Release notes - SDK tvOS 5.0 Q3 '22

Overview

This release contains the new DIVA Player SDK 5.0 big screen support for tvOS 15+.

What's new

DIVA 5.0 on tvOS

DIVA 5.0 makes it easier and more intuitive for developers to integrate and configure DIVA directly within apps. DIVA 5.0 decouples the player from the back office, enabling integrations with different OVPs via a new DIVA Compatibility layer. Read on for more information on DIVA 5.0 on tvOS.

For general Analytics, we provide the same analytic events out of the box as DIVA 4, now cleaned up and free from redundant information. For Media Analytics, we provide a new Conviva plugin implementation, as well as an API layer allowing 3rd parties to integrate with custom Media Analytics providers without making technical changes to DIVA (forking).

It’s now possible to integrate the DIVA player with AXIS, our UX management console and suite of multi-platform Reference Applications, and other systems. For existing projects, we provide a Compatibility Layer, smoothing the transition from DIVA 4 to DIVA 5. For further information, check out our Introducing DIVA 5 help centre article.

As part of this release, we're rolling out the first phase of supported features for DIVA 5.0 on tvOS, these include:

Player controls for live and video-on-demand (VOD) content

Using your TV remote, navigate through content easily (play, skip, pause, resume, and seekbar control). Find further information and examples in our Video playback article.

Live badge

While consuming live content, easily identify if you're at the live moment or at an earlier point in time via a dynamic Live badge. For further information, check out our Video playback article.

Interactive timeline

Immerse yourself in the action with DIVA's key feature, the Interactive timeline, for event discoverability. Learn about event markers and corresponding event cards and the supported video states: live (live Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and live linear), and video-on-demand (VOD), plus the two viewing modes within the Video playback article.

Deep linking

Streamlining the user experience and increasing user engagement, deep linking supports configuring a specific moment in the stream to initial video playback for VOD and live DVR content. Read more about deep linking in the Video playback article.

Trimming

Specify start and end points for a video stream, aiding video maintenance, scheduling, and delivery. Read more in the Video playback article.

'Spoiler-free' mode

Ensure your users are not prematurely exposed to the captured timeline events by seeing markers and cards ahead of the action. Learn more on this in the Video playback article.

Seek mode

Easily navigate through content by seeking backward and forward using a TV remote. For more information, read our Video playback article.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) support

Toggle on/off High Dynamic Range support from within the Settings panel. Enrich video playback with a higher resolution, sharper and brighter imagery, and enhanced contrast. Read more in our High Dynamic Range (HDR) article.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection

We are providing copyright protection for digital media, preventing unauthorized redistribution of content. Read more in our Digital Rights Management (DRM) article.

Advertisements

Full integration with client and server-side, pre-roll, and mid-roll advertisements via Google IMA and Digital Ad Insertion (DAI) technologies. Learn more in our Advertisements article.

Subtitles and Captioning

We support the ability to enable transcriptions of dialog and written descriptions of relevant audio in various languages. Read our Subtitles and Captioning article to learn more.

Alternate Audio tracks

Supporting HLS-V4 and DASH formats, users can change the sound accompanying a video stream. For further information, read our Alternate audio tracks article.

Timeline iconography

DIVA supports specifically designed timeline iconography for soccer/football, representing the most momentous match highlights. Operators can choose to use custom timeline icons to represent any events in a video stream. Discover more in our Interactive timeline article.

Analytics

DIVA 5 provides a Media Analytics interface via a new Conviva plugin implementation, as well as an API layer allowing 3rd parties to integrate with custom Media Analytics providers without making technical changes to DIVA. Track precise low-level performance metrics, e.g., the time taken for a video to start, and the average bitrate across certain devices in a particular graphical location - check out our Analytics article for more information. 

Dictionary

Localization support for operators to specify language translations for label and text elements within the DIVA video player.

DIVA 5 developer hub

Introducing our new DIVA developer hub for technical documentation, including SDKs, APIs, code samples, and regular feature and upgrade announcements.