home, Movies, Series, and My Profile) with an unlimited number of predefined and custom Content rails:

• TV Channels: Display of TV channels presented as posters of currently streaming programs. User-favorited channels are prioritized, followed by operator-sorted channels.
• Manually recommended content: Curated xVoD content or TV programs manually selected by the operator.
• Auto recommended content: Automatically generated xVoD content based on user viewing history, leveraging the SmartTUBE Recommender module.
• Top 10 TV programs: Compilation of the most popular TV programs viewed by all subscribers.
• Applications: List of integrated applications defined by the operator. Available only for the Android TV / STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App is a launcher.
• Continue watching: List of xVoD content and TV programs that the user has not finished watching.
• Watch history: Chronological listing of xVoD content and TV programs watched by the user.
• Favorite channels: Channels marked as favorites by the user.
• Favorite movies: Movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Personal recordings: Recordings of TV programs initiated by the user within the nPVR service.
• Reminders: Alerts for upcoming TV programs set by the user.
• Purchased movies: List of xVoD content purchased by the subscriber.
• Custom rails: Operator-filtered xVoD content or TV programs based on various content and subscriber’s account attributes (for example, French comedies of 80-th, Modern Bollywood movies, Jackie Chan action movies, etc.). The filtered TV programs and xVoD content can be sorted by various attributes.

TV-related Content

SmartTUBE Apps provide users with access to the comprehensive functionalities offered by the SmartTUBE solution for TV-related services:

Channel List with Program Guide: Displays channels and programs in a vertical scrollable list for easy navigation. Includes detailed information about current broadcasts, channel guides, and completed/upcoming programs with description and screenshot.

EPG Grid: A classic Electronic Program Guide available for large-screen devices. TV programs are displayed horizontally with durations on a timeline. User can select a program for more info and functions, with a window showing the current broadcast.

Theme-Based Channel Filtering: User can filter channels by themes (such as sports, news, entertainment) or genres of currently airing programs (if the genres are provided by the EPG provider) by opening a filtering panel.

Detailed TV Program Information: Provides in-depth details about TV programs in full-screen view, including extended description, cast, recording quota used, availability period of recorded programs, and other relevant data.

Reminders: Set alerts for upcoming TV programs with a pop-up before the show starts. All reminders are displayed in a dedicated menu.

Upcoming Broadcasts Recording: Allows users to schedule recordings of individual programs or entire series episodes for viewing at a later time. The list of all recordings can be found in a dedicated menu.

Favorite Channels: User can mark preferred channels for quick access. The favorite channels appear first on the Home screen and in the channel filtering section.

Watch History: The list of recently viewed programs, with the option to resume from where the user left off. Users can also choose to clear their entire watch history or remove individual items.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for large-screen devices supports the following features:

Playing live streams and rewinding, fast forwarding, and pausing catch-up content.

Revealing the program guide rail for the current channel, enabling setting reminders or recordings for upcoming programs. Available for the large-screen apps only.

Adjusting the stream’s aspect ratio, selecting the audio/video/subtitle track, viewing the program details, and checking the stream technical information.

Quick channel selection panel allowing to switch channels visually without leaving full screen mode.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for mobile iOS / Android devices supports the following features:

Playing live streams and rewinding, fast forwarding, pausing catch-up content, as well as selecting audio/video/subtitle tracks.

Adjusting the stream’s aspect ratio, sharing the stream across other subscribers’ devices, and exploring additional functions.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for mobile iOS / Android devices can be controlled by tapping, swiping, and sliding:

• Short tap: Opens playback controls and settings menu, which disappear after 3 seconds of no user activity.
• Double tap in the center: Switches between full-screen and portrait mode.
• Double tap on the left/right area: Rewinds backward/forward for 10 seconds.
• Swipe left/right: Switches channels.
• Slide by the left/right area: Controls the brightness and volume, respectively:
  

VoD Content

SmartTUBE Apps offer fast navigation and search within the VoD content library, payment options, a recommendation tool that suggests relevant content based on subscriber preferences, and other helpful features:

VoD Content Catalog: Displays available content with posters and titles in a mosaic view or as a list of themed rails.

Content Filtering: Users can filter content by type (movies, series, for kids), genre (adventure, comedy, detectives, etc.), production year, country, and other criteria.

Detailed Content Description: Provides information on the movie description, directors, actors, ratings, age restrictions, release year, screenshots, etc. for selected content.

Detailed Series Description: In addition to the information described above, this feature offers a convenient way to select from the various seasons and episodes of a series.

Trailer Viewing: Users can watch trailers within the movie card if available.

List of Favorites: Allows users to save their preferred movies for convenient access and later viewing.

Full-Screen Player: Content is played in full-screen mode with playback controls, video quality and aspect ratio options, audio track and subtitle selection, content recommendations (in the large-screen apps), adding to favorites, and technical information about the stream (in the large-screen apps).

Skip Opening and Credits: The full-screen player allows users to skip the movie’s opening credits and jump straight into the action. At the end of a series episode, users can bypass the final credits and start the next episode immediately. This feature includes a timer for auto-skipping the opening and automatically starting the next episode, with progress displayed on the button.

Content Bookmarks: Users can add bookmarks to specific movie moments. A single movie can have multiple bookmarks.

Radio Stations

SmartTUBE Apps for STB and Smart TV support the radio station broadcasting:

Media Player

The Media player integrated into SmartTUBE Apps offers all the essential features for a seamless and enjoyable content-watching experience. It may support different audio/video codecs and streaming protocols, such as MPEG-DASH and/or HLS, depending on the device.

Adaptive Streaming Support: Automatically switches between bitrates within the media stream based on network bandwidth. This prevents playback from stopping when bandwidth decreases; instead, it shifts to a lower quality stream. When bandwidth improves, video quality is restored.

Playback Control: Lets users rewind, fast forward, and pause catch-up and xVoD content. When a video is rewound or paused, thumbnails appear above the progress bar.

Audio Track Selection: Users can choose from multiple audio tracks available within the stream.

Content Bookmarks: Users can add bookmarks to specific movie moments. A single movie can have multiple bookmarks.

Subtitles and Teletext Display: Apps can display subtitles and teletext in various formats, including DVD, DVB, SSA/ASS, SRT, WebVTT, CEA-608/708 Closed Captions, SMPTE-TT, and Teletext. Supported formats may vary by device.

Aspect Ratio Options: Enables users to align the content frame’s aspect ratio with their device’s screen.

Stream Details: Depending on the stream type, users can view information such as the current bitrate, the number of decoding errors, and other relevant details that may be helpful for troubleshooting and contacting technical support. Available for the large-screen apps only.

Playback from a Saved Position: Apps remember where a user stopped watching a movie or program and provide the option to resume from that point or start over.

Processing of Ad Inserts: The app for large-screen devices can detect the start/end marks of ad inserts within the stream. It can handle these ads in different ways, such as preventing users from rewinding during catch-up playback. Additionally, the media player can work with VAST servers within the AVoD service.

Content Purchase and Subscriptions

SmartTUBE Apps offers users a range of features to manage service subscriptions, purchase content, and stay updated on options that enhance their service experience:

• Service Management Menu: Users can view and manage available services, including adding or canceling subscriptions, along with detailed information about offered content and terms.
• Subscription Recommendations: The app highlights both current and additional subscription options, with non-subscribed channels clearly marked and easily accessible for purchase.
• Content Purchase Options: Movie/series costs and purchasing options are displayed on detailed information cards.
• Purchase History: Subscribers can track their transactions in the ‘Settings’ menu.

Screen Sharing

The Screen Sharing feature allows users to effortlessly transfer their streaming session between devices, such as from a mobile device to a Smart TV or STB, and vice versa. The SmartTUBE platform supports the following technologies to implement the Screen Sharing feature:

• Apple AirPlay: Enables screen sharing from SmartTUBE iOS Mobile App to other devices that support AirPlay 2 technology.
• Google Chromecast: Enables screen sharing from SmartTUBE iOS/Android Mobile App to the Google Chromecast devices and TVs with built-in Chromecast support.
• SmartLabs Screen Sharing: A proprietary technology enabling user to transfer streaming between devices using SmartTUBE Apps. Users can continue watching a movie or TV channel on a mobile device or move content from a mobile device to a large screen while maintaining the current position. After transferring, playback can be controlled remotely from the mobile device.

Content Search Screen

SmartTUBE Apps allow users to search through all content types, including TV programs, movies, and external services like YouTube. The search is performed by title (in the current app’s UI language and original title) and description, with suggestions appearing as user type. The Apps support multilingual keyboards and shows structured results for various content types on the same screen.

Displaying Operator Messages

The operator can send subscribers messages that they may open immediately or later in the message history. The message can contain both text and images. Urgent messages are displayed as a full screen window. Watermark messages are overlaid on top of the video stream.

Logging In

Depending on the operator’s settings, subscribers can access services by logging in with or without username and password entry. New users may also be offered a trial period to explore the services and app features.

User Profiles

If multiple users share an account, they can create personal Profiles to customize settings like parental controls, channel sorting, and content restrictions. Profiles are shared across all devices and can be PIN protected. The master Profile can manage other profiles. This helps prevent unauthorized access to paid or adult content by minors and provides personalized content recommendations.

Profile general settings

Kids profile gives parents control over their children’s viewing experience. In addition to the maximum age level for TV channels and VOD content, the Kids profile allows to manage the downtime interval and the daily viewing limit.

Kids profile settings

System Settings

Users can access various system settings, including time-zone correction, UI language, audio/subtitle language prioritization, timer to stop playback when idle, video aspect ratio, and player menu auto-hide timeout. Support page provides information for contacting operator and sending reports for technical analysis.

STB users have additional options:

• Reset to factory settings
• Firmware update
• Standby timer
• Video/audio output format
• Network settings

Supported Devices

SmartTUBE solution supports a wide range of devices, allowing IPTV / OTT operators to reach a larger audience. The list of supported devices can be expanded through integration work. Below are the device requirements. These requirements do not include restrictions related to the use of various protocols and formats of video delivery (HLS, DASH, etc.), CAS/DRM systems, and other restrictions related to the hardware and software implementation of the listed devices by their manufacturers.

Linux based STB

To run SmartTUBE App on STB using a Linux kernel OS, you need to have SmartSDK. At the moment SmartSDK is supported on hardware platforms HiSilicon, STMicroelectronics, Amlogic, Broadcom, Sigma Designs from STB manufacturers such as SmartLabs, Albis, Arris, and others. To clarify the list of supported hardware platforms and integration options, please contact SmartLabs representatives.

iOS

• iPad with iOS 11 or later
• iPhone with iOS 11 or later

Android

The devices must comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) requirements.

• Tablet PC with Android 5.0 Lollipop (API Level 21) or later
• Smartphones with Android 5.0 Lollipop (API Level 21) or later

Web Browsers

We strongly recommend using installations with Widevine DRM enabled. Support for other web browsers is on request.

Smart TV

• LG with WebOS 4.0 and later Support for Netcast and earlier versions of WebOS could be provided by additional request and subject to technical feasibility (depends on used DRM, streaming protocol, and etc.).
• Samsung with Tizen OS SmartTUBE App support all model years available for publishing at the Samsung app store portal
• Hisense (VIDAA OS)
• Whale OS — an operating system for Smart TV, which is now integrated into the products of many world-famous brands, including Philips, TCL, Haier, AOC, Sharp, BenQ, Konka, Changhong, NovaTek, Amazon, Google, Alibaba, Huawei, DSP Group, and etc.

Android based STB and Android TV

• Supported OS Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and Android TV v9.0 or later. See also the requirements for AOSP STBs.
• The devices must comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) requirements.
• SmartTUBE App on AOSP devices can be installed as a Launcher.

Amazon Fire TV

• Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
• Amazon Fire TV Stick
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
• Amazon Fire TV Cube

Support for Device Features

* The PiP feature is available on iOS devices for HLS streams only. 

Support for Content Delivery Protocols and DRM Systems

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The SmartMEDIA media server, developed by SmartLabs, is designed to deliver video content over IP networks. It provides transcoding, segmentation, encryption, recording and delivery of audio/video content for both managed IP (IPTV) and unmanaged IP (OTT) networks.

SmartMEDIA supports a variety of streaming protocols (MPEG-DASH, HLS, RTSP), video resolutions (from SD to UHD) and codecs (H.262/MPEG-2, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, various audio codecs, etc.), allows you to deliver media content to a wide range of subscriber devices and players, including set-top boxes, browsers, Smart TVs, Apple iOS devices, Android devices, etc.

Solutions based on SmartMEDIA can automatically distribute the load between video servers depending on the client’s location and requested content for high performance and fault tolerance. This allows you to build distributed video content delivery networks (CDN) in particular.

SmartMEDIA architecture (click to enlarge)

Key Features of SmartMEDIA 

• High scalability with support for both centralized and distributed solutions.
• High reliability due to the ability to build failover clusters with no single point of failure.
• Deploy the hardware platform quickly and easily with standard servers and storage systems.
• A wide range of supported formats (from SD to UHD), codecs (H.262/MPEG-2, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC and others), as well as integration with popular content protection systems and subscriber devices.
• The SmartMEDIA media server software is running Linux on top of the x86_64 platform.

Software Versions

The difference between the SmartMEDIA Legacy and SmartMEDIA Ultra versions is the support for the feature “CENC->CVBS On-the-fly Re-encryption” by the Ultra version.

This feature is intended to re-encrypt MP4 chunks prepared for adaptive streaming (HLS or DASH) from one encryption scheme to another “on the fly”, i.e. without saving the re-encrypted copy to the repository. This saves disk space by storing only one copy of encrypted content (for example, for Widevine DRM). At the same time, players using a different content protection system (for example, Apple FairPlay DRM) can also decrypt and play this content. Currently, reencryption from the cenc scheme (AES-CTR) to the cbcs scheme (AES-CBC with template encryption) is supported according to the standard ISO/IEC 23001-7 “Common encryption in ISO BMFF files”. 

Using the SmartMEDIA media server, IPTV/OTT service providers can develop a wide range of services for their subscribers, the entire list of which can be generalized to the following services: LiveTV (multicast), VoD and nDVR.

VoD Services

VoD (Video on Demand) is a set of services for targeted video content delivery (for example, movies, serials, etc.) to end-user devices using IP networks. For VoD-services the content should be properly prepared (transcoded, segmented, encrypted and indexed) and stored in a storage for future transfer to the devices. These steps are implemented in SmartMEDIA as follows:

VoD Content Preparation Stages

1. Segmenting and Playlist Generation

VoD content should be segmented into chunks according to MPEG-DASH and HLS protocols. Chunked content will be packaged in TS and/or MP4 containers and recorded to the storage.

