YouTube’s app on smart TVs and set-top boxes has long relied on Cobalt, a lightweight, open-source engine optimized for devices with limited resources. However, to keep pace with modern web standards and improve performance, Google re-engineered Cobalt on top of Chromium, creating Chrobalt. This new engine merges Chromium’s robust rendering capabilities with Cobalt’s efficient hardware abstraction layer, Starboard.
Running Chromium on low-power devices was previously impractical due to hardware constraints. Google’s approach with Chrobalt addresses this by combining Chromium’s advanced web compatibility with a lightweight interface tailored for embedded devices.
Collabora partnered with Google’s YouTube Cobalt and Partner Engineering teams to develop the first reference implementation of Chrobalt on an RDK (Reference Design Kit) platform, specifically targeting Amlogic chipsets. This effort provides a validated, production-ready foundation for device manufacturers like Samsung and LG to adopt Chrobalt in their smart TV products.
The collaboration involved porting, integration, and extensive validation to ensure stability and performance. The project was highlighted at the YouTube Device Partner Summit in Japan, signaling industry acceptance of Chrobalt as the future standard for YouTube on living room devices.
This development is significant as it enables device makers to leverage Chromium’s web standards compliance while maintaining the efficiency required for embedded platforms. It also simplifies the path for OEMs and SoC vendors to deliver a better YouTube experience on smart TVs.
Collabora invites manufacturers and developers interested in deploying YouTube or embedded web solutions using Cobalt or Chrobalt on RDK or custom Linux platforms to engage with them for support and collaboration.