Enhancing HbbTV Testing: AI-Driven Insights and Expanded Support for OPApp and Freely

At Ocean Blue Software, I am developing Axia, the HbbTV test framework. Keeping pace with the increasingly complex broadcast landscape.
In my role as a Senior Software Engineer, I've been leading on operator-specific features for OPApp and Freely.  This type of testing can create significant testing bottlenecks for engineering teams if it’s not automated.

Ocean Blue Software is one of the official maintenance partners for HbbTV test cases.  One of our USP's is that we also developed our own HbbTV browser ORB, which is now commercially deployed across the European market. This dual perspective provides the best insight when helping clients truly understand the real-world challenges of deployment.

Meeting New Standards

Recently completing a major upgrade to our harness, we added the latest official HbbTV test suites. This includes comprehensive coverage for OpApp and Freely test cases, ensuring that devices are ready for the next generation of operator applications and hybrid services.

Crucially, our internal HbbTV test harness Axia now supports HTTPS¹ and WSS². This removes a critical dependency for DRM testing, including the latest DRM packages originally developed for the Italian market and the additional materials required for Freely.  By allowing publicly trusted SSL certificates to be installed directly in the Axia UI, we've eliminated the need for special test certificates or intrusive changes to the device under test.

Automation and AI: Smarter Analysis

Perhaps the most exciting advancement is how we're now tackling the sheer volume of data. We have enhanced Axia’s automation capabilities by leveraging AI for results analysis.

Testing hundreds of cases manually is no longer sustainable. By using AI to tag, flag, parse results and analyse results, we've significantly reduced the manual effort required for engineers to review logs and identify failures. This doesn't just save time; it provides a level of clarity and consistency that manual inspection simply cannot match.

Flexible Collaboration

HbbTV deployments vary widely, so testing workflows often need to adapt to each organisation's development process. In practice, we see teams using Axia both as a standalone validation tool and as part of automated CI pipelines, depending on their maturity and release cadence.

Close collaboration between development and testing teams remains critical, whether testing is performed locally or distributed across sites. The goal is always the same: to reduce bottlenecks and ensure reliable certification and deployment across increasingly complex operator environments.

If you're facing challenges in your current HbbTV testing workflow or want to discuss how AI-driven analysis can accelerate your release cycle, I'd love to connect.

by Fred Zhu
Senior Software Engineer
Ocean Blue Software Ltd.

1. HTTPS – Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure ↩︎
2. WSS – WebSocket Secure ↩︎

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