Requirements for Source Files

Supported containers:

• SPTS MPEG2-TS (ISO/IEC 13818-1, ITU-T);
• MP4/ISO BMFF (ISO/IEC 14496-12 — MPEG-4 Part 12);
• MKV (Matroska).

Supported codecs:

• AAC, AC3, DTS — for audio;
• H.262/MPEG2, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC — for video.

Additional requirements:

• If you’re going to use adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), all video streams should have the same GOP structure and have synchronous key frames (I-frames).
• The value of DTS counters for audio and video samples should not differ by more than 1.5 seconds.
• The value of DTS counters should increase monotonically.
• If the PMT table in the MPEG2-TS container was changed, a table version change is required.
• There should be no CC errors in the TS-stream.

POSIX-compatible file systems are supported.

Playlists with chunk references and other metadata will be generated as well as media files. Playlists will be stored in the same directory as the chunks.

2. Encryption

To protect against unauthorized playback and copying, content can be encrypted. In this case, the encryption will be applied before writing to the storage.

At the moment, supported encryption standard is ISO/IEC 23001-7: 2015 Part 7 (Common encryption in ISO base media file format files); the ISO BMFF/MP4 Fragmented container is supported. Any CENC-compatible DRM system can be used, for example Google Widevine or Microsoft PlayReady.

3. Content Playback

The subscriber device requests the playlists and chunks via the HTTP protocol and plays them. The solution includes an nginx HTTP server, which performs content delivery.

Unicast LiveTV and “network video recorder” (nDRV) services mean the retransmission of digital streams (for example, TV channels) with individual (unicast) delivery to subscriber devices over IP-networks. Examples of nDVR services include such services as TimeShifted TV (TSTV), PauseLive, or a network personal video recorder (nPVR).

To implement these services, streams have to be recorded onto storages and be delivered to the subscriber’s device upon request. The content processing path from ingestion till delivery to the end-user by the SmartMEDIA components are shown in the following scheme:

nDVR Content Preparation Stages

1. Streams Injection

Incoming TV streams (multicast or unicast streams in the TS container) should be injected into SmartMEDIA Conveyor service.

Incoming streams must meet the following requirements:

• Container: SPTS MPEG2-TS (ISO/IEC 13818-1, ITU-T).
• Protocols:
  • UDP over IP Multicast (without RTP encapsulation);
  • HTTP (MPEG2-TS stream over HTTP);
  • HLS according to draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-05, without encryption.
• Supported video codecs: H.262/MPEG2, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC.
• Video resolution: up to 4K, up to 60fps. Both progressive and interlaced streams are supported.
• Supported audio codecs: AAC, AC3, MP2, MP3, DTS.

2. Transcoding

The transcoding of Live-streams is implemented using Intel codecs that are part of the Intel Media SDK, and requires the use of compatible processors (CPUs) and chipsets. For more information on hardware requirements, see the Intel website (https://software.intel.com/en-us/media-sdk).

The transcoder function includes decoding, filtering (audio and video) and encoding. The incoming stream must be unencrypted (otherwise it can not be decoded).

The following filters can be applied to video streams:

• Deinterlacing (applied automatically if the incoming stream is interlaced);
• Resize;
• Changing the frame rate (fps).

Target formats can be:

• Video codecs: H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC;
• Video format: up to 4K, up to 60fps, progressive scan;
• Audio codecs: AAC.

3. Segmentation, Indexing and Recording of Content

In order to provide nDVR services, as well as Live over HLS and DASH protocols, media streams must be recorded into the storage. To achieve the highest performance when delivering content to subscribers, SmartMEDIA records streams in the same form as they will be delivered to subscriber devices, all stream conversions (remultiplexing, encryption, etc.) are performed during recording.

SmartMEDIA supports 2 recording modes:

• Main mode, or mode with remultiplexing: the incoming stream is completely demultiplexed, only the desired tracks (audio and video) are used. Then the elementary stream is encrypted if necessary, packed into the desired container (MPEG2-TS or ISO BMFF) and written into the storage.
  
  To work in this recording mode, the incoming stream should not be encrypted, otherwise all information about encryption will be lost and it will not be possible to reproduce it.
• Pass-Through: incoming TS-stream is written in the form as it comes to the server. The stream is not remultiplexed, it is divided into chunks and written into the storage. In particular, all timestamps are stored in the stream, as well as CC errors, if they were present in the incoming stream.
  
  In this mode, the server can also accept encrypted TS streams if the TS packet structure is preserved and the NAL-unit headers are not encrypted (for example, DVB Simulcrypt or Common Encryption for MPEG2-TS encrypted streams).

Recording can be done both in POSIX-storages (local file systems, NFS, external storages), and in external object storage using the Amazon S3 protocol.

Simultaneously with the segmentation, the stream is being indexed. Based on the indexes HLS/DASH/Smooth Streaming playlists will be created later. Currently, the supported index storage is MongoDB.

It also should be considered that:

• if you’re going to use adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR), all video streams should have the same GOP structure and have synchronous key frames (I-frames);
• the value of DTS counters for audio and video samples should not differ by more than 1.5 seconds;
• the value of DTS counters should increase monotonically;
• if the PMT table in the MPEG2-TS container was changed, a table version change is required;
• there should be no CC errors in the TS-stream.

4. Encryption

To protect against unauthorized viewing, copying, etc. during the recording process, the content can be encrypted according to one of the following standards:

• HLS-AES — only the MPEG2-TS container is supported and subsequent delivery over the HLS protocol. The entire chunk, including the headers of TS packets, is encrypted using the AES-CBC algorithm with PKCS#7 padding. Information about encryption can only be added to the HLS playlist (#EXT-X-KEY tag). As a DRM system, Verimatrix Adaptive CAS or another DRM with same API for obtaining encryption keys can be used.
• ISO/IEC 23001-7: 2015 Part 7 (Common encryption in ISO base media file format files), abbreviated to CENC. The ISO BMFF/MP4 Fragmented container is supported. Only the elementary stream (payload) is encrypted, the container and the headers of the NAL packets of the video stream remain unencrypted. The data is encrypted using the AES-CTR algorithm. Any compatible system can be used as DRM, for example: Google Widevine or Microsoft PlayReady. The Widevine Modular DRM API or SmartLabs UDRM API can be used for encryption keys retrieval.

5. Playlists Generation

The Playlist Generator component generates HLS or DASH playlists for the recorded content by end-user devices requests.

HLS playlists generation is supported for unencrypted content, as well as encrypted with the HLS-AES standard content recorded in the MPEG2-TS container.

DASH playlists generation is supported for content recorded in the ISO BMFF/MP4 Fragmented container.

6. Content Playback

The subscriber device requests chunks for audio and video and plays them. The solution includes an nginx HTTP server, which performs the delivery of chunks over the HTTP protocol.

SmartMEDIA Transcoder

The SmartLabs SmartMEDIA Transcoder product allows you to perform transcoding of live input streams to multi profile adaptive bitrate, DASH or HLS, streams for OTT delivery. This software product runs on standard off-the-shelf hardware with Intel CPUs with QSV support or NVIDIA GPUs with NVENC support.

The solution architecture deploys two components of the SmartMEDIA Content Delivery Platform — SmartMEDIA Conveyor and SmartMEDIA Transcoder, which can be run on separate nodes and provide high stability and scalability. Transcoding profiles can be managed via a convenient web interface.

Key Advantages

• The solution allows you to use the most common generic hardware technologies for transcoding — Intel QSV and NVIDIA NVENC. You can reuse the existing hardware or opt for the new one. Wide range of Intel CPUs & NVIDIA GPUs is supported.
• Native integration with Intel and NVIDIA decoding/encoding API, unlike the ffmpeg-based solutions, ensures higher stability and lower resource utilization.
• Advanced algorithms avoid desynchronization of target streams and tracks, which often happens with ffmpeg-based solutions.
• Transcoder service can be shared between multiple Conveyor services, and vice versa. So you can build an optimal system configuration and, as a result, save on CAPEX & OPEX.
• High fault tolerance and easy scalability are the basis of the solution.
• Web-based GUI makes it easy to manage settings and channel distribution between transcoding servers.
• Native integration with SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform.

QSV or NVENC

Taking into account factors such as hardware cost, power consumption, rack space, redundancy, and transcoding quality, we can conclude that the NVENC-based solution is much more cost effective in most cases. Tests of the SmartLabs SmartMEDIA Transcoder have shown that the price per transcoded channel in a NVENC-based solution can be up to 36% cheaper than in an QSV-based one. We present you a comparison of two indicative 6U installations:

• QSV-based (non-redundant)
  1x 6U server based on Supermicro MBE-628E-820D MicroBlade Enclosure and CPU Intel Xeon E-2224G
  vs.
• NVENC-based (non-redundant)
  3x 2U servers built on Supermicro SYS-2029GP-TR Barebone and GPU NVIDIA RTX A2000

In addition, as of June 2022, the average delivery time of the QSV-based solution is 2–4 months, while the NVENC-based one — 1 month.

Note: All examples of prices and delivery times above are indicative, and the company is not responsible for their accuracy at the time of reading.

Component Overview

SmartMEDIA Conveyor

The SmartMEDIA Conveyor service is responsible for remultiplexing, segmenting, indexing and recording LiveTV streams to the storage.

Content can be delivered to the SmartMEDIA Conveyor server within the MPEG2-TS container using one of the following protocols:

• UDP over IP Multicast (without encapsulation in RTP),
• HTTP Stream,
• HLS (according to draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-07), without encryption.

SmartMEDIA Conveyor performs:

• remultiplexing,
• media data encryption (if necessary),
• recording to the storage,
• index generation and writing indexes to the database (MongoDB).

Adaptive Streaming Support

To record several streams of the single channel that have different bit rates (a.k.a. Adaptive Streaming), SmartMEDIA Conveyor synchronizes them at the recording stage and creates one index record for all of the chunks of different bitrates of the same time interval.

SmartMEDIA Transcoder

SmartMEDIA Transcoder service receives a stream of media samples from the Conveyor over the TCP connection, transcodes the stream and sends the resulting stream (or multiple streams in case of ABR) back to the Conveyor. It can be started on the same host where Conveyor runs as well as on the other, ”remote” host and work over the TCP/IP network. SmartMEDIA Transcoder service uses proprietary protocol to exchange the data with Conveyor and cannot receive streams directly.

HLS/FairPlay + DASH/Widevine

If your subscribers encounter unstable playback on iOS devices, then you have the only way — to integrate the native iOS player into your client apps.

Such a solution involves two challenges: 

• DASH/WideVine is not supported natively by Apple. And Google’s solution based on Shaka player embedded has many issues with unclear deadlines for Google to fix. Apple’s recommendation on this is to use HLS/FairPlay.
• It is not possible to use the same copy of content for HLS/FairPlay and DASH/WideVine because they use different encryption algorithms.

We have a solution!

The SmartLabs platform provides you two options:

• Creating two copies of content
• Performing on-the-fly re-encryption

To avoid using extra storage, we recommend a combination of both options — using a separate HLS copy for Live channels, keeping just a few minutes of recorded content in both formats, and performing on-the-fly re-encryption for recorded programs and xVoD content.

The diagram below will help you understand the solution workflow better.

Benefits

SmartMEDIA Recryptor — the module responsible for the on-the-fly re-encryption — uses the AES New Instructions (AES-NI) supported by a wide range of Intel or AMD CPUs. So, for example, if you need to adapt 50 TV channels for iOS subscribers, an installation with commonly used server processors will save you more than 23TB* of disk space and significantly in costs!

*Calculated for the 1-week TSTV service for 50 channels with adaptive bitrate: HD (4.5 Mbps) + SD (2 Mbps).

SmartMEDIA allows you to encrypt MPEG-TS content in real time according to the ISO/IEC 23001-9 (Common encryption of MPEG-2 transport streams) standard. The SmartCETS service allows you to encrypt multiple multicast streams simultaneously; the cets utility can be used to encrypt a single stream or MPEG2-TS files.

After receiving the list of input multicast streams, SmartCETS/cets requests keys for encryption from the key server over the SmartLabs UDRM protocol. Encrypted content is either written to a file or broadcast to another multicast group using the UDP protocol. For the SmartCETS service, the list of input streams for encryption along with other parameters must be specified in the configuration file. For the cets utility, all parameters must be passed as command-line arguments.

The following formats are supported:

• Video: H.262/MPEG2, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC;
• Audio: AAC/ADTS, AC3, DTS.

The utility also stores information about its work in the log, e.g. obtaining keys, stream errors, keys retrieval errors, etc.

Features of the Encryption Algorithm

Encryption is performed according to the ISO/IEC 23001-9 (Common encryption of MPEG-2 transport streams) standard, namely:

• the original MPEG-TS container is saved (except PMT), unknown tracks are not encrypted;
• in the PMT of the source stream, the descriptors described in ISO/IEC 23001-9 are added for each encrypted track;
• the payload of each video/audio track found is encrypted;
• the utility complies with ISO/IEC 23001-9 recommendations regarding the H.264/H.265 and AAC payload encryption (i.e., the payload of TS packets containing VPS/SPS/PPS/SliceHeader and ADTS Fixed header is not encrypted);
• for H.262, AC3 and DTS, the payload of TS packets containing PES-headers (Packetized Elementary Stream) is not encrypted;
• before each PES header, packets containing PSSH received from the key server for that track are inserted into the stream;
• before each PES header, ECM (Entitlement Control Messages) with content corresponding to ISO/IEC 23001-9, pertaining to this PES, is inserted into the stream. If the ECM content does not fit into the payload of one TS packet, the next ECM packet will be inserted where its contents begin to act (and not at the beginning of the next PES packet).

Scaling and Fault Tolerance within a Single Site

Can be implemented by:

• using external fault-tolerant or clustered storage systems (POSIX and object storages);
• reserving SmartMEDIA Conveyor services in “1 + 1” mode (Active/Standby);
• reserving services for playlists generation in “N + M” mode (Active/Active).

Geographically Distributed Structure (CDN)

SmartMEDIA Redirector allows you to implement a geographically distributed solution for the media content delivery.

Functionality

• HTTP (for DASH and HLS) and RTSP requests balancing.
• Grouping the servers into logical farms.
• Providing different balancing policies between the servers of the farm.
• Setting priorities for specific servers.
• Servers failover in the group.
• Redundancy of server groups.
• Caching information about the content availability on a specific server.

Balancing Criteria

• IP-address/subnet of the subscriber — for specified subnets, the viewing order of server groups is assigned.
• Availability of content on servers — farms are polled from the “best choice” for specific subnet till the backup one; if there is no content on all servers in the farm, the servers of the next farm are polled, etc .
• When balancing requests between group servers, the availability of content on servers and the weight of servers are taken into account.

