Developer Voices Testing TVs At Scale With Elixir (with Dave Lucia)
Dec 19, 2024
Dave Lucia, a software engineer at TVLabs, tackles the challenges of testing television software at scale. He discusses the complexities of integration testing amidst a mix of software and hardware. With innovative techniques like real-time video processing and using Erlang and Elixir, he shares insights on enhancing reliability. The conversation also delves into GPU-powered testing devices, power management strategies, and maintaining optimal conditions for testing. Lucia highlights the shift to containerization for software deployment, streamlining updates across diverse TV models.
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Early TV App Testing
- Early TV app testing involved physical rooms filled with TVs.
- QA teams would manually sideload builds and test with remotes, mirroring Google's early smartphone testing labs.
TV App Development
- Most TV apps use web technologies, wrapping Chromium or similar browsers within the TV's OS.
- However, each manufacturer implements these browsers differently, creating fragmentation issues for developers.
Sourcing Old TVs
- Sourcing specific older TV models is a challenge for testing.
- TVLabs sometimes resorts to unconventional methods like asking friends, family, or checking Craigslist.