How to trust your player: Building an OTT service for today’s world

This approach enables OTT drm streaming service providers to grant access to content distributed to different customers/different devices by delivering only the DRM licenses with CEKs for the authorized resolutions based on the consumer’s subscription package.

Also, this allows the streaming service operator to fine-tune the DRM policies for each given resolution or track. For example, audio and SD content may not require enforcement of HDCP over an HDMI connection. However, an HD resolution may require HDCP 1.4 to be enforced, and 4K/UHD may require HDCP 2.2 to be enforced in the DRM license. We will cover additional considerations related to the use of HDCP in article four of the How to Trust Your Player series.

Using the right DRM security level allows OTT streaming service providers to map the required security level for each given resolution or track. For example, audio and SD content may only require a “software-based DRM client,” whereas HD and 4K/UHD may require a “hardware-based DRM client” to be enforced.

In the case of 4K/UHD, there will be additional requirements from the Enhanced Content Protection (ECP) specification by Movielabs (an entity owned by several Hollywood studios). Leveraging the right DRM security level is particularly important because audio codecs are usually implemented in software, and cannot be enforced through “hardware-based DRM clients.”