Download PDF

The quality of video content delivery services directly depends on the quality of hardware performance on the operator’s side and the quality of the access network on the subscriber’s side. Network-level problems and problems on the operator’s platform affect the service quality and can lead to image freezing, reduced image quality, frame loss, and etc. Eventually, this has a bad impact on the user experience and may lead to the service cancellation. SmartCARE makes it possible for the operator to continuously analyze the quality of content delivery and quickly respond to emerging problems…

Advantages 

Integrated Monitoring System for IPTV and OTT 

SmartCARE supports collection and analysis of data for both of these delivery technologies: in managed networks (IPTV) as well as over the Internet (OTT). It enables an operator to use a unified solution for any service provision options.

Preventive Detection of Problems 

A unique feature of SmartCARE is the ability to detect potential areas of concern in advance. Using mathematical clustering techniques and decision-making algorithms SmartCARE is capable of online identification of dependencies (access networks, type of equipment, versions of applications, currently viewed content and many other parameters) for subscribers facing difficulties in obtaining services. SmartCARE analyzes this data and determines which subscribers with similar parameters are at risk. This data can be used to inform subscribers on possible problems and the ways to resolve them.

The Use of All Information Obtained 

SmartCARE uses both real-time data and all stored statistics, aggregating the entire information in a particular way for further prompt access.

SmartCARE provides real-time monitoring of current customer sessions and service quality (real-time monitoring, tracking).

And also you can filter and analyze the history of system events. For example, you can identify the decline in service quality by the average number of bitrate switches over a specified period of time: the fewer bitrate switches — the higher the quality.

Advantages of SmartLabs Ecosystem 

SmartCARE is pre-integrated with SmartLabs products — SmartTUBE Service Deliver Platform (Middleware), SmartMEDIA (recording and streaming server) and SmartTUBE Clients (for STBs, mobile devices, Smart TVs and PC/Mac). This allows you to reliably collect and analyze the entire range of data from all supported systems right out of the box. In addition, the technical support operators can see the middleware-related information (subscriber ID, tariff plan, territorial location, etc.) right on the SmartCARE dashboard, which reduces the time to process subscriber requests.

Convenient Set of Tools 

SmartCARE system makes the work of operations departments easier. Convenient and functional SmartCARE interface, which can be used by departments of monitoring, technical support as well as the team of service managers, makes it possible to timely identify the emergence and development of critical situations in the network and take measures to maintain the high level of service quality. The analysis of parameter dependencies for subscribers experiencing a deterioration in the service quality allows you to identify and eliminate problems quicker. The obtained data can be exported to CSV and PDF files as diagrams and tables.

Open API 

The open API allows to connect any 3rd-party end-user devices, players, media streamers and CDN components without the involvement of Smartlabs engineers, if needed.

Modularity and Scalability 

The use of the latest advanced data storage and processing technologies makes it possible for SmartCARE to build up a customer information system by adding extra system modules and data storing hardware almost without limits.

Accuracy and Completeness of Data 

SmartCARE collects the data from client devices, operator platforms (recording, streaming, storage servers), OSS/BSS, and edge routers. As a result, you receive more accurate and detailed information on the quality of the digital TV services you are providing.

Quick Data Presentation 

The data you requested is displayed in the interface very quickly regardless of the length of the time period you indicated in the filter. This is possible due to preliminary data aggregation by the SmartCARE system.

Key Features 

• Working in IPTV / OTT networks
• Supporting SmartLabs infrastructure and capable of integrating in the outside infrastructure
• Supporting most customer premises devices
• Analyzing data collected from client devices, operator platform (recording, streaming, storage servers), OSS/BSS, and edge routers
• Analytics, monitoring, reporting tools
• Real-time monitoring
• Filtering events with accuracy to a specific subscriber
• Filtering data by time interval
• Setting up time interval for data aggregation
• Monitoring the quality of DASH, HLS, MSS streaming
• Creating custom dashboards
• Includes all key metrics for quality assessment (the list of metrics is continuously expanded)
• Timely and preventive notification on changes or problems in the system with the help of mathematical algorithms used for system behavior analysis
• Exporting data to CSV and PDF as diagrams and tables
• Creating reports on service consumption
• Role model of system users

Supported End-User Devices 

SmartCARE can analyze data received from:

Devices with SmartTUBE app Installed

• SmartLabs STBs & 3rd-party STBs 
• Android / iOS mobile devices
• Smart TV (Samsung, LG, Hisense, etc.)
• Android TV devices
• PC / Mac

Other Devices

Any 3rd-party devices supporting the SmartCARE End-User Device API.

SmartCARE system has a client-server architecture. The basic analytics data are collected from client devices and live streaming servers and forwarded to the SmartCARE server for processing. Based on the incoming data, the server controls the quality of the provided services and identifies errors that can cause complete image loss, its distortion, rippling or freezing.

Methods of data collection by the SmartCARE system:

• API for client applications;
• Streaming servers’ syslog data, transmitted via UDP;
• Data from Zabbix agents on the recording & streaming servers installed.

List of Metrics

The below metrics can be used for monitoring, analysis and reporting.

Monitoring client sessions

• Unicast and multicast session count also known as Concurrent Media Sessions (CMS) available as real-time and historical values
• Unicast and multicast session quality also known as Mean Opinion Score (MOS)  available as real-time and historical values
• Number of online devices available as a real-time and historical indicator
• Number of bitrate switches on client devices
• CPU and memory utilization on client devices (real-time and average)
• Number of content switches on client devices
• Number of client device authorizations
• Number of metadata loading errors on client devices (for example, errors when loading playlists)
• Number of chunk loading errors on client devices
• Average bitrate of content watching on client devices

Monitoring live streaming servers

• Average bitrate of incoming / outgoing streams with filtering by server’s network interface
• Usage of server’s network interfaces, i.e. average load on the interface (%) when processing incoming / outgoing traffic
• Average value of IOWait system parameter

 Monitoring recording servers

• Number of errors in the source streams delivery with filtering by the recording server / channel and detailing each error
• Average bitrate of the source streams with filtering by the recording server / channel

Abnormalities

• Summary of anomalies grouped by their probable causes
• Detailed list of subscribers with low average session quality
• Detailed list of errors related to the recording of source streams

Statistical Reports

• Number and duration of channel views in Live & TSTV modes
• Number of unique subscribers who watched a TV channel in Live & TSTV modes with detailed viewing duration
• Number of successful & failed authorizations of client devices
• Channel viewing statistics, detailed by unique client devices and the duration of viewing in Live & TSTV modes

Analyzed Events

Events from Client Applications

• Subscriber authorization attempt (successful and failed)
• Beginning of content viewing (channel, recorded show, movie)
• “Keep alive” event during content viewing (every 2–5 minutes, configurable)
• Start, stop, rewind, pause during content viewing
• Critical low memory
• Finishing of content viewing
• Changing the bitrate during content viewing
• Delay between the request for content and the beginning of its playback
• Start and end of stream buffering
• TV programs change
• Abnormal change in the CPU and memory load
• Abnormal change in the WiFi signal level
• Switch to / from standby mode (for STB)
• Internet connection loss
• Transition to the key Client UI sections (the amount of information on these events depends on the set detalization level of analyzing user’s activity). For example:
  • main menu,
  • transition to the channel details (specifying the transfer point: from the channel list, recommendations, etc.),
  • transition to the movie details,
  • transition to the full screen viewing mode,
  • transition to the service management section,
  • transition to the settings section, etc.

Analysis of Streaming Server Logs

• Starting a stream playback
• Switching to another stream
• Bitrate switching (video / audio quality changing)
• Playlist uploading error
• Chunks uploading error

Analysis of Source Stream Recording Server Logs

• Source stream recording errors

Analyzed Parameters

Parameters within the Client Application Events

• Content ID (channel, program, movie, local file, external VoD content)
• URL of the external VoD content
• Type of content viewed (Live, nDVR, VoD)
• Number of frames with playback and decoding errors
• Event type and its time on the client application
• Frame rate
• Number of frames played
• Number of RAM page access errors
• Number of load buffer underrun events
• Content view start/end time
• Join time (the time between the content request and the content begins to play)
• Duration of the stream buffering
• Rewind start time, duration and direction (backward / forward) — for TSTV-programs
• Time of TV program change
• Stream bitrate
• Content viewing mode (online / offline)
• Result of content launching (successful or failed)
• Device ID (UID)
• Subscriber ID (SmartTUBE SDP account number)
• Device type (STB, iPad, Android, etc.)
• IP address of the subscriber device
• Version of the client application
• Geo ID received during the authorization (region ID in the middleware dictionary or from the geolocation system)
• Load buffer filling level
• Wi-Fi signal strength (for STB with Wi-Fi module)
• CPU and memory usage (for STB)
• Duration of Internet connection absence
• Amount of free space in critical directories
• Custom fields (up to 10, for optional parameters transmitting)

Parameters within the Streaming Server Logs Events

• Content ID
• URL of the content requested (playlist /chunk)
• Content request result (error or success)
• Amount of information sent to the client application
• Time the event was logged
• Stream bitrate
• Device ID (UID) — if it was sent in the HTTP request
• Subscriber ID (SmartTUBE SDP account number) — if it was sent in the HTTP request
• Full text of the client application User Agent string. Includes the following parameters:
• version of the client application,
• type of the subscriber device.
• IP address of the subscriber device

Parameters within the Recording Server Logs Events

• Hostname of the incoming streams recording server
• Recorded channel
• Recording error sign
• Full text of the log entry
• Bitrate of the recorded channels

Parameters from Zabbix Agents

• Average CPU IOWait of the monitored server (streaming, recording, storage, etc.)
• Incoming / outgoing bitrate of the monitored server network interfaces
• Inbound / outbound utilization of monitored server network interfaces

Parameters from Edge Routers

• Autonomous system IDs on the network section between the streaming server and the subscriber device
• Data route change time

Parameters from OSS/BSS Systems

• Subscriber ID in OSS / BSS
• Subscriber connection address
• Subscriber device type

SmartCARE user interface is a dashboard that makes it possible to:

• View detailed statistics by subscribers, detailing up to the end user or group of users for any time period — from one minute to several months.

• Highlight problems reducing the service quality, with the information on problem scale and consequences.

• Set up a personal dashboard for monitoring service quality — collect the necessary set of diagrams and reports on a single page and preserve the established filters and dates.

• Export data to CSV and PDF files as diagrams and tables.
• Apply a role model to distinguish SmartCARE users’ access to data.

This article reveals several ways to install SmartTUBE app manually on Android TV and Amazon Fire TV devices. Manually implies that you have a .apk file that you are going to install.

If you are a SmartLabs customer, you can download it from the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.

If you just want to try out our demo app, please email us at sales@smartlabs.tv.

Note: You can also install the SmartTUBE app on your Android TV device right from the Play Market.

Using Android SDK Platform Tools

(Requires USB or Network connection to the computer)

1. Turn on the Developer mode on your device.
   

   Android TV

   Launch the Settings application on your device. Tap the About device option. Then tap the Build number option 7 times to enable Developer mode. You will see a toast message when it is done. Now go back to the main Settings screen and you should see a new Developer options menu you can access. Go in there and turn on USB debugging and Install via USB.

   Amazon Fire TV

   From the main screen, select Settings. Select Device (or My Fire TV) > Developer Options. Turn on ADB Debugging. Turn on Apps from Unknown Sources. (Optional) If your Fire TV supports USB, and you plan to connect your computer to your Fire TV device using a USB cable, turn on USB Debugging. Note that when USB Debugging is enabled, the USB port is unavailable for other uses such as external storage or input devices. To re-enable the USB port, turn off USB debugging.

2. Download the Android SDK Platform Tools ZIP file for Windows, macOS, or Linux.
3. Extract the ZIP to an easily-accessible location.
4. Open a Terminal window in the unzipped folder.
   

   Windows	Open Windows explorer and browse the folder to which you extracted the contents of ZIP file. Right-click the context menu and select Open command window here. (Some Windows 10 users may see PowerShell instead of command window.)
   macOS	Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services. Enable New Terminal at Folder. In the Finder , browse the folder to which you extracted the contents of ZIP file. Right-click the context menu and select New Terminal at Folder.
   Linux	Run sudo apt-get install nautilus-open-terminal in a Terminal. Run nautilus -q to quit all open Nautilus windows. Open Nautilus and browse the folder to which you extracted the contents of ZIP file. Right-click the context menu and select Open in Terminal.

5. Connect to your device using ADB tool.
   

   Network

   Make sure your device and your computer are on the same network. You can use either a wifi network or a wired network. Get the IP address of your device. Amazon Fire TV Settings > Device (or My Fire TV) > About > Network > note the IP address listed on this screen. Android TV Settings > Network & Internet > select the network you are connected to > note the IP address listed on this screen. In the Terminal window, run the following command, where <ipaddress> is the IP address of your device noted in the previous section. The <port> can be any number within the 5555 to 5585 range. adb connect <ipaddress>:<port> For example: adb connect 10.49.172.51:5555 Allow debugging on your device’s screen. If the ADB connection was successful, ADB responds with the message: connected to <ipaddress>:5555 Verify that the Fire TV device appears in the list of devices: adb devices ADB responds with a message like this: List of devices attached 10.49.172.51:5555 device (where 10.49.172.51 is your IP address.)

   USB

   Connect your device to the computer using a USB cable. Run the following commands in Terminal: adb kill-server adb start-server adb devices After the last command, ADB responds with the following message, where <serialno> is the serial number of the device: List of devices attached <serialno> device

6. Rename the downloaded .apk file to lime.apk and copy it to the folder where you unzipped the Android SDK Platform Tools.
7. Input the following command in the Terminal: adb install lime.apk
8. Allow the application to be installed on the screen of your device.

Using USB Drive or Memory Card

(Requires a computer)

1. Connect an USB drive or memory card to your computer.
2. Copy the downloaded .apk file to the drive/card and rename it to lime.apk.
3. Disconnect the drive/card safely from your computer and connect it to your device.
4. Launch the lime.apk file with any file explorer (for example, X-plore File Manager).

Using Downloader application

(Requires an Internet connection on your device)

1. Install the Downloader application on your device using these instructions for Amazon Fire TV or for Android TV devices.
2. Open the Downloader and type URL of the .apk file (for example, https://www.smartlabs.tv/limetv.apk) in the address bar.
3. The Downloader should download the file, request permission to install and install the application.

This guide outlines the steps to manually install the SmartTUBE App on a Samsung Tizen Smart TV using a USB drive. The SmartTUBE App is compatible with all model years of Samsung Tizen Smart TVs available for publishing at the Samsung app store portal.

