GENEVA—The HbbTV Association, a global initiative dedicated to providing open standards for advanced interactive TV services via broadcast and broadband networks, has published version 2.0.5 of its core specification.
HbbTV 2.0.5 is an update to HbbTV 2.0.4, published two years ago, and represents a significant technical advancement for hybrid and interactive television services. The update was approved at the latest meeting of the HbbTV Steering Group.
“HbbTV 2.0.5 represents an important step forward in the evolution of hybrid TV services,” said Vincent Grivet, chair of the HbbTV Association. “With formalized DRM, support for next-generation codecs such as AV1 and VVC, enhanced DVB-I integration, and WebAssembly capabilities, the specification aligns to the most recent and impacting market trends, enabling more sophisticated, secure and feature-rich services. It demonstrates HbbTV’s continued commitment to advancing the connected TV ecosystem for broadcasters, platform operators, content owners and viewers alike.”
The most notable change is the formal integration of Digital Rights Management (DRM) into the core specification.
While HbbTV devices have supported DRM for many years, this is the first time it has been explicitly defined, providing a harmonized, interoperable approach across the ecosystem. Support for at least one of the DRM systems listed in the HbbTV DRM specification published six months ago – Microsoft PlayReady or Google Widevine – is required.
This formalization is essential for enabling secure delivery of premium content and meeting the requirements of broadcasters, platform operators, rights holders, and content owners, ensuring a compelling experience for viewers.
WebAssembly support, already present to some extent in HbbTV devices via browser engines such as Chrome or WebKit, is now formally included in the specification. This allows advanced features such as efficient decoding of auxiliary video streams, including sign language services demonstrated by Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat at trade shows IBC 2025 and HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025.
Additional web security measures have been incorporated, and support for the VVC and AV1 video codecs has been defined, although implementation of these codecs is optional. Several simplifications for implementers have also been introduced: unused features have been removed, others marked for deprecation, and some requirements relaxed to improve interoperability.
The integration between HbbTV and DVB-I introduced in HbbTV 2.0.4 is further improved in 2.0.5. The specification now clarifies how DVB-I applications associated with entire service lists can be supported, enabling platforms or service aggregators to obtain GDPR consent or agreement to terms and conditions. Implementation feedback, particularly regarding HbbTV and DVB-I integration, has resulted in numerous technical corrections being included.
The HbbTV Association plans to issue a Request for Proposals (RfP) in the coming weeks to extend its Conformance Test Suite to support HbbTV 2.0.5.
The HbbTV 2.0.5 specification and an associated explainer document are now available in the HbbTV Resource Library.
