Testing: more critical than ever

摘要

Ten years ago, a TV set-top box was - in technology terms - a relatively simple device. All it was really reguired to do was allow the viewer to change channel, look at next week's TV programme schedules, and perhaps carry out a few basic interactive functions (such as accessing a digital version of Teletext). Fast-forward to today, and you're talking about something much more akin to a PC - the latest set-top boxes operators are installing will offer broadband connectivity, on-demand services, media players for over-the-top video, hard drive or network-based PVR functionality, sophisticated interactivity, and the ability to upload user-generated content. Access to social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter is also increasingly integrated. Testing these new types of receivers has obviously become a much more complex affair. Typically, they will contain tens of thousands - if not hundreds of thousands - of lines of software code, often constructed from libraries of code written by multiple vendors spread around the globe.