Requirements

• Partnership with Samsung
• Samsung Seller Office account
• Installation file from SmartLabs
• Clean USB 2.0 drive

Installation Steps

1. Obtain the Installation File

1. If you are a SmartLabs customer, access the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space:
   
   
   
   If not, you can try our demo app. For getting the latest version, please contact our Sales Team. 
2. Find the latest release for Samsung Smart TVs on the page and follow the Application link:
   
   
   
3. Download the .wgt file with by right-click and Save as… option:
   
   

2. Sign the Application

To install the downloaded .wgt file on your Samsung Smart TV using a USB drive, you need to sign it using Samsung Packaging Tool. The signed package is valid for 30 days, after which you can re-sign it using the same method.

1. Sign in to the Samsung Apps TV Seller Office with your credentials:
   
   
   
2. Select USB Demo Packaging Tool from your profile:
   
   
   
3. Agree to the terms and upload the .wgt file:
   
   
4. Download the generated .tmg and .license files.
   

3. Prepare the USB Drive

1. Create a folder named userwidget in the root directory of the USB drive.
2. Copy the .tmg and .license files into the userwidget directory:
   
   

4. Install the App on TV

1. Connect the USB drive to the Samsung Smart TV.
2. A notification stating “App installation with USB package will be started!” should appear:
   
   
   
3. After a few seconds, a second message will confirm “App installation with USB package is done!”:
   
   
   
4. Press the Home or SmartHub button, navigate to the Apps section, and open it:
   
   
   
5. Your app will be available in the Downloaded App section:
   
   

Possible Installation Failures

The reasons for possible issues during the installation process are listed below:

• Incorrect spelling of userwidget directory.
• .tmg and .license files not located in the userwidget directory.
• Existing app installed from Tizen Studio; uninstall it first.
• Insufficient memory on the TV; delete some other apps.
• Sometimes Samsung Smart TVs cannot install the app from too large drive or USB 3.0 drive.
• USB drive in read-only mode, resulting in the error: – 7: “[User App] *.tmg, invalid app package for security check failed[-7]”.
• Space in the .tmg file name, causing an invalid package error: “[User App] * *.tmg, invalid app package for security check failed[]”.
• If installation fails unexpectedly, consider resetting the TV to factory settings and reinstalling after all default apps are installed.

Connecting TV

1. Create an account on https://webostv.developer.lge.com/ 
2. Press Settings button and open All Settings > General > Broadcast Country on your TV and set Country to the same value as was used when you created the account.
3. Turn Set automatically to OFF and set  LG services Country same as Broadcast Country. 
4. Restart your TV and accept license agreement (all articles).
5. Login on TV with LG developer account.
6. Open LG Store, find the Developer mode app and install it.
7. Start the Developer mode app. Login to the app with your LG developer UserID. 
8. Set Dev Mode Status: ON and confirm TV restart (if you use the WiFi connection, you will need to manage network settings after the restart.)
9. Start the Developer mode app and set Key Server: ON 
10. Install the webOS TV CLI app on your PC.
11. Check that your PC and TV are connected to the same network and then start webOS TV CLI.
12. Input the ares-setup-device command in the console mode.
13. You should see 3 variants: add, modify, remove. Choose Add.
14. Set the following connection parameters:
    1. Name of your TV — any string, for example lgtest; 
    2. IP address — IP address of TV (you can find it in the Developer mode app);
    3. Device Port — use default value;
    4. SSH user — use default value;
    5. Description — any string;
    6. Authentication — password;
    7. Password — leave empty, press Enter;
    8. Input “Y” to save setting.
15. Input the command ares-setup-device -list and you should see your TV in the device list.
16. Input the command ares-novacom –device %Name% –getkey and input Passphrase (you can find it in the Developer mode app).

Now your TV is connected to the PC with WebOS CLI.

Application Installation

1. If you are a SmartLabs customer, please go to your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.
   If not, you can try our demo app. For getting the latest version, please contact our Sales Team. 
2. Download the app package intended for the LG Smart TVs from the Software Release Notes page.
3. Open CLI and input ares-install –device %Name% %app_path% (for example, ares-install –device lgtest c:\lime_v6_14_21_295_1080.ipk).
4. Input ares-install –device %Name% –list and check that app has been added to list.
5. Open the My apps menu on the TV and start the installed app.

This manual will guide you through the manual installation of the SmartTUBE app on Hisense Smart TVs running VIDAA OS. If your TV runs Android TV or Fire TV OS, please, follow the corresponding guide.

Prerequisites 

To install the SmartTUBE app on TV, please make sure you meet the following conditions:

• An Internet-connected VIDAA TV.
• Your VIDAA TV is manufactured or upgraded in 2021 and later (Firmware version > L0901)
  or check below platform support table by SoC and VIDAA OS Version shown in DevKit > System Info:
  
  
  Platform Support Table
  

  SoC & OS version	DevKit Support
  MT9900 U6	Supported
  NT72671D U5	Supported
  MT9602 U4	Supported
  MT9602 U5	Supported
  MSD6886 U4	Supported
  MSD6886 U3	Not Supported
  MSD6586 U2.5	Not Supported
  MT5659 U2.5	Not Supported
  MT5658 U2.5	Not Supported

1. Install VIDAA DevKit 

DevKit is an application designed to develop web applications, debugging and, in particular, to install third-party applications on TVs running VIDAA OS. DevKit is not installed in the TV by default, thus you need to enable DevKit by following the steps below.

1. Open the App Store in VIDAA Home:
2. After entering APP Store, move the focus to the search button (DO NOT press OK button):
3. Press the remote control button: 2775379, the following installation success message will pop up in the APP Store:
4. Open More Apps in VIDAA Home, you can see the DevKit app at the bottom:
   
   Note: More Apps may be called My Apps or All Apps on other platforms.
   
   Once the DevKit application is installed, you can move to the next steps.

2. Get the Secure Code

To install applications on your TV, you will need an individual Secure Code. You can get it as follows:

1. Open DevKit.
2. Get the wired MAC address and Device Code displayed on Home screen.
3. Contact with your personal VIDAA PEM manager and send him this information.
4. Wait for the reply with your Secure Code.

3. Verify Secure Code 

1. Open DevKit. You will see a page with key information about the TV system:
2. Platform U4/U5: Input your Secure Code in input box and click Verify button.
   
   Platform U6: Put the securecode.key file you obtained into the USB flash drive and plug it into your TV, open DevKit app and click the Verify button to authorize it.
   
3. If the secure code is validated, you will see a menu like the following image appear:

4. Install the App 

Now is everything ready for the SmartTUBE app installation.

1. Click App Manager.
2. In App Manager, fill out the fields App Name (e.g. SmartLabs Lime), Icon URL and App URL (e.g. https://demo.smartlabs.tv/, if you want to install our demo SmartTUBE Lime app).
   
   If you are a SmartLabs customer, you can find the App URL on the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.
   
   If you just want to try out our demo app, please email us at sales@smartlabs.tv.
   
   Note: If you didn’t specify the Icon URL, then the application icon will be displayed as a transparent rectangle with the specified App Name.
   
3. Select the Resolution under which the application will run.
4. Click Install.

Option for HISENSE TVs produced before 2021 

If your TV is produced before 2021 and does not support the recommended method shown above (accordingly to the Platform Support Table), please follow the instructions below.

1. Run a web browser from the list of applications on your TV.
2. Input hisense://debug in the address bar.
3. Fill out the fields AppName (e.g. SmartLabs Lime) and App URL (e.g. https://demo.smartlabs.tv/, if you want to install our demo SmartTUBE Lime app).
   
   If you are a SmartLabs customer, you can find the App URL on the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.
   
   If you just want to try out our demo app, please email us at sales@smartlabs.tv.
   
   
4. Fill out the Thumbnail field by entering the app’s icon URL. If you didn’t specify this, then the application icon will be displayed as a transparent rectangle with the specified AppName.
5. Click Install. 
6. Turn the TV off using remote control or power button on the TV panel.
7. Turn it on again.
8. Find the installed app in the list of applications and run it.

For Exploring Product 

The configuration below is enough to launch software (SW) and explore product features. You may explore the main components of the SmartTUBE platform on any computer, where you can launch a virtual machine or HW server with the following properties:

All components might be deployed on a single server.

For Testing on an Approximate Real Operator System 

It is recommended for testing SW in a real operator’s conditions.

The configuration below is provided without redundancy. 

Real configuration depends on the actually used service model. HW should run Red Hat Linux Enterprise 7.x (>7.3), x86_64 and CentOS 7.x (>7.3), x86_64. Virtual environment can be used.

Recommended server model: HP ProLiant DL360 / 380 series or similar from other vendors e.g. Supermicro.

1. Send the UUID of your system with installed SmartMEDIA to the following email address: support@smartlabs.tv. It may be viewed in any service journal after a service start. For instance, System UUID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-0011101DD1112. 
2. Copy the file received from SmartLabs to /opt/smartlabs/smartmedia/license.bin on the SmartMEDIA server.

For exploring product

This configuration is enough to launch software (SW) and explore product features.

You may explore the main components of the SmartMEDIA platform on any computer, where you can launch a virtual machine or HW server with the following properties:

• RAM – 8 GB;
• Free space on the disk – at least 50 GB.
• At least 5 GB Storage space per 1 hour / 1 channel recording.

Approximated to real operator’s system for testing

It is recommended for testing SW in a real operator’s conditions.

The configs below are without redundancy.

Storage capacity depends on number of channels with NPVR and calculates as 5 GB/s per 1 channel per 1 hour. In real conditions you should calculate all recording profile’s bitrates for estimating Storage parameters.

HW should be compatible with Red Hat Linux Enterprise or CentOS version 7 x86_64.
Recommended server model: HP ProLiant DL360 / 380 series or similar from other vendors e.g. Supermicro.

Here are some popular (though far from exhaustive) cases when you will need to use SmartMedia or other similar products:

• You are an IPTV or OTT network operator and you want to provide high-quality legal content protected with tested CAS/DRM systems. Maybe you are looking for a full or partial replacement of the already operating solution for delivering and encoding video content (for example, if the current solution is financially unprofitable). We are ready to help you choose!
• You are an IPTV network operator and you want to provide services based on broadcast recording (nDVR) and / or the “second screen” service on OTT devices.
• You are a broadcaster of TV channels and you want to broadcast your channels to subscribers’ devices.

Throughout the existence of SmartMEDIA we have been continuously improving this system, getting the maximum out of the hardware it is operating on.

We currently have customers with about 20 Gb/sec server load, and this is far from the limit. SmartMEDIA services over 10 million subscribers in the networks of large European, Russian and CIS operators.

When choosing a system, compare other SmartMEDIA features besides the price with similar products’ features, such as:

• reliability
• support terms
• capability of deploying an operator’s solution
• compatibility of different components – Middleware, client devices, quality monitoring system, etc.

The total cost of products combined with the hardware can be much higher. For example, to implement all functions of product X, you will have to purchase more hardware. It will cost you more than deploying a similar system based on SmartMEDIA on a single server.

If you are only providing VoD services, you will only need SmartMEDIA system when using certain delivery protocols of VoD stream:

• If you are using HTTP (HLS, DASH) based protocols, you will not need SmartMEDIA or other media servers for stream delivery; a single server for content preparation will be sufficient. After the preparation the content is published on regular HTTP servers where it can be accessed by the subscriber.
• If you need RTSP protocol support (for example, for old STBs not supporting HLS or DASH), you will need SmartMEDIA or other media servers for stream delivery. You will also need to purchase a separate license. Note: in this case it could make more sense to replace the old STB with another one supporting HLS or DASH protocols.

To decrypt streams from a satellite you normally need to apply specialized hardware solutions supporting the installation of CAM modules. In a CAM module, you can insert a card similar to those used in DVB-C/DVB-S servers. There is no such functionality in SmartMEDIA.

SmartMEDIA supports transcoding of audio and video streams. To use this functionality your equipment must meet certain requirements. We support Intel CPU-based transcoding with specialized graphics accelerators that support QSV technology and NVIDIA NVENC technology. Please, see this article for more information.

You can deliver the stream via one of the supported input protocols like Multicast (UDP) or HLS. The list of protocols is being continuously expanded. Please see this article for more details.

SmartTUBE solution provides you with a set of apps for different client platforms. You can test it on your devices following this guide.

1. Get demo accounts
   
   Please email sales@smartlabs.tv with brief information about your company. In response, you’ll receive a list of demo accounts for testing apps on multiple devices at the same time. 
   
2. Install SmartTUBE apps on your devices
   
   
   App for Android TV (v9.0 or newer)
   Get on Google Play
   Install manually
   
   App for Browser (Supported versions)
   Demo
   
   App for LG TV (WebOS 4.0 or newer)
   Get on Content Store
   Install manually
   
   App for Samsung TV (Tizen OS)
   Install manually
   
   App for Hisense TV
   Install manually
   
   App for Fire TV (Stick & Cube)
   Get on Amazon Store
   Install manually
   
   App for Android mobile (v5.0 Lolipop or newer)
   Get on Google Play
   Install manually
   
   App for iOS (iOS 11 or newer)
   Get on App Store
   Install manually
   
3. Try it
   1. Run the app.
   2. Log in using the credentials sent to you.
      
      
      
   3. Now you can evaluate the SmartTUBE app capabilities on your devices.

This article reveals several ways to install SmartTUBE app manually on Android TV and Amazon Fire TV devices. Manually implies that you have a .apk file that you are going to install.

If you are a SmartLabs customer, you can download it from the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.

If you just want to try out our demo app, please email us at sales@smartlabs.tv.

Note: You can also install the SmartTUBE app on your Android TV device right from the Play Market.

Using Android SDK Platform Tools

(Requires USB or Network connection to the computer)

1. Turn on the Developer mode on your device.
   

   Android TV

   Launch the Settings application on your device. Tap the About device option. Then tap the Build number option 7 times to enable Developer mode. You will see a toast message when it is done. Now go back to the main Settings screen and you should see a new Developer options menu you can access. Go in there and turn on USB debugging and Install via USB.

   Amazon Fire TV

   From the main screen, select Settings. Select Device (or My Fire TV) > Developer Options. Turn on ADB Debugging. Turn on Apps from Unknown Sources. (Optional) If your Fire TV supports USB, and you plan to connect your computer to your Fire TV device using a USB cable, turn on USB Debugging. Note that when USB Debugging is enabled, the USB port is unavailable for other uses such as external storage or input devices. To re-enable the USB port, turn off USB debugging.

2. Download the Android SDK Platform Tools ZIP file for Windows, macOS, or Linux.
3. Extract the ZIP to an easily-accessible location.
4. Open a Terminal window in the unzipped folder.
   

   Windows	Open Windows explorer and browse the folder to which you extracted the contents of ZIP file. Right-click the context menu and select Open command window here. (Some Windows 10 users may see PowerShell instead of command window.)
   macOS	Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services. Enable New Terminal at Folder. In the Finder , browse the folder to which you extracted the contents of ZIP file. Right-click the context menu and select New Terminal at Folder.
   Linux	Run sudo apt-get install nautilus-open-terminal in a Terminal. Run nautilus -q to quit all open Nautilus windows. Open Nautilus and browse the folder to which you extracted the contents of ZIP file. Right-click the context menu and select Open in Terminal.

