How Device Type is Defined

Interaction between end-user devices and SmartTUBE SDP is implemented by using the SmartTUBE End-User Device API. And the type of user device plays an important role in this interaction. By invoking any API method, the devices pass their type to the platform via the following two parameters:

• deviceType (STB, ANDROID, IPAD, WEB, SMARTTVSAMSUNG, etc.) — the main device attribute used to identify the device class. deviceType is used to filter the composition of services in a tariff plan, the selection of a channel stream URL, etc.
• stbType — a device model name from Android API.

Depending on the platform, the device type is defined as described below.

Operator’s Devices

The operator devices (STBs) return the values of the deviceType parameter according to the following rules:

• If the app’s config file has the non-empty androidDeviceType property in the [Server] section of setup.json configuration file, then the device returns its value;
• If the app’s config file has the supportDeviceTypeChange property in the [UI] section
• as true, then the Device Type option with the following values is available for users in the app’s Settings menu:
• IPTV (default) — returns STB;
• OTT — returns OTTSTB.
• as false, then the device returns STB.

3rd-party Devices

The SmartTUBE app can also run on Smart TVs, mobile devices and in web browsers. In this case, the following rules are applied to determine the deviceType value:

• If the app’s config file has the useUHDDeviceType property in the [UI] section, then the My service option with the following values is available for users in the app’s Settings menu:
  • Multi-Screen TV — returns ANDROIDTVUHD. Can be overridden using the androidUHDDeviceType property in the [Server] section.
  • Multi-Screen Lite — returns ANDROIDTV.

The app tries to detect UHD support for the device when it first starts up and sets Multi-Screen TV as the default setting.