Samsung Electronics, working with Kudelski Group companies SmarDTV and NAGRA, claims to have enabled pay-TV operators for the first time to be able to deploy OTT and VOD services directly to its connected TVs using their chosen security system embedded in a CI Plus SmarCAM module.
Moreover the turnkey solution, based on standard CI Plus using NAGRA PRM, NAGRA’s software based, operator-controlled DRM for security and content protection and compatible with HbbTV applications, will enable video-on-demand for over-the-top networks directly to Samsung connected TVs without the use of a STB.
The system integrates the NAGRA Gravity User Interface running in HbbTV on Samsung 2012 TV models allowing NAGRA PRM protected content be streamed over IP to the TV using adaptive bitrate streaming and then descrambled by the CI Plus SmarCAM module from SmarDTV. The solution is fully compliant with CI Plus v1.3 and uses open standard interfaces including the Open IPTV forum (OIPF) DRM interface.
Adding DRM to the CI Plus specification presents “the ideal solution” for operators wishing to securely deploy VOD using IP networks, said Conor Ryan, Vice President of Marketing at SmarDTV. “The use of a [conditional access module] for DRM allows the security provider to ensure maintenance and upgrades of the security system separately from the host device and provides an operator-controlled hardware based root of trust solution to the operator.”
“Using CI Plus modules to secure OTT services with DRM enhances the value to consumers of Samsung connected TV sets” added John Adam, Head of Business Development and Industrial Affairs at Samsung Electronic Research Institute (UK). “It allows the DRM solution providers the ability to customise their solutions independently from the TV host and it provides operators greater reach to products in the consumer home through use of the CI Plus industry standard.”
“The pay-TV industry requires that high security standards be maintained over long timescales, and premium content solutions require hardware root of trust to augment the security,” continued Jean-Michel Puiatti Vice-President of Multiscreen at NAGRA.