The HbbTV hybrid broadcast standard has been given a further boost in Europe with its incorporation by the Nordic countries in the NorDig specification for IRDs (Integrated Receiver and Decoder), now known as hybridIRDs.
This was significant in that HbbTV replaces MHP (Multimedia Home Platform), which had previously been NorDig’s API for interactive services, having also been selected in some other European countries. This is further evidence of HbbTV’s emergence as the common platform for interactive as well as hybrid services across Europe.
Work on the IRD specification was carried out under the supervision of the NorDig-T subgroup, chaired by Peter Mølsted from the Danish public broadcaster DR. In a statement, NorDig said it had received great support from receiver manufacturers.
NorDig’s minimum requirements for HbbTV implementation had initially been written as a separate addendum to NorDig Unified IRD specification (v2.2.1 and) v2.3, based on the HbbTV version 1.1.1. NorDig’s HbbTV requirements will be included in the main NorDig Unified IRD specification in the next release of the specification.