5. Connect to your device using ADB tool.
   

   Network

   Make sure your device and your computer are on the same network. You can use either a wifi network or a wired network. Get the IP address of your device. Amazon Fire TV Settings > Device (or My Fire TV) > About > Network > note the IP address listed on this screen. Android TV Settings > Network & Internet > select the network you are connected to > note the IP address listed on this screen. In the Terminal window, run the following command, where <ipaddress> is the IP address of your device noted in the previous section. The <port> can be any number within the 5555 to 5585 range. adb connect <ipaddress>:<port> For example: adb connect 10.49.172.51:5555 Allow debugging on your device’s screen. If the ADB connection was successful, ADB responds with the message: connected to <ipaddress>:5555 Verify that the Fire TV device appears in the list of devices: adb devices ADB responds with a message like this: List of devices attached 10.49.172.51:5555 device (where 10.49.172.51 is your IP address.)

   USB

   Connect your device to the computer using a USB cable. Run the following commands in Terminal: adb kill-server adb start-server adb devices After the last command, ADB responds with the following message, where <serialno> is the serial number of the device: List of devices attached <serialno> device

6. Rename the downloaded .apk file to lime.apk and copy it to the folder where you unzipped the Android SDK Platform Tools.
7. Input the following command in the Terminal: adb install lime.apk
8. Allow the application to be installed on the screen of your device.

Using USB Drive or Memory Card

(Requires a computer)

1. Connect an USB drive or memory card to your computer.
2. Copy the downloaded .apk file to the drive/card and rename it to lime.apk.
3. Disconnect the drive/card safely from your computer and connect it to your device.
4. Launch the lime.apk file with any file explorer (for example, X-plore File Manager).

Using Downloader application

(Requires an Internet connection on your device)

1. Install the Downloader application on your device using these instructions for Amazon Fire TV or for Android TV devices.
2. Open the Downloader and type URL of the .apk file (for example, https://www.smartlabs.tv/limetv.apk) in the address bar.
3. The Downloader should download the file, request permission to install and install the application.

This guide outlines the steps to manually install the SmartTUBE App on a Samsung Tizen Smart TV using a USB drive. The SmartTUBE App is compatible with all model years of Samsung Tizen Smart TVs available for publishing at the Samsung app store portal.

Requirements

• Partnership with Samsung
• Samsung Seller Office account
• Installation file from SmartLabs
• Clean USB 2.0 drive

Installation Steps

1. Obtain the Installation File

1. If you are a SmartLabs customer, access the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space:
   
   
   
   If not, you can try our demo app. For getting the latest version, please contact our Sales Team. 
2. Find the latest release for Samsung Smart TVs on the page and follow the Application link:
   
   
   
3. Download the .wgt file with by right-click and Save as… option:
   
   

2. Sign the Application

To install the downloaded .wgt file on your Samsung Smart TV using a USB drive, you need to sign it using Samsung Packaging Tool. The signed package is valid for 30 days, after which you can re-sign it using the same method.

1. Sign in to the Samsung Apps TV Seller Office with your credentials:
   
   
   
2. Select USB Demo Packaging Tool from your profile:
   
   
   
3. Agree to the terms and upload the .wgt file:
   
   
4. Download the generated .tmg and .license files.
   

3. Prepare the USB Drive

1. Create a folder named userwidget in the root directory of the USB drive.
2. Copy the .tmg and .license files into the userwidget directory:
   
   

4. Install the App on TV

1. Connect the USB drive to the Samsung Smart TV.
2. A notification stating “App installation with USB package will be started!” should appear:
   
   
   
3. After a few seconds, a second message will confirm “App installation with USB package is done!”:
   
   
   
4. Press the Home or SmartHub button, navigate to the Apps section, and open it:
   
   
   
5. Your app will be available in the Downloaded App section:
   
   

Possible Installation Failures

The reasons for possible issues during the installation process are listed below:

• Incorrect spelling of userwidget directory.
• .tmg and .license files not located in the userwidget directory.
• Existing app installed from Tizen Studio; uninstall it first.
• Insufficient memory on the TV; delete some other apps.
• Sometimes Samsung Smart TVs cannot install the app from too large drive or USB 3.0 drive.
• USB drive in read-only mode, resulting in the error: – 7: “[User App] *.tmg, invalid app package for security check failed[-7]”.
• Space in the .tmg file name, causing an invalid package error: “[User App] * *.tmg, invalid app package for security check failed[]”.
• If installation fails unexpectedly, consider resetting the TV to factory settings and reinstalling after all default apps are installed.

Connecting TV

1. Create an account on https://webostv.developer.lge.com/ 
2. Press Settings button and open All Settings > General > Broadcast Country on your TV and set Country to the same value as was used when you created the account.
3. Turn Set automatically to OFF and set  LG services Country same as Broadcast Country. 
4. Restart your TV and accept license agreement (all articles).
5. Login on TV with LG developer account.
6. Open LG Store, find the Developer mode app and install it.
7. Start the Developer mode app. Login to the app with your LG developer UserID. 
8. Set Dev Mode Status: ON and confirm TV restart (if you use the WiFi connection, you will need to manage network settings after the restart.)
9. Start the Developer mode app and set Key Server: ON 
10. Install the webOS TV CLI app on your PC.
11. Check that your PC and TV are connected to the same network and then start webOS TV CLI.
12. Input the ares-setup-device command in the console mode.
13. You should see 3 variants: add, modify, remove. Choose Add.
14. Set the following connection parameters:
    1. Name of your TV — any string, for example lgtest; 
    2. IP address — IP address of TV (you can find it in the Developer mode app);
    3. Device Port — use default value;
    4. SSH user — use default value;
    5. Description — any string;
    6. Authentication — password;
    7. Password — leave empty, press Enter;
    8. Input “Y” to save setting.
15. Input the command ares-setup-device -list and you should see your TV in the device list.
16. Input the command ares-novacom –device %Name% –getkey and input Passphrase (you can find it in the Developer mode app).

Now your TV is connected to the PC with WebOS CLI.

Application Installation

1. If you are a SmartLabs customer, please go to your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.
   If not, you can try our demo app. For getting the latest version, please contact our Sales Team. 
2. Download the app package intended for the LG Smart TVs from the Software Release Notes page.
3. Open CLI and input ares-install –device %Name% %app_path% (for example, ares-install –device lgtest c:\lime_v6_14_21_295_1080.ipk).
4. Input ares-install –device %Name% –list and check that app has been added to list.
5. Open the My apps menu on the TV and start the installed app.

This manual will guide you through the manual installation of the SmartTUBE app on Hisense Smart TVs running VIDAA OS. If your TV runs Android TV or Fire TV OS, please, follow the corresponding guide.

Prerequisites 

To install the SmartTUBE app on TV, please make sure you meet the following conditions:

• An Internet-connected VIDAA TV.
• Your VIDAA TV is manufactured or upgraded in 2021 and later (Firmware version > L0901)
  or check below platform support table by SoC and VIDAA OS Version shown in DevKit > System Info:
  
  
  Platform Support Table
  

  SoC & OS version	DevKit Support
  MT9900 U6	Supported
  NT72671D U5	Supported
  MT9602 U4	Supported
  MT9602 U5	Supported
  MSD6886 U4	Supported
  MSD6886 U3	Not Supported
  MSD6586 U2.5	Not Supported
  MT5659 U2.5	Not Supported
  MT5658 U2.5	Not Supported

1. Install VIDAA DevKit 

DevKit is an application designed to develop web applications, debugging and, in particular, to install third-party applications on TVs running VIDAA OS. DevKit is not installed in the TV by default, thus you need to enable DevKit by following the steps below.

1. Open the App Store in VIDAA Home:
2. After entering APP Store, move the focus to the search button (DO NOT press OK button):
3. Press the remote control button: 2775379, the following installation success message will pop up in the APP Store:
4. Open More Apps in VIDAA Home, you can see the DevKit app at the bottom:
   
   Note: More Apps may be called My Apps or All Apps on other platforms.
   
   Once the DevKit application is installed, you can move to the next steps.

2. Get the Secure Code

To install applications on your TV, you will need an individual Secure Code. You can get it as follows:

1. Open DevKit.
2. Get the wired MAC address and Device Code displayed on Home screen.
3. Contact with your personal VIDAA PEM manager and send him this information.
4. Wait for the reply with your Secure Code.

3. Verify Secure Code 

1. Open DevKit. You will see a page with key information about the TV system:
2. Platform U4/U5: Input your Secure Code in input box and click Verify button.
   
   Platform U6: Put the securecode.key file you obtained into the USB flash drive and plug it into your TV, open DevKit app and click the Verify button to authorize it.
   
3. If the secure code is validated, you will see a menu like the following image appear:

4. Install the App 

Now is everything ready for the SmartTUBE app installation.

1. Click App Manager.
2. In App Manager, fill out the fields App Name (e.g. SmartLabs Lime), Icon URL and App URL (e.g. https://demo.smartlabs.tv/, if you want to install our demo SmartTUBE Lime app).
   
   If you are a SmartLabs customer, you can find the App URL on the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.
   
   If you just want to try out our demo app, please email us at sales@smartlabs.tv.
   
   Note: If you didn’t specify the Icon URL, then the application icon will be displayed as a transparent rectangle with the specified App Name.
   
3. Select the Resolution under which the application will run.
4. Click Install.

Option for HISENSE TVs produced before 2021 

If your TV is produced before 2021 and does not support the recommended method shown above (accordingly to the Platform Support Table), please follow the instructions below.

1. Run a web browser from the list of applications on your TV.
2. Input hisense://debug in the address bar.
3. Fill out the fields AppName (e.g. SmartLabs Lime) and App URL (e.g. https://demo.smartlabs.tv/, if you want to install our demo SmartTUBE Lime app).
   
   If you are a SmartLabs customer, you can find the App URL on the Software Release Notes page in your SmartLabs Wiki‘s space.
   
   If you just want to try out our demo app, please email us at sales@smartlabs.tv.
   
   
4. Fill out the Thumbnail field by entering the app’s icon URL. If you didn’t specify this, then the application icon will be displayed as a transparent rectangle with the specified AppName.
5. Click Install. 
6. Turn the TV off using remote control or power button on the TV panel.
7. Turn it on again.
8. Find the installed app in the list of applications and run it.

For Exploring Product 

The configuration below is enough to launch software (SW) and explore product features. You may explore the main components of the SmartTUBE platform on any computer, where you can launch a virtual machine or HW server with the following properties:

All components might be deployed on a single server.

For Testing on an Approximate Real Operator System 

It is recommended for testing SW in a real operator’s conditions.

The configuration below is provided without redundancy. 

Real configuration depends on the actually used service model. HW should run Red Hat Linux Enterprise 7.x (>7.3), x86_64 and CentOS 7.x (>7.3), x86_64. Virtual environment can be used.

Recommended server model: HP ProLiant DL360 / 380 series or similar from other vendors e.g. Supermicro.

1. Send the UUID of your system with installed SmartMEDIA to the following email address: support@smartlabs.tv. It may be viewed in any service journal after a service start. For instance, System UUID: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-0011101DD1112. 
2. Copy the file received from SmartLabs to /opt/smartlabs/smartmedia/license.bin on the SmartMEDIA server.

For exploring product

This configuration is enough to launch software (SW) and explore product features.

You may explore the main components of the SmartMEDIA platform on any computer, where you can launch a virtual machine or HW server with the following properties:

• RAM – 8 GB;
• Free space on the disk – at least 50 GB.
• At least 5 GB Storage space per 1 hour / 1 channel recording.

Approximated to real operator’s system for testing

It is recommended for testing SW in a real operator’s conditions.

The configs below are without redundancy.

Storage capacity depends on number of channels with NPVR and calculates as 5 GB/s per 1 channel per 1 hour. In real conditions you should calculate all recording profile’s bitrates for estimating Storage parameters.

HW should be compatible with Red Hat Linux Enterprise or CentOS version 7 x86_64.
Recommended server model: HP ProLiant DL360 / 380 series or similar from other vendors e.g. Supermicro.

Here are some popular (though far from exhaustive) cases when you will need to use SmartMedia or other similar products:

• You are an IPTV or OTT network operator and you want to provide high-quality legal content protected with tested CAS/DRM systems. Maybe you are looking for a full or partial replacement of the already operating solution for delivering and encoding video content (for example, if the current solution is financially unprofitable). We are ready to help you choose!
• You are an IPTV network operator and you want to provide services based on broadcast recording (nDVR) and / or the “second screen” service on OTT devices.
• You are a broadcaster of TV channels and you want to broadcast your channels to subscribers’ devices.

Throughout the existence of SmartMEDIA we have been continuously improving this system, getting the maximum out of the hardware it is operating on.

We currently have customers with about 20 Gb/sec server load, and this is far from the limit. SmartMEDIA services over 10 million subscribers in the networks of large European, Russian and CIS operators.

When choosing a system, compare other SmartMEDIA features besides the price with similar products’ features, such as:

• reliability
• support terms
• capability of deploying an operator’s solution
• compatibility of different components – Middleware, client devices, quality monitoring system, etc.

The total cost of products combined with the hardware can be much higher. For example, to implement all functions of product X, you will have to purchase more hardware. It will cost you more than deploying a similar system based on SmartMEDIA on a single server.

If you are only providing VoD services, you will only need SmartMEDIA system when using certain delivery protocols of VoD stream:

• If you are using HTTP (HLS, DASH) based protocols, you will not need SmartMEDIA or other media servers for stream delivery; a single server for content preparation will be sufficient. After the preparation the content is published on regular HTTP servers where it can be accessed by the subscriber.
• If you need RTSP protocol support (for example, for old STBs not supporting HLS or DASH), you will need SmartMEDIA or other media servers for stream delivery. You will also need to purchase a separate license. Note: in this case it could make more sense to replace the old STB with another one supporting HLS or DASH protocols.

To decrypt streams from a satellite you normally need to apply specialized hardware solutions supporting the installation of CAM modules. In a CAM module, you can insert a card similar to those used in DVB-C/DVB-S servers. There is no such functionality in SmartMEDIA.

SmartMEDIA supports transcoding of audio and video streams. To use this functionality your equipment must meet certain requirements. We support Intel CPU-based transcoding with specialized graphics accelerators that support QSV technology and NVIDIA NVENC technology. Please, see this article for more information.

You can deliver the stream via one of the supported input protocols like Multicast (UDP) or HLS. The list of protocols is being continuously expanded. Please see this article for more details.

