OpenTV is an
interactive televisionInteractive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...
company founded in 1994. Its main business involves the sale of set-top-box operating systems and software. On March 28, 2010 OpenTV became a fully owned subsidiary of the
NAGRA Kudelski GroupThe Kudelski Group claims to be a "world leader in digital security and convergent media solutions" for the delivery of digital and interactive content...
and officially delisted from the
NASDAQThe NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
, where it was previously listed under the symbol OPTV.
OpenTV Core middleware
OpenTV's flagship product is OpenTV Core, a widely deployed digital television
middlewareMiddleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...
. OpenTV Core software
technologyTechnology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
contains a hardware abstraction layer to enable hardware independence,
TVTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
libraries, a selection of application execution environments, and support for Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) to create a digital television environment for set-top box.
OpenTV Core middleware has shipped some 100 million set-top boxes worldwide (February 2007) on 37 set-top-box manufacturers.
OpenTV Virtual Machine execution environment
OpenTV applications are written in
CC is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
, using their own compiler, gcco, which outputs o-code which is then run on many set-top-boxes. The OpenTV API wrap all the hardware functions, including data transmission (one-way satellite broadcasts, full bi-directional links such as a modem or hard-wired serial port and high-speed broadband networks).
Free Software Foundation lawsuit against OpenTV
In 2002, the
Free Software FoundationThe Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
(FSF) engaged in a GPL enforcement action against OpenTV. According to Forbes, OpenTV ended up paying the FSF $65,000 to avoid additional legal action regarding the profits made during the illegal use of the GPL software. The FSF's stated mission is not to demand money damages for GPL violations.
OpenTV Advertising
OpenTV supports
interactive advertisingInteractive advertising uses online or offline interactive media to communicate with consumers and to promote products, brands, services, and public service announcements, corporate or political groups....
. They purchased CAM Systems in 2005, an advertising traffic & billing solution for a US cable company, specifically
ComcastComcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
. OpenTV provides system for allocation, scheduling, traffic, verification, and billing and supports local ad insertion/targeting at the head-end or on the set-top, ad telescoping using VOD and PVR, enhanced TV for consumer call-to-action and audience measurement solutions for campaign effectiveness.
See also
- Personal Video Recorder
- IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
- Video On Demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
- Interactive television
Interactive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...
- SmartTV
SmartTV A/S is a Danish company providing interactive TV, IPTV, On Demand and NPVR services....
External links