Overview: Brightcove Web & Smart TV SDK

Welcome to the Web & Smart TV SDK developer documentation. Here you will find comprehensive instructions and examples for utilizing the Web & Smart TV SDK in your development.

Introduction

The Brightcove Web & Smart TV SDK is designed for modern applications on web-based platforms, especially Samsung Tizen and LG WebOS. It aims to facilitate the creation of media players that can stream content, monetize it, and allow extensive customization using Brightcove's technology stack.

Key features

  • Universal Streaming Capability: Utilizes Video.js, Brightcove's trusted and mature player framework, to deliver content via HLS and DASH streaming protocols.

  • Smart TV Support: Specifically designed with support for popular Smart TV platforms such as Samsung Tizen and LG webOS. Remote control / spatial navigation support out-of-the-box.

  • Full Customization: Offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to tailor players to specific needs without relying on external script loaders. Full TypeScript support enhances development efficiency and safety.

  • Comprehensive API Access: Integrates seamlessly with the Brightcove Playback API, ensuring developers have access to advanced features like DRM and Playback Rights.

  • Enhanced Analytics: Includes a complete analytics beaconing implementation for the Brightcove Data Collection API, capable of supporting standard Brightcove Analytics, Quality of Experience (QoE), and Ad Insights to optimize and monetize streaming content effectively.

  • Ad Integration: Supports major advertising standards through integrations like IMA SDK and Brightcove SSAI, enabling monetization directly within the player.

Supported Platforms

The Brightcove Web & Smart TV SDK is designed to support many web browsers and Smart TV platforms. This ensures developers can create applications that provide a consistent viewing experience across various devices and platforms. Below are the specific platforms supported by the SDK.


Supported Smart TV Platforms

  • Samsung Tizen 6.0+ (Chromium 76).

  • LG webOS 6.x+ (Chromium 79).


Brightcove defines “supported platforms” as devices on which releases are fully tested and performance is guaranteed. Brightcove Technical Support is offered, and bug reports and feature enhancements are accepted.

Supported Web Browsers

The SDK is compatible with all major web browsers supported by the Brightcove Player. This includes:

  • Google Chrome: Latest version.

  • Mozilla Firefox: Latest version.

  • Apple Safari: Latest version on macOS and iOS.

  • Microsoft Edge: Latest version.


Minimum Requirements for Unsupported Environments

Brightcove expects the SDK to work on any Chromium platform that supports ES2015 onwards. However, Brightcove recognizes that Chromium implementations can vary subtly across devices, and some methods or APIs might be missing, requiring additional polyfills. Because of these potential differences, we cannot guarantee compatibility with a Chromium version on platforms we have not explicitly tested.

Additionally, the following items should be considered minimum requirements for any successful implementation:

  • HTTPS with TLS 1.2.

  • Standards-compliant HTML5 video

  • Media Source Extensions

  • DRM

    • Encrypted Media Source Extensions

    • Widevine/PlayReady

    • HDCP supports


Playback Requirements

  • AVC/H.264 codec support for all video

  • HEVC/H.265 recommended for 4K/UHD content

  • AAC audio

  • AC-3 and/or E-AC3/EC3 for multichannel audio (dependent on video and account configuration)


Support Policy

Brightcove's SDK support policy covers the last three model years for each smart TV platform. This means that if a new model year is introduced, support will extend to the three most recent model years.

For example, if the last OS version was released in 2023 and was not released in 2021, we support model years 2023, 2022, and 2020.