Beyond Security: the 5 Key Aspects to Consider in selecting a Secure Video Player

Author: Christian Van Boven, VP Multiscreen Product Management

Beyond confronting the challenges involved in managing a multi-DRM environment, service providers face other requirements to ensure that their OTT TV services function optimally. These include the provision of:

Video trick modes

Multi-CDN interfacing and dynamic selecting

Multi-audio, close captioning and multi-language subtitles

Parental and playout control

Dynamic Advertising Insertion (DAI)

Detailed user-behaviour analytics

All these functions need to be packaged together on the client side before interfacing with backend systems, and this is best achieved with a secure video player.

In the early days of OTT TV, the licensing of premium content was mainly a DRM issue. But these new requirements - which result from the huge uptake in OTT TV consumption - have set new expectations that increase the need for service providers to adopt a multipurpose, multi-platform secure player solution.

So which key aspects should service provider consider in deploying a secure player solution? We have identified the following five:

CDNs: The ability to dynamically select the best source of content implies that algorithms are embedded into the secure player to optimize the user experience and the costs of streaming content.

DRM servers: Key information needs to be securely retrieved from the backend and used by the player, especially in the context of advanced use cases such as local storage of downloaded content for offline playback and side-loading of content to other devices.

Analytics: Measuring the Quality of Experience (QoE) by capturing deep data on player and user behavior enables the improvement of products and services.

Ad platforms: With Dynamic Ad Insertion being imposed by more content providers, it is important to deploy smart interfaces with leading advertising delivery and tracking systems (such as Freewheel, Omniture, ComScore, and Nielsen). A secure player can include ID3 demuxing capabilities to control ad-skipping and disable the search bar during ad play-out and thereby have a direct impact on the price of ads sold and revenues shared with content providers.

Player packaging: The way the secure player is packaged also has to be taken into consideration. Having access to a browser plug-in for HTML5/JS app development on PC platforms or an SDK for native app development on iOS/Android platforms allows the development of rich user experiences. Another attractive option is a packaged app that embeds HTML rendering capabilities, enabling the development of apps using HTML/JS with the same back-end business logic that is portable across multiple platforms, leading to lower app maintenance and deployment costs.

Want to find out more about how a Secure Player solution can help you deliver the next generation of multiscreen services? Contact us at dtv@nagra.com and download our latest white paper Optimizing Multiscreen TV Delivery with a Secure Video Player and we'll be happy to help.

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