Smart TV and CTV # One player for the living room, not a second codebase Smart TVs are the hardest place to ship video and the easiest place to lose a viewer. Limited memory, older browser engines and DRM modules that differ by model mean a player that works on the web can still fail on a three-year-old television. Bradmax runs on Samsung Tizen, LG webOS and Android TV as the same web-based player you use everywhere else. One configuration, one API, and the platform differences handled inside the player. ## Where the player runs ### Samsung Tizen A Tizen web app that runs the same player as your website, with the native Widevine and PlayReady modules available for protected content. ### LG webOS A webOS web app, tuned for the lower-end models that struggle with large live manifests. ### Android TV Playback through the platform WebView, with the same configuration and analytics as the web player. ### Chromecast and AirPlay Casting from the web player to a television, without a separate build. ### Roku Reachable through a WebAssembly bridge for teams that need to cover Roku alongside Tizen and webOS. ## Same player, same configuration A TV app isn't a rewrite. The player is the same code that runs in the browser, delivered inside the TV app. You point it at the same manifests, the same DRM configuration and the same ad tags. Because it's one codebase, a fix made for a TV model also ships to web and mobile, and the analytics integration is done once instead of once per platform. ## Skin-less mode, for apps that own their interface Most TV apps draw their own navigation, because a viewer on a couch is using a remote, not a mouse. In skin-less mode the player shows video and nothing else, and the app keeps full control of the interface. ## Problems we have fixed on real TVs ### Missing TTML subtitles on Samsung, with MPEG-DASH Some Samsung models would not load TTML subtitles carried in separate MPEG streams. We replaced the native subtitle renderer with our own, which also cut the delay when switching subtitle language from about four seconds to about one. ### Slow start and freezing on low-end LG webOS, with live DASH Long live DVR windows produce large DASH manifests, and parsing them was heavy on low-end TVs. We tuned the manifest handling to cut CPU use and stop the app freezing during live playback. ### Widevine on older Tizen 4.0 devices Tizen 4.0 struggled with DASH manifests that listed several DRM systems at once. Rather than ask the customer to repackage content, we adjusted the manifest on the device with a small local proxy so the native DRM player could start. ## Allente: a Nordic operator, on real televisions Allente, a Nordic streaming provider, needed playback to hold up across the devices its subscribers actually own, alongside dynamic ad insertion. The work included device-specific playback fixes and monitoring, and the result was faster playback and a 100% ad fill rate. The full story is in the Allente case study. ## See it and go deeper - [Allente case study](https://bradmax.com/site/en/case-studies/allente) - [Playback demo](https://bradmax.com/site/en/demo/playback) - [Multi-DRM playback](https://bradmax.com/site/en/multi-drm) - [Start free](https://bradmax.com/site/en/signup) ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I need a separate player for TVs? No. Bradmax is one web-based player, so a Smart TV app uses the same player and the same configuration as your web player. TV apps usually run it in skin-less mode, without the on-screen controls, because the app draws its own interface. ### Which TV platforms are supported? Samsung Tizen, LG webOS and Android TV, plus Google Chromecast and Apple AirPlay for casting. Roku is reachable through a WebAssembly bridge. ### What is skin-less mode? The player renders video and does the streaming and DRM work, but draws none of its own controls. Your app keeps its own navigation and buttons, which is how TV apps are usually built. ### Can you fix a problem that only happens on TVs? That's a large part of what customers come to us for. The examples on this page (Samsung subtitles, LG webOS live performance, Tizen 4.0 DRM) are fixes we made on real devices. ### Does DRM work on TVs? Yes, through the native Widevine and PlayReady modules that Tizen and webOS provide. The player hands protected playback to the platform where that is the reliable path. ## Sources and method - Smart TV support Bradmax player documentation and product pages - Allente case study Bradmax customer story ### Put it on your own television Load your stream on the free plan and test it on the TV models your audience owns. When a specific model misbehaves, that is exactly the kind of problem we fix.