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SMART TV SECURITY WITH GPU VIRTUALISATION

As the living room becomes the digital hub of the modern home, smart TVs and set-top boxes (STBs) have evolved into powerful, multi-functional platforms. They now render rich, multi-layered user interfaces, stream ultra-high-definition content, run AI-powered applications, and support a growing ecosystem of connected services. But with this increased capability comes a critical challenge: how do we secure workloads and isolate content streams without sacrificing performance?

At the heart of these devices lies the GPU, the workhorse responsible for everything from sleek UI rendering to compute-heavy features like voice and gesture recognition. This is where GPU virtualisation, and specifically, our very own HyperLane technology, comes into play.

THE RISE OF SMART ENTERTAINMENT

Smart TVs now account for the majority of global TV shipments, with nearly £230Bn in sales in 2025. These devices are no longer just passive displays; they are full-fledged computing platforms capable of running complex applications, from streaming service interfaces to voice assistants and casual games. 

Meanwhile, the set-top box chipset market is smaller but still projected to hit $4.3 billion,  driven by demand for 4K/8K content, AI integration, and IPTV adoption 2. 

THE SECURITY CHALLENGE

With this evolution comes increased risk. Content providers, especially those offering premium or DRM-protected content, require strong guarantees that their media cannot be intercepted or tampered with. However, smart TVs vary widely in their hardware, OS, and software implementations, making consistent security and digital rights enforcement difficult to achieve.

Unlike traditional STBs, which were tightly controlled by broadcast operators, today’s smart TVs often rely on software-based DRM. These systems can degrade over time, receive fewer updates, or become obsolete, leading to vulnerabilities in long-lifecycle devices.

For sustained protection, manufacturers need a hardware-rooted solution that is resilient to software drift and aligns with DRM and TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) standards.

HOW GPU VIRTUALISATION HELPS

GPU virtualisation provides an elegant, hardware-backed approach to workload separation and secure content handling. Imagination GPUs, via HyperLane virtualisation, can allocate up to sixteen independent GPU interfaces, each assigned to a separate virtual machine or domain.

Imagine a smart TV using virtualisation like this:

  • VM1: UI and general streaming apps
  • VM2: AI-based recommendation engine or voice recognition
  • VM3: A secure TEE domain for decrypting and rendering DRM-protected video

Each domain interacts with the GPU independently, with no software mediation. The result: security, reliability, and performance. All from a single GPU.

KEY BENEFITS OF HYPERLANE-BASED GPU VIRTUALISATION

1. SECURE CONTENT HANDLING

DRM-protected video can be processed exclusively within secure memory regions, inaccessible to the rest of the system. This ensures content never leaks into non-secure domains. Crucial for premium video providers.

2. MULTI-PROVIDER ISOLATION

Smart TVs supporting multiple streaming apps can isolate Provider A’s content from Provider B’s, helping meet contractual and regulatory demands with full GPU-level separation.

3. PARALLEL AI AND UI PROCESSING

HyperLane allows concurrent execution of AI tasks (like voice assistants) and UI rendering without contention or frame drops.

4. HIGH PERFORMANCE, LOW COST

Unlike software-based virtualisation, hardware-backed isolation avoids CPU overhead. This is critical in area-constrained SoCs for STBs and DTVs, enabling manufacturers to use lower silicon budgets without compromising feature sets.

MARKET TRENDS DRIVING ADOPTION

IMAGINATION: FUTURE-PROOFING SMART DEVICES

At Imagination, we’ve designed PowerVR GPUs with built-in virtualisation, prioritising low area, high efficiency, and future-ready security.

  • Our GPU IP enables:
  • Up to 16 HyperLanes per core
  • Full hardware-based isolation between workloads
  • TEE support for secure content decryption
  • Advanced scheduling and QoS mechanisms

We’re not just helping display content, we’re enabling secure, intelligent entertainment systems for the future.

Looking to integrate hardware-backed virtualisation into your smart TV or STB SoC design? Download the HyperLane White Paper: PowerVR Virtualisation Explained

Or visit our PowerVR GPU product page to explore the IP behind the entertainment of tomorrow.