If you are a SmartLabs customer you can download the administrator guides below using your SmartLabs Tech Support Center login credentials.

If you are interested in more technical details about SmartLabs products, please contact our sales team at sales@smartlabs.tv.

• SmartTUBE 9.2:
  • Administration Guide — PDF
  • OSS/BSS Integration API — PDF
  • EPG Import Format — PDF
  • VoD Metadata Import Format — PDF
• SmartMEDIA 9.2. Administration Guide — PDF
• SmartCARE 9.1. Administration Guide — Web Help
• UDRM. Administration Guide — PDF
• How-to Articles — Web Help

Note: The administrator guides provided in the Web Help archives must be extracted, and the index.html file should be opened.

Download PDF

SmartTUBE is a complex solution that enables operators to deliver both OTT and IPTV services to subscribers. Its primary objective is to offer a range of subscriber-level services, including:

• Live TV, Catch-up, nPVR and other related services
• VoD content watching and purchase directly in the app
• High quality content playback on end-user devices of various types 
• Access services and watch content on multiple devices at the same time 
• Fast and convenient search for TV channels, programs and VoD content

The SmartTUBE comprises the SmartTUBE Service Delivery Platform (SDP) and SmartTUBE Applications tailored for different end-user devices such as STB, mobile, tablet, Smart TV, media players, and PC.

SmartTUBE SDP is the core component of the SmartTUBE, responsible for managing services, users, content, pricing, metadata, end-user device provisioning, and dynamic ad insertion. It provides seamless interaction with billing systems, payment gateways, and third-party information systems installed on the operator’s side. All features and capabilities of the SmartTUBE SDP can be managed through a single web-based SmartTUBE Admin Console. 

SmartTUBE architecture

The SmartTUBE SDP architecture integrates 5 functional modules:

• Subscriber Management: Enables operators to oversee service accounts, end-user devices, profiles, service bundling, tariff plans, and multiple tenant configurations. A comprehensive and time-tested API provides seamless integration and interaction with OSS/BSS systems and payment gateways. Learn more…
• Content Management: Offers comprehensive support for both TV-related services and xVoD services:
  • Enables operator to manage TV services, including control over channel streaming and encryption settings, channel bundling and regional availability, EPG import from external providers, support for nPVR and Catch-up service assurance subsystems, and other functionalities. Learn more…
  • SmartTUBE SDP supports all models of Video on Demand (VoD) content, enabling operators to manage the movie and series library from both local operator’s sources and external content providers. The SmartTUBE SDP empowers operators to oversee content metadata, regional accessibility, pricing policies, and other key features of the VoD service. Learn more…
• Marketing: Offers operators various tools and opportunities to promote content and services to subscribers, such as banners, custom content rails, automatic content recommendations, marketing notifications, and dynamic ad insertion management with an option to integrate with external ad management system. Learn more…
• Reporting & Analytics: Provides operator with current statistics on content consumption, subscriber demand for specific services, and customer base analytics, enabling timely business decisions. Learn more…
• System Management: Ensures the operation of the platform as a whole, allowing operators to manage system settings, automate system processes, control access for platform users, alert for failures, provision end-user devices, localize and customize the SmartTUBE Apps, and more…

SmartTUBE Apps are a range of user-friendly and highly customizable applications compliant with the most current streaming industry standards. Tailored for popular device platforms, these applications seamlessly integrate established user interaction patterns to offer a superior viewing and application experience. Users have access to a diverse content selection, including live TV, video-on-demand, catch-up TV, nPVR, and shared TV recordings, all enriched with advanced features of cutting-edge streaming applications. Learn more…

SmartTUBE Applications

Subscriber Management Entities

• Service Account
• Device
• User Profile
• Service Bundle
• Pricing Plan
• Price List
• Discount

The diagram below demonstrates the relationship of these entities:

Diagram 1. Relationship of SmartTUBE SDP subscriber management entities

Service Account

Service Account contains information about a subscriber and uniquely identifies it on the platform. It is characterized by a unique identifier, status (active, blocked, etc.), and login/password common for all subscriber’s devices (used for device authenticating).

The following operations can be performed on Service Accounts:

• Multiple Devices can be linked to a Service Account for using them in parallel by a subscriber.
• The set of services available to the subscriber is determined by the Pricing plan assigned to the Service Account. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to a Service Account.
• Multiple User Profiles containing personalized content consumption restrictions and settings can be assigned to the Service Account.
• Operator can specify the trial period for the account and manage its duration, along with setting the account status after the trial period expires.
• Management and synchronization of the linked SmartTUBE SDP and OSS/BSS accounts are performed via SmartTUBE API. Subscriber’s personal data is stored on the OSS/BSS side only.

Device

Device uniquely identifies subscriber’s device on the platform. Each Device can only be linked to a single Service Account and characterizes by

• Unique identifier (UID)
• Device Type: Determines the device functionality when interacting with the platform. For example, use different TV streams on devices of different type, use different banners or channel logos, etc.
• Individual login/password used for authenticating device on the platform.

Operator can perform the following actions with Devices:

• Limit the number of Devices that can be linked to the same Service Account (with differentiation by device type) and/or simultaneously consuming services. Subscribers can exceed the set limits by purchasing a corresponding Service Bundle.
• Link Devices to a specific region, allowing for the management of regional streaming.
• Enable/disable DVB-T input, unprotected analog outputs, and HDCP protection of HDMI outputs on STBs that support this functionality.
• Factory reset and reboot on STBs
• Create an SSH tunnel to Devices (if it is technically possible)
• Manage firmware and installed apps on Linux and Android-based STBs, as well as configuration parameters on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including mobile and Smart TV platforms. These actions are performed with SmartTUBE Device Manager.

User Profile

User Profile contains individual age restrictions for viewing/purchasing content and TV channel sorting settings. Each User Profile also stores individual viewing history, lists of favorite channels, movies, reminders, recordings, and purchased movies.
Multiple User Profiles can be linked to the Service Account, meaning they can be shared across all Devices linked to the Service Account.

Profiles have the following set of parameters:

• Nickname
• Collection of Profile Icons to choose from
• PIN code: Used to secure the profile from unauthorized access and editing, and to prevent unauthorized purchases of content and subscriptions to services.
• Default Access Level: The highest age rating of content that a user can view without entering a PIN. Content with a higher age rating is considered adult content.
• Maximum access level: The highest age rating of content to be displayed in the TV channel list and VoD library. Content rated above this level is hidden from the app’s UI.

Pricing Plan

Pricing Plan is a collection of multiple Service Bundles and Discounts that enable operator to manage the service provisioning rules for subscribers. For this purpose, the Pricing Plan is assigned to the subscribers’ Service Accounts. Only one Pricing Plan can be assigned to the same Service Account. Each Pricing Plan can be shared across multiple Service Accounts.

Pricing Plan allows to control the following provisioning conditions of each Service Bundle and Discount:

• Validity period of the bundle/discount within the Pricing Plan
• Type of devices to which the bundle/discount to be applied
• Bundle/discount status at the time the Pricing Plan is applied. Can be Active, Not active or Invisible (the bundle/discount is disabled and hidden for subscribers).
• Duration following the Pricing Plan activation, after which the bundle/discount becomes inactive.

• Allow subscribers to enable/disable the bundle/discount in the app
• Hide the bundle/discount from subscribers within the app. This way, the bundle/discount can only be activated by the operator or through subscription to other dependent bundles/discounts.
• Hide the bundle/discount after unsubscribing and set the corresponding Service Account state accordingly

Service Bundle

Service Bundle is a collection of content or services offered to subscribers for a fee or at no cost. For the Service Bundle to be available to subscribers, it must be included into the Pricing Plan. Multiple Service Bundles can be included into multiple Pricing Plans.

The cost of a Service Bundle for a subscriber is determined by the Price Lists.

SmartTUBE supports the following types of Service Bundles:

• TV Channel Bundle: A collection of channels provided to subscribers within the bundle.
• DVR Bundle: A set of TV channel with Catch-up services enabled. It offers control over archive storage depth, as well as the provision of TSTV and/or Pause Live services for each channel individually.
• VoD Bundle: Outlines the pricing model (TVoD, SVoD, AVoD, FVoD) for the movies/series within the bundle, their linkage to the operator’s local movie/series library or external content providers, offline movie viewing capabilities, and connection to a VAST server for AVoD content.
• nPVR Bundle: A collection of channels eligible for nPVR services. It allows to manage the following bundle attributes:
  • Recording Time Quota: Maximum duration of all subscriber recordings.
  • Recording Storage Quota: Storage duration of subscriber recordings.
  • Notification Quota Level: Threshold at which the subscriber is notified about approaching to the Recording Time Quota.
  • Quota Overspending Limit: Maximum amount a user can go over their Recording Time Quota. If the quota is exceeded, the user must delete the extra recordings before scheduling more.
  • Restriction to record the ongoing or finished TV programs
  • nPVR Duration: Period within which the recording of finished TV programs is allowed.
• PPV Bundle: Sets the pricing rules for pay-per-view TV programs. The operator can choose to charge a fixed price for the whole program or charge based on the minutes watched.
• Device / Session Limit as a Bundle: Allows subscribers to increase the number of devices linked to the Service Account and/or Devices simultaneously consuming services beyond the limit set by the operator.

Price List

Price List determines the cost and provision conditions of the Service Bundle. Price Lists can be of two provision types:

• One-time Purchase: Involves a single payment for the Service Bundle for a specific rental period (such as a day, month, year, or lifetime). Payment is handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.
• Subscription: The Service Bundle is provided for a certain period of time and involves periodic payment. The subscription charges and payment frequency are handled by OSS/BSS through an integration API.

Multiple Price Lists of the same provision type but with different prices and non-overlapping validity periods can be assigned to the same Service Bundle. That is, at any given time, a Service Bundle can have only one active Price List of a certain provision type.

For the TVoD content, it is also possible to set different prices and rental periods for each type of movie assets (e.g. SD and HD). Additionally, the asset price may vary depending on the Service Bundle or content provider.

Discounts

Price List can be optionally adjusted with Discount of the following types:

• Overriding discount: Overwrites the cost of the Price List with its own.
• Percentage discount: Specifies the percentage of discount applied to the cost of Price List.

The Discount is applied to the Pricing Plan. Thus it overlaps all Price Lists of all Service Bundles included in the Pricing Plan.

The provision conditions of Discount (validity period, device type dependence, etc.) are managed by the Pricing Plan.

The Price List and Pricing Plan can only have one active Discount at any given time, but one Discount can be applied to multiple Price Lists and Pricing Plans.

Subscriber Registration and Sign-In Options

SmartTUBE SDP offers various options for registering and signing in subscribers on the platform:

• Sign-in by Login and Password: These credentials can be set for the entire Service Account or a specific Device.
• Passwordless Sign-in: Operators can register devices on the platform without requiring login credentials if they manage the customer’s home network and know their IP address.
• Trial Sign-in: Operators can set a trial period for subscribers and specify what types of devices they can use during this period.

Multiple Tenancy Configurations

The multitenant configuration allows the following resources and features to be individualized for each tenant:

• Service Accounts and Devices
• Service Bundles and pricing rules
• Access rights to SmartTUBE Admin Console for tenant employees
• Statistical reports
• Limited apps’ UI customization:– Tenant logo on the splash screen when starting the app

  – Tenant logo on the status bar

  – Selector color

  – Limited styling features on the Home screen

  Please note that the app remains the same for all tenants. The operator cannot change the app icon and name individually for each tenant!

• Subscriber notifications
• Licensing calculations

At the same time, each tenant may utilize shared content (TV channels, EPG, VOD library) and metadata sets.

Platform administrators have full access to all platform resources.

SmartTUBE SDP provides a suite of tools designed for Content Management Departments to control TV-related content and VoD movie/series library. The platform also supports the import and management of multilingual Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and VoD-related metadata.

TV-related Content

SmartTUBE SDP capabilities enable operators to manage TV content distributed over IPTV, OTT, and DVB-T/T2/C networks and provided with the following TV services:

• Live TV: Real-time television streaming.
• Catch-up: Services allowing subscribers to watch TV programs for a period after they have aired. Recording of the source streams is done on the operator’s equipment using hardware or software (e.g. SmartMEDIA Content Delivery Subsystem). Services include:
  • Pause Live (Restart TV): Allows to pause, rewind, and fast-forward within the ongoing TV program.
  • Start Over: Allows to start watching the ongoing TV program from the beginning.
  • Time Shift (TSTV): Allows to play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward completed TV programs within a time frame determined by the operator.
  • Catch-up Content Library :  Enables access to selected TV programs recorded by operator and provided to subscribers via content rails on the SmartTUBE Apps’ Home screen.
• nPVR: Cloud recording of completed, ongoing, and upcoming TV programs initiated by a subscriber.

Management of TV-related content

• Channel Management
  • Channel Metadata: Provides control over the channel title, description, number in the channel list, and topics. The channel can have a single logo for display on all device types or multiple logos optimized for each one.
  • Streaming Settings: Allow to configure channel streaming sources, URLs for multicast or unicast outgoing streams, URLs of DVR and nPVR servers, define encryption types for different device types, set regional restrictions or block the channel broadcast immediately.
  • Age Restrictions: Each channel is assigned an age access level, dictating its visibility in apps and user access with or without a PIN code. For more details, check User Profile.
  • Channel Sorting: Operator can control channel sorting in apps by combining sorting by channel number and fixed channel position.
• Program Management
  • Program Metadata:  Provides control over original and custom program titles, serialized TV show attributes, release country and year, poster, age rating, genre, personalities, awards, and so on.
  • Automatic EPG Import: Supports XMLTV, a widely used standard for describing TV listings, and SmartLabs EPG XML, a simplified XML format developed by SmartLabs and detailing all EPG metadata processed by the SmartTUBE SDP.
  • Catch-up Options: Allows to manage the availability of the program for catch-up services and the duration of availability.
  • Blackout: Operator is able to block broadcasting of certain programs by replacing the video stream with a predetermined image.
  • Restriction for nPVR Recording for Certain Device Types
  • Additional Program Logo Overlay: Overlaying additional logo on top of the video stream of a specific TV program. Implemented in conjunction with the SmartMEDIA Content Delivery System.
• Closed Caption (CC) Management: Allows to manage the selection of CC tracks present in the original channel stream and available to subscribers.

SmartTUBE SDP supports all models of the Video on Demand (VoD) content providing, allowing operators to manage the movie and series library from both local storage and external content providers:

• TVoD (Transactional Video on Demand): Allows a user to access a movie/series by making a one-time payment. After the purchase, the user has a limited time to watch the movie.
• SVoD (Subscription Video on Demand): Provides a user with long term access to a range of movies/series by subscribing either through a single payment or periodic charges.
• AVoD (Advertising Video on Demand): Offers a user free content access supported by ads that are displayed before (pre-roll), after (post-roll), or during (mid-roll) video playback.

