Recently, talking to friends and colleagues, you learned that many television models are equipped with a specific technology called HbbTV ( Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV ) which, although it was created several years ago, has recently been at the center of important developments that can be very interesting you.
From what you could guess, in fact, the standard in question would allow access to a series of additional contents made available by the station in which you are tuned, simply calling a specific function using the remote control. Driven by your innate curiosity, you immediately rushed to “test” the service on your smart TV, but despite following all the instructions given to you, you couldn’t see anything.
Don’t worry, if your TV supports this technology, you’ll probably just need to enable the relevant setting in your TV’s menu. If, at this point, you want to know more, I strongly advise you to continue reading the next paragraphs to find out how to activate HbbTV on the most popular TV brands. So what do you think? Did I convince you? Perfect, in that case I just have to wish you a good reading!
How to activate HbbTV
As I mentioned in the introduction, HbbTV technology essentially allows access to a set of multimedia services linked to the television platform to which you are tuned in: these can range from on-demand video content that can be played in streaming, to applications developed by the company itself. broadcaster, to interactive services associated with social networks and televoting, or even to advanced functions that make it possible to manage video and audio transmission in a simpler and more direct way.
All this thanks to a page developed in the HTML5 language created by the broadcaster, which can be easily accessed by pressing a special button on the remote control: for example, in the case of RAI TV+ (HbbTV platform developed by Rai ) it is usually necessary to press the directional key that points upwards, while for other television platforms the button assigned to this function is usually red. However, keep in mind that these specifications may vary depending on the technology available on your Smart TV.
In any case, to obtain a complete service and take advantage of all its potential, it is advisable that the device, in addition to being correctly tuned and compatible with the New Digital Terrestrial TV, is also connected to the Internet: if you haven’t already done so, in this guide, I will show you the standard procedure to follow, but if you want to consult more specific instructions, you will be pleased to know that I have created several tutorials dedicated to the main TV brands such as Samsung, LG or Philips.
That said, in many cases the HbbTV standard is already active as a factory setting on many smart TV models: therefore, you just have to tune in to one of the channels that provide the service in question (such as Rai , Mediaset , Discovery+ or Sportitalia ) and press the button appropriate on the remote control.
Some television platforms, such as Rai, have prepared a special “call to action” message that invites you to “test” the new functions, usually located at the bottom right of the screen, which contains related instructions to retrieve the above functions directly from the Remote Control. Finally, acceptance of privacy terms may be required to provide multimedia services.
How do you say? Did you just try to activate HbbTV after tuning in to one of the channels above, but you couldn’t see anything? Well, your case could be easily solved by previously enabling the technology in question in the TV’s menu, but if you have no idea how to proceed, don’t worry: in fact, to make things easier for you, I’ve created dedicated chapters to know how to enable HbbTV on major TV brands.
However, keep in mind that instructions may vary from model to model and that some “older” devices may not support the updated version of this standard, which is currently 2.0 . If you feel that your TV does not support current HbbTV technology, you can always consider using a DVB-T2 compatible decoder.
If you have an LG Smart TV from 2017 (previous ones, as indicated on this page of the official website of the manufacturer, are not compatible) and regularly connected to the Internet in most cases, the HbbTV service is active by default on many of your models, however, the home operating system WebOS (always check that it is updated to the latest version ) provides a function that allows you to deactivate it: therefore, you may have inadvertently performed this operation.
If that’s the case, fear not, below I’ll show you how to enable HbbTV on LG. To get started, after turning on the device, press the Menu button on the remote and select General > Channel Options . As you can see, in this last section there is a specific function referring to HbbTV Settings that allows you to enable this technology, just by pressing on it to change its status to ON .
How to activate HbbTV on Sony
To take advantage of HbbTV technology on Sony TVs, you must first know that in many cases (for example, in several models of the Bravia series produced since 2017) it is necessary to accept the privacy policy, which is usually requested when using the device for the first time.
To check whether the condition in question is met, press the Home button on the remote control and select the Help (or Help) item in the TV settings . Then click on the Troubleshooting and System Information category, find the Privacy Settings option and finally click on Accept.
Once this is done, again in the Settings menu, access the Channels or Channel Configuration item, then select the Digital Channel Configuration or Digital Settings function: at this point you will have no difficulty in understanding how to activate HbbTV on Sony, as you will simply have to make sure the Interactive Applications option is enabled on a regular basis. If not, press the confirm button on the remote to change the setting.
For more information on setting up Sony TVs, read the guide I’ve dedicated to them.
How to activate HbbTV on Samsung
If you’re trying to figure out how to enable HbbTV on Samsung, again, to start with, make sure your software is updated to the latest version available.
Then go to the settings of your Samsung Smart TV by pressing the appropriate button on your remote control and select the Broadcast function , then press the Advanced Settings option and find the HbbTV Settings item inside , which should be in the ON state : case otherwise, just press the confirmation button on the remote to change this preference.
Finally, I would like to inform you that in some older models the function in question is called Data Service , and can be displayed by following the path Transmission > Channel configuration > Execute. Self-service Data .
For more details on setting up a Samsung TV, read my dedicated guide.
How to activate HbbTV Philips
To understand how to activate Philips HbbTV, it is usually necessary to follow a simple procedure by accessing the TV’s preferences. If, for example, you have a Philips 7956 series TV correctly updated to the latest version, to start press the MENU button on your remote control, then use the arrow keys to select the TV options items, and later , Advanced options .
Once this is done, you will be able to view the HbbTV Settings function : at this point, just press to ensure that its status changes to Active and the service in question is activated. Once tuned to one of the channels that uses the standard in question, just press the OK button to call up the additional menu of HbbTV transmissions.
How to activate HbbTV on Panasonic
If you would like to know how to activate HbbTV on your Panasonic, first press the MENU button on your remote control to access your TV’s main menu. Once done, select the Settings item and locate Data Service Role > Service Options.
Then you will be asked to choose whether you want to enable automatic or manual start for the various channels that offer the service in question: saving the chosen mode is done by pressing the Back button.
Once this is done, if the application is available on the tuned channel, just follow the instructions that will appear in the information message in the lower right corner.
How to activate HbbTV on Hisense
As for televisions produced by the famous Chinese multinational Hisense , if you have a model produced from 2018 and you have correctly connected to the Internet , you can be sure that it will be fully compatible with the interactive services provided via HbbTV and you can easily check it by pressing the button indicated by the information message shown on the screen.
The function in question, which by default should already be activated on these models, can be accessed by opening your device’s Settings menu and following the path System > Application settings > HbbTV : the respective button, therefore, must already be positioned on ON , but if not, just press the confirmation button on your remote control to change its status.