Television has evolved, most notably over the past decade, from a single-source, one-way information and entertainment device, to a multitude of roles and functions. This is especially true with the advent of connected TV, or as they are called in the trade today, Smart TV. It is widely anticipated that Smart TV, along with other connected devices, would present an exciting platform for Rich Multimodal Content Consumption.
At its core, a Smart TV remains a device that is primarily used for information and entertainment purposes, although there are signs that a communication function may become a feature, at least in some incarnation of Smart TV. The key improvement that Smart TV has over conventional TV, however, lies in its ability to draw in content, especially video content, from multiple sources simultaneously. The function of multiple video rendering and display in a TV set has been around since the advent of picture-in-picture and its many variations, including multi-tuner TV receivers. Yet, there is something different in Smart TV, and that is due to its support of IP layer.
The IP layer also allows for new ways for programmers to enhance their main video with layering the presentation layer on top of their content.  This creates opportunities for synchronous content to be offered to the viewer, allowing them to participate at the appropriate moments with the show they are watching.  Some basic types of synchronous content include poll questions, fun facts, poll results, comments from other viewers, etc.
In this paper, we present a particular technology that aims to bridge some gaps between the content delivered over the IP interface and the conventional video interface such as terrestrial broadcast TV tuners, and/or baseband digital AV inputs (HDMI,) or even analog AV inputs.