Management of xVoD Library

• Content Metadata: Operator can manage a wide range of content metadata including original and custom titles, release country and year, posters and screenshots, distribution period, age rating, genre, personalities, awards, and so on.
• Content Assets: Enables operator to manage assets for movies, series episodes and their trailers. Each movie and episode can have several asset versions (e.g. SD, HD, UHD) for different device types, encryption options, content providers, pricing and bundling rules. Assets can be individually enabled for offline viewing by subscribers within the SmartTUBE Apps.
• Regional Restrictions: Regional restrictions can be applied at the movie and series level.
• Integration with VoD Content Providers: SmartTUBE offers streamlined integration schemes with a number of content providers.

Radio Stations

SmartTUBE SDP provides features for managing radio station broadcasting with configuration options similar to those available for TV-related content.

The SmartTUBE solution provides Marketing Departments with a variety of tools to promote content and services within the SmartTUBE Apps:

• Banners
• Content Rails
• Content Recommendation Engine
• Ad Insertion Management
• Marketing Messaging

Banners

The banner carousel is located at the top of the Home screen of all SmartTUBE Apps. Each banner may have individual images for end-user devices of different types and can lead to the TV channel, program, xVoD content, genre, service, or external URL. Operators can manage the following banner attributes and options:

• Display Options of Banner Carousel:
  • Regular Banners: Regular opaque banners with a clear bottom edge, not overlapped by any other UI elements.
  • Faded Banners: Banners with a faded bottom edge typically overlapped by the Main menu and first Content rail.
  • Banners with Auto-play Trailers: Faded banners of the movie or series that starts playing the trailer automatically when it’s in focus after a set time.
• Display frequency in the carousel: Allows to set each banner to high, medium and low priority for display in the carousel.
• Time frame and duration to display
• Display only for certain Device types and Pricing plans

Content Rails

Operators have the ability to populate the content pages (Home, Movies, TV Series, and My Profile) with an unlimited number of predefined and custom Content rails:

• Manually recommended content: Curated xVoD content or TV programs manually selected by the operator.
• Auto recommended content: Automatically generated xVoD content based on user viewing history, leveraging the SmartTUBE Recommender module.
• TV Channels: Display of TV channels presented as posters of currently streaming programs. User-favorited channels are prioritized, followed by operator-sorted channels.
• Top 10 TV programs: Compilation of the most popular TV programs viewed by all subscribers.
• Applications: List of integrated applications defined by the operator. Available only for the Android TV / STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App is a launcher.
• Continue watching: List of xVoD content and TV programs that the user has not finished watching.
• Watch history: Chronological listing of xVoD content and TV programs watched by the user.
• Favorite channels: Channels and movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Favorite movies: Movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Personal recordings: Recordings of TV programs initiated by the user within the nPVR service.
• Reminders: Alerts for upcoming TV programs set by the user.
• Purchased movies: List of xVoD content purchased by the subscriber.
• Custom rails: Operator-filtered xVoD content or TV programs based on various content and subscriber’s account attributes (for example, French comedies of 80-th, Modern Bollywood movies, Jackie Chan action movies, etc.). The filtered TV programs and xVoD content can be sorted by various attributes.

Content Recommendation Engine

SmartTUBE SDP features an integrated module for the automatic generation of xVoD content recommendations called SmartTUBE Recommender. This module periodically analyzes subscriber views of content, content characteristics (such as genres, countries, descriptions, etc.), and optionally, user characteristics (such as gender, age, geolocation). It then generates ordered sets of xVoD content recommendations for each user and sets of similar movies/series for each user.

SmartTUBE Recommender provides two types of recommendations:

• User-based: Calculated based on the user profile settings, the user’s viewing preferences and their similarity to other subscribers, and so on. This type of recommendation is only available in conjunction with the SmartCARE (SmartLabs analytics software for IPTV/OTT networks).
• Context-aware: Calculated based on the similarity of movie metadata (description, genres, cast, etc.)

The generated recommendations can be displayed in SmartTUBE Apps on content rails, in movie detail cards, and in the player.

Ad Insertion Management

SmartTUBE is an integral component of SmartLabs Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) solution that enables operators to dynamically insert or replace ad blocks in live video streams, pre-recorded, and xVoD content. Thanks to VAST protocol support, operator can partner with third-parties or create its own campaigns within SmartTUBE SDP without relying on external ad services.

The SmartLabs DAI solution is made up of three key modules:

• SmartTUBE Advertising Decision System (ADS): Carries information about advertisers, ad campaigns, ad creatives, placement dates and duration, types, target devices, target content, and other parameters. Using this data, ADS can make a decision which ad fits a specific insertion opportunity. The ADS also provides campaign performance reports highlighting key metrics. Implemented as a component of SmartTUBE SDP.
• Server-side Ad Insertion Module: Implemented as a component of SmartMEDIA Content Delivery System
• Client-side Ad Insertion Module: Implemented as a component of SmartTUBE Apps
  The Server-side and Client-side ad insertion modules request an ad decision from the ADS via the VAST protocol. The ADS finds a matching set of ads based on the request targeting criteria and responds with a VAST response carrying the data about the ad to be inserted.

There are 2 use cases for using the SmartTUBE DAI:

• Ad insertion into HLS / DASH streams for OTT subscribers: Involves inserting ad blocks on the SmartTUBE App side and getting data on them within the stream playlists/manifests. The preparation of playlists/manifests and ad creatives to be sent to the device is performed on the SmartMEDIA side.
  
• Ad insertion into linear TS streams: Involves inserting ad blocks directly into the source TS streams using SmartMEDIA components. The resulting TS output can be distributed over IPTV networks, or pushed to satellite or DVB-C head-ends:

Marketing Messaging

SmartTUBE allows to send messages to the end-user devices via SmartTUBE Admin Console or OSS/BSS API. It can be used for notification about new services, promotions, technical works, etc. The messaging can be performed either individually to a specific subscriber or massively using filters on the subscriber base.

Message sending can be scheduled with filtering recipients by user identifier, pricing plan, and tenant. Additionally, messages can be sent automatically for events like first authorization, account creation, service subscription/unsubscription, and pricing plan changes.

Operator can manage the following message attributes:

• Message text: Allows to insert such user-identifying variables as user ID, device ID, and service account number.
• Expiration period
• Display duration
• Number of message reminders and their display duration
• Tenant relation
• Appearing animation: Slide-down or pop-up
• Image, icon, and URL of a video to be attached to the message
• Message opacity
• Link to the service bundle, xVoD content, TV channel
• Delivery type:
  • Long Polling: Messages are sent using Long Polling mechanism and displayed as a modal window in the SmartTUBE App only after it is launched.
  • Push: Messages are sent using the Apple APN and Google GCM services and displayed additionally in the notification shade regardless of whether the SmartTUBE App is running or not.

Message recipients can be specified by a list of device IDs or selected based on the following criteria:

• Account login, number, name, status
• Account creation date
• Pricing plan
• Service bundle presence in the Pricing plan
• Status of the service bundle
• Device type
• App version
• STB UID
• IP address
• Date of linking the device to the account
• Last stored device location
• Last device authorization date

The SmartTUBE reporting system offers Marketing, Sales, and Content Management Departments with real-time and historical statistics of content consumption and specific resource/service demand among subscribers.

• Service accounts and devices:
  • Created/deleted accounts report: Number of accounts added/deleted for the period.
  • Service accounts not authorized till now: List of accounts without authorizations for the period until today.
  • Service accounts without new connections: List of accounts without new device connections for the period until today.
  • Individual service account reports: History of service bundle subscriptions, status changes, nPVR usage stats and errors, accepted text offers, and pricing plan changes.
  • Number of pricing plan changes:  Number of pricing plan shifts for the period with specifying the previous/new plan.
  • Percentage of accounts by state: Number and percentage of accounts by status on the day specified.
  • Percentage of users by pricing plan: Number and percentage of accounts by pricing plan on the day specified.
  • Devices: Detailed info on the devices authorized during the period with filtering by the service account, as well as device name, UID, and type.
  • Device UID changes:  Change history of the unique identifier of each registered device.
• Service and content consumption:
  • Service consumption:  Number of service accounts subscribed to specific service bundles during the period.
  • Service consumption in detail: Details on subscriptions to service bundles during the period with details on accounts and pricing plans.
  • Purchased TVoD movies: Brief report on TVoD content purchases during the period.
  • Purchased TVoD movies in detail: Detailed report on TVoD content purchases during the period.
  • SVoD metacontent view count: Report on SVoD content views during the period with filtering by service bundles and content providers.
  • Detailed report by SVoD: Detailed report on SVoD content subscriptions during the period with filtering by service bundles and content providers.
  • VoD view statistics: General report on the number and duration of xVoD content views with grouping of results by periods (hour, day, etc.) and filtering by viewing duration of each movie/episode.
  • Channel coverage: Details on TV channel audience and viewing duration in live and catch-up modes with grouping of results by periods (day, month) and filtering by channel, device type, pricing plan and viewing duration.
  • Channel viewing statistics: Number and duration of the channel views in live and catch-up modes with grouping of results by periods (5 min, hour, day, etc.) and filtering by channel, device type, and viewing duration.
  • TOP 10 most viewed TV programs: Number of viewers of the 10 most popular TV programs for the period with filtering by channel.

The following reports provide a real-time view of the devices and apps used by subscribers:

• Service account w/o devices:  List of accounts with no devices connected or devices with no UID.
• Device combinations on service accounts: All unique combinations of devices linked to accounts, itemized by state and number of accounts, as well as by number of devices. 
• Statistics by device types: Number of devices of different types currently registered on the platform.
• Statistics by app versions: Number of devices of different SmartTUBE app versions with filtering by device type, device model, and app version.

The majority of SmartTUBE system functions are accessed and controlled through the web-based SmartTUBE Admin Console. Fine-tuning of platform functionality is carried out through configuration files of SmartTUBE SDP components. Together, these management tools provides System Administration Departments with complete control over platform aspects and features described below:

• End-user Device Provisioning: SmartTUBE SDP includes SmartTUBE Device Manager, a service with the web console for managing firmware, apps and configurations on all types of IPTV/OTT devices including Linux and Android STBs, mobile and Smart TV platforms.  This console enables software artefacts management (STB Linux and Android firmware, private app repository for AOSP, configuration files), device grouping (production, staging, etc.), HTTP and Multicast firmware distribution, software version tracking, update strategies management (soft update, force update, minimal allowed version), etc.​
• Process Automation: Various service tasks (e.g. EPG import, cache data reload, etc.) can be performed automatically at set schedule.
• Admin Console Access: Operators can manage users with specific access roles like Administrator, Content Manager, Business Manager, Technical Support Specialist, and Analyst. Multiple roles can be assigned to a user, defining access to different features within the console.
• Failure Alerts: Provides email alerts for failures related to OSS integration, EPG and VoD metadata import, database connection limits, and SmartMEDIA warnings.
• Device Geolocation:  To manage access to content based on IP address range, operators can assign IPTV devices to specific subnets or utilize data from third-party services like Maxmind (under a separate contract) to determine the geo or network location of OTT devices. Operators can also restrict access to services for mobile devices when transitioning between network connections (e.g., from home network to cellular one). 
• License usage statistics: Provides detailed information about installed licenses, including their types, number of service accounts and active devices used.  
• License features: Operators can manage the availability of features that depend on the license type. 
• Rebooting STBs: Enables remote reboot of STBs  by a list of UIDs or by matching conditions.
• Cache Server Data Reload: Allows to manually update metadata and system settings on cache servers to quickly pass changes to devices. 
• Data Export: SmartTUBE Admin Console allows to export any data stored in the SmartTUBE SDP database to CSV format.

Apps Localization and Customization

SmartTUBE provides a comprehensive toolkit for localizing and customizing SmartTUBE Apps’ UI and UX. This process occurs in two stages:

• Initial: Performed by SmartLabs specialists at the stage of system commissioning.
• Operational: Performed by the operator during the system operation.

Initial customization allows to adjust the UI within the existing structure (layout of the main components, animation logic, etc.) and includes the following possibilities:

• Interface Localization: SmartTUBE provides the ability to localize the interface to the operator’s language by the operator. English is supported by default. Localization in languages using fonts containing hieroglyphs, arabic script and other specific alphabets, is discussed separately.
• Operator Logo: Can be placed in the various parts of UI (upper left corner, placeholders, splash screen, etc.);
• Color of Selected Elements
• Animation of Waiting States

Operational customization allows the operator to change the representation of the Home screen and Movies/Series sections by uploading the corresponding configuration files to devices via SmartTUBE Device Manager, a service for managing firmware and apps on all types of IPTV/OTT devices.

Security Mechanisms 

SmartTUBE system protects IPTV / OTT services and confidential information from unauthorized access at different levels utilizing the following mechanisms:

• Device activation and user authorization: Each time a device attempts to connect to the SmartTUBE SDP, the system compares its device ID and serial number with the values stored in the DB when the device was activated. If the device ID and serial number do not match, the device is not allowed to access services.
• Connection sessions management: SmartTUBE SDP uses special identifiers to manage each connection session with devices. Each connection session lives for a limited period, after which the session closes and SmartTUBE SDP stops the information delivery to the device. This also avoids the memory shortage and related security issues on STB devices.​
• Token-based authorization: SmartTUBE SDP issues a unique token to each device upon authorization on the platform. This token is then passed by the device in all requests to the platform and SmartMEDIA streaming servers for the OTT TV channel streams. This process ensures that only authorized devices can access the SmartTUBE platform and view content securely.
• Secure access to SmartTUBE Admin Console: Provided by the authorization mechanism with the login and password issued by the system administrator.
• OSS/BSS API Access: Interaction with SmartTUBE SDP from the OSS/BSS side via API can be protected with login and password. 
• Network-level security: The HTTPS protocol with SSL certificate management is used for interactions between devices, external systems, and SmartTUBE SDP. Session control is used for interactions between platform nodes and the database.
• Protection against STB duplication: STB has built-in protection against duplication, which prevents the possible device counterfeiting.

Licensing 

The SmartTUBE licensing policy offers two license types, SmartTUBE Basic and SmartTUBE Ultra, providing operators with different levels of features and functionality to choose from.

How many licenses do I need? 

SmartTUBE is licensed according to the number of service accounts and active devices. You can purchase one or more simultaneously active licenses of the following subtypes:

• License by accounts: This method considers only active service accounts — accounts with the status other then Suspended, Trial closed, Closed, Deleted, regardless of whether the subscriber uses the services or not.
• License by devices: This method considers only active devices — devices with a non-empty UID and linked to the active account, which were authorized at least once and (optional) with the date of the last authorization is no more than N days ago. Operator can specify which device types will be considered by this license.
• License by service account with devices: This method considers only active service accounts to which only the specified types of devices can be linked. The operator should specify the number of active devices licensed under one license.

