Qt is gaining broad adoption among hardware vendors and content providers in the home media and entertainment industry for delivering content "over-the-top", i.e. directly over the Internet, to the HD TV in your living room. Qt's cross-platform portability, integration with the WebKit open source web browser engine, and support for C++ and JavaScript "hybrid applications" are some of the important reasons why customers choose Qt.
Today we are publishing a whitepaper and profiles of two Qt hybrid demonstrations as tools to help HDTV and Set-top-box software architects learn about the capabilities of Qt.
Project Profile: Server-Driven UI for Connected TV
Qt WebKit Hybrid is a server-driven application design-pattern that allows you to take advantage of both Qt C++ as well as standard HTML on the client side, and combine both in a natural way. In this design-pattern HTML is used to building the server-driven user interface, while Qt C++ handles performance sensitive tasks. The secure, hassle-free integration of web and native objects is enabled by the QtWebkit Bridge functionality. Most developers who have tried to combine web and native functionality through the traditional, cumbersome NPAPI (Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface) protocol really appreciate the productivity offered by the QtWebkit bridge.
Here is an example of this QtWebKit Bridge design pattern. This demonstrates a real-world scenario where a NetFlix 2.0 client runs on IPTV reference hardware from Sigma Designs with great performance.
Project Profile: Windowless Flash NPAPI
QtWebkit also supports the NPAPI plugin protocol, which comes in handy for playing online videos that require the Adobe Flash plugin. For example, the Youtube.com/XL web site is designed for watching HD videos with a "10-foot user experience". We have prepared a demonstration where the graphics and video hardware acceleration capability of this NXP STB 225 reference board are utilized to enable smooth video playback and HTML rendering. Check out the project profile for more details.
And to learn even more, download the whitepaper: “Server-Driven UI with Hybrid Qt WebKit Integration.”
We hope these resources help you leverage the full power of Qt in your over-the-top (pun intended) online video applications. We certainly believe Qt offers several great developer tools that enable content to be delivered to all screens around the user.
We look forward to your comments and feedback!