SmartTUBE Apps are a range of user-friendly and highly customizable applications compliant with the most current streaming industry standards. Tailored for popular device platforms, these applications seamlessly integrate established user interaction patterns to offer a superior viewing and application experience. Users have access to a diverse content selection, including live TV, video-on-demand, catch-up TV, nPVR, and shared TV recordings.

Note:  As we continually enhance the UI and UX of SmartTUBE Apps, please note that the screenshots below might not reflect the latest versions.

Home Screen

The Home screen is the first screen the user sees after loading the app or hitting the ‘Home’ button. Operators can customize it’s layout by managing Top banner, Main menu, and a set of Content rails.

Top Banner

Operator can choose one of the following options to display the Top banner:

• Regular banner: A regular opaque banner with a clear bottom edge, not overlapped by any other UI elements.
• Faded banner: An opaque banner with a faded bottom edge typically overlapped by the main menu and first content rail. Optionally, the faded banner can automatically play the movie trailer after a set amount of time when it is in focus.

Main Menu

The Main menu on large-screen devices can be displayed in either a vertical or horizontal arrangement. For horizontal layouts, menu items can be enhanced with icons or presented as plain text. The Main menu may include the following items:

• TV: Displays channels and programs as a vertical scrollable list for easy navigation. Includes detailed information about current broadcasts, channel guides, and completed/upcoming programs with description and screenshot.
• EPG: Displays a classic EPG grid showcasing TV programs’ durations on a horizontal timeline. Users can to select a program for additional information and functions, with a window displaying the current broadcast.
• Search: Allows to search through all types of content, displaying TV programs and VoD content on one screen.
• Movies: Displays the movie library with posters and titles in a mosaic view or as a list of content rails.
• TV Series: Displays the series library featuring posters and titles presented in either a mosaic view or themed rails list. Each poster serves as a visual representation of a series, enabling users to delve into a series card. From there, subscribers can choose the desired season and episode for viewing.
• Radio: Opens the list of IP radio stations available for listening.
• My [operator name]: Allows a subscriber to access personalized content such as watch history, favorite channels and movies, personal recordings, reminders, and purchased movies.
• Applications: Provides access to the library of Android apps available on Android TV / Android STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App acts as a launcher.
• Settings: Provides access to the user profile settings and system settings (time zone, network settings, video output modes, etc.).

The main menu on mobile devices typically includes the following items: Home, My, Search, and Downloads. The Downloads section allows users to access content that has been downloaded for offline viewing. Additionally, users can navigate to the TV, Movies, and Series pages using the top menu located on the Home screen.

Content Rails

Operators have the ability to populate the content pages (Home, Movies, Series, and My Profile) with an unlimited number of predefined and custom Content rails:

• TV Channels: Display of TV channels presented as posters of currently streaming programs. User-favorited channels are prioritized, followed by operator-sorted channels.
• Manually recommended content: Curated xVoD content or TV programs manually selected by the operator.
• Auto recommended content: Automatically generated xVoD content based on user viewing history, leveraging the SmartTUBE Recommender module.
• Top 10 TV programs: Compilation of the most popular TV programs viewed by all subscribers.
• Applications: List of integrated applications defined by the operator. Available only for the Android TV / STB devices, if the SmartTUBE App is a launcher.
• Continue watching: List of xVoD content and TV programs that the user has not finished watching.
• Watch history: Chronological listing of xVoD content and TV programs watched by the user.
• Favorite channels: Channels marked as favorites by the user.
• Favorite movies: Movies marked as favorites by the user.
• Personal recordings: Recordings of TV programs initiated by the user within the nPVR service.
• Reminders: Alerts for upcoming TV programs set by the user.
• Purchased movies: List of xVoD content purchased by the subscriber.
• Custom rails: Operator-filtered xVoD content or TV programs based on various content and subscriber’s account attributes (for example, French comedies of 80-th, Modern Bollywood movies, Jackie Chan action movies, etc.). The filtered TV programs and xVoD content can be sorted by various attributes.

TV-related Content

SmartTUBE Apps provide users with access to the comprehensive functionalities offered by the SmartTUBE solution for TV-related services:

Channel List with Program Guide: Displays channels and programs in a vertical scrollable list for easy navigation. Includes detailed information about current broadcasts, channel guides, and completed/upcoming programs with description and screenshot.

EPG Grid: A classic Electronic Program Guide available for large-screen devices. TV programs are displayed horizontally with durations on a timeline. User can select a program for more info and functions, with a window showing the current broadcast.

Theme-Based Channel Filtering: User can filter channels by themes (such as sports, news, entertainment) or genres of currently airing programs (if the genres are provided by the EPG provider) by opening a filtering panel.

Detailed TV Program Information: Provides in-depth details about TV programs in full-screen view, including extended description, cast, recording quota used, availability period of recorded programs, and other relevant data.

Reminders: Set alerts for upcoming TV programs with a pop-up before the show starts. All reminders are displayed in a dedicated menu.

Upcoming Broadcasts Recording: Allows users to schedule recordings of individual programs or entire series episodes for viewing at a later time. The list of all recordings can be found in a dedicated menu.

Favorite Channels: User can mark preferred channels for quick access. The favorite channels appear first on the Home screen and in the channel filtering section.

Watch History: The list of recently viewed programs, with the option to resume from where the user left off. Users can also choose to clear their entire watch history or remove individual items.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for large-screen devices supports the following features:

Playing live streams and rewinding, fast forwarding, and pausing catch-up content.

Revealing the program guide rail for the current channel, enabling setting reminders or recordings for upcoming programs. Available for the large-screen apps only.

Adjusting the stream’s aspect ratio, selecting the audio/video/subtitle track, viewing the program details, and checking the stream technical information.

Quick channel selection panel allowing to switch channels visually without leaving full screen mode.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for mobile iOS / Android devices supports the following features:

Playing live streams and rewinding, fast forwarding, pausing catch-up content, as well as selecting audio/video/subtitle tracks.

Adjusting the stream’s aspect ratio, sharing the stream across other subscribers’ devices, and exploring additional functions.

The full-screen player in SmartTUBE Apps for mobile iOS / Android devices can be controlled by tapping, swiping, and sliding:

• Short tap: Opens playback controls and settings menu, which disappear after 3 seconds of no user activity.
• Double tap in the center: Switches between full-screen and portrait mode.
• Double tap on the left/right area: Rewinds backward/forward for 10 seconds.
• Swipe left/right: Switches channels.
• Slide by the left/right area: Controls the brightness and volume, respectively:
  

VoD Content

SmartTUBE Apps offer fast navigation and search within the VoD content library, payment options, a recommendation tool that suggests relevant content based on subscriber preferences, and other helpful features:

VoD Content Catalog: Displays available content with posters and titles in a mosaic view or as a list of themed rails.

Content Filtering: Users can filter content by type (movies, series, for kids), genre (adventure, comedy, detectives, etc.), production year, country, and other criteria.

Detailed Content Description: Provides information on the movie description, directors, actors, ratings, age restrictions, release year, screenshots, etc. for selected content.

Detailed Series Description: In addition to the information described above, this feature offers a convenient way to select from the various seasons and episodes of a series.

Trailer Viewing: Users can watch trailers within the movie card if available.

List of Favorites: Allows users to save their preferred movies for convenient access and later viewing.

Full-Screen Player: Content is played in full-screen mode with playback controls, video quality and aspect ratio options, audio track and subtitle selection, content recommendations (in the large-screen apps), adding to favorites, and technical information about the stream (in the large-screen apps).

Skip Opening and Credits: The full-screen player allows users to skip the movie’s opening credits and jump straight into the action. At the end of a series episode, users can bypass the final credits and start the next episode immediately. This feature includes a timer for auto-skipping the opening and automatically starting the next episode, with progress displayed on the button.

Content Bookmarks: Users can add bookmarks to specific movie moments. A single movie can have multiple bookmarks.

Radio Stations

SmartTUBE Apps for STB and Smart TV support the radio station broadcasting:

Media Player

The Media player integrated into SmartTUBE Apps offers all the essential features for a seamless and enjoyable content-watching experience. It may support different audio/video codecs and streaming protocols, such as MPEG-DASH and/or HLS, depending on the device.

Adaptive Streaming Support: Automatically switches between bitrates within the media stream based on network bandwidth. This prevents playback from stopping when bandwidth decreases; instead, it shifts to a lower quality stream. When bandwidth improves, video quality is restored.

Playback Control: Lets users rewind, fast forward, and pause catch-up and xVoD content. When a video is rewound or paused, thumbnails appear above the progress bar.

Audio Track Selection: Users can choose from multiple audio tracks available within the stream.

Content Bookmarks: Users can add bookmarks to specific movie moments. A single movie can have multiple bookmarks.

Subtitles and Teletext Display: Apps can display subtitles and teletext in various formats, including DVD, DVB, SSA/ASS, SRT, WebVTT, CEA-608/708 Closed Captions, SMPTE-TT, and Teletext. Supported formats may vary by device.

Aspect Ratio Options: Enables users to align the content frame’s aspect ratio with their device’s screen.

Stream Details: Depending on the stream type, users can view information such as the current bitrate, the number of decoding errors, and other relevant details that may be helpful for troubleshooting and contacting technical support. Available for the large-screen apps only.

Playback from a Saved Position: Apps remember where a user stopped watching a movie or program and provide the option to resume from that point or start over.

Processing of Ad Inserts: The app for large-screen devices can detect the start/end marks of ad inserts within the stream. It can handle these ads in different ways, such as preventing users from rewinding during catch-up playback. Additionally, the media player can work with VAST servers within the AVoD service.

Content Purchase and Subscriptions

SmartTUBE Apps offers users a range of features to manage service subscriptions, purchase content, and stay updated on options that enhance their service experience:

• Service Management Menu: Users can view and manage available services, including adding or canceling subscriptions, along with detailed information about offered content and terms.
• Subscription Recommendations: The app highlights both current and additional subscription options, with non-subscribed channels clearly marked and easily accessible for purchase.
• Content Purchase Options: Movie/series costs and purchasing options are displayed on detailed information cards.
• Purchase History: Subscribers can track their transactions in the ‘Settings’ menu.

Screen Sharing

The Screen Sharing feature allows users to effortlessly transfer their streaming session between devices, such as from a mobile device to a Smart TV or STB, and vice versa. The SmartTUBE platform supports the following technologies to implement the Screen Sharing feature:

• Apple AirPlay: Enables screen sharing from SmartTUBE iOS Mobile App to other devices that support AirPlay 2 technology.
• Google Chromecast: Enables screen sharing from SmartTUBE iOS/Android Mobile App to the Google Chromecast devices and TVs with built-in Chromecast support.
• SmartLabs Screen Sharing: A proprietary technology enabling user to transfer streaming between devices using SmartTUBE Apps. Users can continue watching a movie or TV channel on a mobile device or move content from a mobile device to a large screen while maintaining the current position. After transferring, playback can be controlled remotely from the mobile device.

Content Search Screen

SmartTUBE Apps allow users to search through all content types, including TV programs, movies, and external services like YouTube. The search is performed by title (in the current app’s UI language and original title) and description, with suggestions appearing as user type. The Apps support multilingual keyboards and shows structured results for various content types on the same screen.

Displaying Operator Messages

The operator can send subscribers messages that they may open immediately or later in the message history. The message can contain both text and images. Urgent messages are displayed as a full screen window. Watermark messages are overlaid on top of the video stream.

Logging In

Depending on the operator’s settings, subscribers can access services by logging in with or without username and password entry. New users may also be offered a trial period to explore the services and app features.

User Profiles

If multiple users share an account, they can create personal Profiles to customize settings like parental controls, channel sorting, and content restrictions. Profiles are shared across all devices and can be PIN protected. The master Profile can manage other profiles. This helps prevent unauthorized access to paid or adult content by minors and provides personalized content recommendations.

Profile general settings

Kids profile gives parents control over their children’s viewing experience. In addition to the maximum age level for TV channels and VOD content, the Kids profile allows to manage the downtime interval and the daily viewing limit.

Kids profile settings

System Settings

Users can access various system settings, including time-zone correction, UI language, audio/subtitle language prioritization, timer to stop playback when idle, video aspect ratio, and player menu auto-hide timeout. Support page provides information for contacting operator and sending reports for technical analysis.

STB users have additional options:

• Reset to factory settings
• Firmware update
• Standby timer
• Video/audio output format
• Network settings

Supported Devices

SmartTUBE solution supports a wide range of devices, allowing IPTV / OTT operators to reach a larger audience. The list of supported devices can be expanded through integration work. Below are the device requirements. These requirements do not include restrictions related to the use of various protocols and formats of video delivery (HLS, DASH, etc.), CAS/DRM systems, and other restrictions related to the hardware and software implementation of the listed devices by their manufacturers.

Linux based STB

To run SmartTUBE App on STB using a Linux kernel OS, you need to have SmartSDK. At the moment SmartSDK is supported on hardware platforms HiSilicon, STMicroelectronics, Amlogic, Broadcom, Sigma Designs from STB manufacturers such as SmartLabs, Albis, Arris, and others. To clarify the list of supported hardware platforms and integration options, please contact SmartLabs representatives.

iOS

• iPad with iOS 11 or later
• iPhone with iOS 11 or later

Android

The devices must comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) requirements.

• Tablet PC with Android 5.0 Lollipop (API Level 21) or later
• Smartphones with Android 5.0 Lollipop (API Level 21) or later

Web Browsers

We strongly recommend using installations with Widevine DRM enabled. Support for other web browsers is on request.

Smart TV

• LG with WebOS 4.0 and later Support for Netcast and earlier versions of WebOS could be provided by additional request and subject to technical feasibility (depends on used DRM, streaming protocol, and etc.).
• Samsung with Tizen OS SmartTUBE App support all model years available for publishing at the Samsung app store portal
• Hisense (VIDAA OS)
• Whale OS — an operating system for Smart TV, which is now integrated into the products of many world-famous brands, including Philips, TCL, Haier, AOC, Sharp, BenQ, Konka, Changhong, NovaTek, Amazon, Google, Alibaba, Huawei, DSP Group, and etc.

Android based STB and Android TV

• Supported OS Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and Android TV v9.0 or later. See also the requirements for AOSP STBs.
• The devices must comply with the Android Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) requirements.
• SmartTUBE App on AOSP devices can be installed as a Launcher.

Amazon Fire TV

• Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
• Amazon Fire TV Stick
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
• Amazon Fire TV Cube

Support for Device Features

* The PiP feature is available on iOS devices for HLS streams only. 

Support for Content Delivery Protocols and DRM Systems