This is a comparison of digital video recorder software packages.
General information
Basic general information for popular DVR/PVR software packages.
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| Beyond TV | Yes | No | No | $99.99 software & remote. | 4.9.3
Build 6335
October 15, 2010 | Not compatible with DVB tuners.
While Snapstream is providing minor fixes for Beyond TV, they no longer actively updating and developing the software as they are focusing on commercial applications. Despite the lack of a new version, their fanbase (in the forums) maintains active and the program is still available.
See also: List of digital television deployments by country |
| CenterStage | No | Yes | No | Free | ? | Development ceased December 2008 |
| EyeTV | No | Yes | No | Bundled / €79.99 | 3.1 | Free with all Elgato USB tuners, but available separately for use with other tuners. |
| Hauppauge WinTV | Yes | | | Free with some cards, SD and HD versions otherwise sold | winTV7, CD2.6d, November 2012(?) | For Hauppauge TV cards and peripherals |
| InterVideo WinDVR | Yes | No | No | ? | | Discontinued. Previously bundled with various TV tuner devices. |
| JRiver Media Center | Yes | No | No | $49.98 | 17.0.50 December, 2011 | DirectShow video player, audio, images, 10 foot GUI, Remote control, DLNA |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | Yes | No | No | MediaPhoenix - Unreleased
ShowShifter - Discontinued (Was £30) | 3.1 | Supports some older TechnoTrend/Hauppauge boxes which are not BDA compliant, such as the Dec 2000-t/3000-s and first generation Nova-t USB boxes, which are unsupported by other PVR software. |
| MediaPortal | Yes | No | No | Free | 1.2.3 (April 13, 2012)[1] | Open source (built on the .NET 2.0 Framework) |
| MythTV | Limited [1] | Yes | Yes | Free | 0.26 (October 03, 2012) | Open source |
| NextPVR | Yes | No | No | Free | 2.5.9 (October 01, 2012) | Open source |
| SageTV | Yes[2] | Yes | Yes | $79.95 software; $29.95 client; $29.95 per mediaMVP client; | 6.6 | Java based. SageTV was purchased by Google on 20 June 2011 and its online store was shut. No statement has been made about the future availability of SageTV products. |
| Tvtime | No | No | Yes | Free | 1.0.2 (November 10, 2005) | Open source. High quality television application for use with video capture cards on Linux systems. tvtime processes the input from a capture card and displays it on a computer monitor or projector |
| Video Disk Recorder | No | No | Yes | | 1.6.0 (March, 2008) | Open source. |
| Windows Media Center | Yes | No | No | Free | 6.1.7601.17514 (© 2009) | Included in Windows XP MCE 2005, Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions, Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate, and Windows 8 Professional WMC |
^ Porting MythTV to Windows is under development.[3]
^ There is also a Windows Home Server Edition
Digital/Personal Video Recorder (DVR/PVR) features
Information about what common and prominent DVR features are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons unless stated otherwise).
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| Beyond TV | Yes | Yes[f 2] | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| EyeTV | DVB;[f 3] other guide info varies by region[f 4] | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | External add-on | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| GB-PVR | No[f 5] | Unknown | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| CenterStage | No | Unknown | No | No | ? | Unknown | No | Unknown | No | Unknown | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| MediaPortal | DVB[f 3]/XMLTV[f 7] | Yes | Yes | No | Supported on some specific cards | Yes | Using Plugin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial support | Yes | Yes[f 8] | ? | Yes[f 8] |
|---|
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | DVB[f 3] | Unknown | Yes | No | ? | Unknown | No | No | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | No | No | No |
|---|
| MythTV | DVB;[f 3] other services region dependent[f 9] | Yes | Yes | Limited[f 10] | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Requires external add-on[f 11] | No | Yes[f 12] | Yes[f 13] | No | Yes[f 13] |
|---|
| SageTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Using Plugin[f 14] | ? | Yes | Using Plugin[f 15] | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
|---|
| Windows Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes[f 16] | Yes[f 17] | ? | Yes | External add-on[f 18] | Yes | Yes | Yes[f 19] | Yes; also honors the "do not record" flag which was disallowed by the courts. | Supports DVB-T/T2 and DVB-S/S2; does not support DVB-C[f 20] | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|---|
| DVR | Subscription free electronic program guide (EPG) | Power management | Multiple TV tuner cards support | CableCARD support | CAM support | ATSC tuner support | Automated commercial skipping | Teletext | Schedule timed recordings | Personalized intelligent recording and scheduling[f 1] | DRM support | DVB (T/T2, S/S2, C) tuner support | Smartphone/Tablet playback | Smartphone/Tablet syncing | Smartphone/Tablet remote control |
|---|
- ^ a b A system similar to TiVo's which enables the DVR/PVR application to record programs based on past viewing habits and interests.
- ^ To take advantage of operating system power management with Beyond TV, the main user interface must be closed.
- ^ a b c d Supports over-the-air EPG when using cards/boxes which support this functionality, and in areas where such a service is available. For example, over-the-air 7-day programme data is available in the UK for DVB-T services (Freeview, TopUp TV etc; DVB-T2 listings for Freeview HD are encrypted) and Freesat (DVB-S/S2).[f 6]
- ^ Elgato's contract with TitanTV for the US market expired in 2010. When it expired, TV Guide became the sole EPG provider for EyeTV in the United States. There, one year of TV Guide EPG service costs $19.95.[2][3]
- ^ No native subscription free EPG built in, but EPG data available using third party services.
- ^ Unlike the UK DVB-T EPG, the Freesat EPG uses its own channel and thus must be specifically set up in order to be used. As such, support for DVB EPG may be insufficient to access it.
- ^ Supports XMLTV programme data which is provided by various sources for various costs depending on territory. For example, the (supported) 14-day Radio Times feed for the UK is free of charge.
- ^ a b via aMPdroid app; requires WifiRemote and MpExtended plugins[4]
- ^ Subscription-free EPG is available in areas where program listings data is freely available without violating copyright laws or data owners' Terms of Service. In North America, Schedules Direct provides legally-licensed EPG data for a nominal fee of $20 per year.[5]
- ^ Support is limited to content broadcast as 'copy freely' (DRM Free)
- ^ External third-party plug-in required, e.g. "tvwish", "MythMiner"; not supported.
- ^ Supports any tuner card supported by LinuxTV framework, most of which are. DVB-T2 is not official supported but reported to be working by those with compatible tuners.
- ^ a b The official MythTV plugin MythWeb allows users to browse the programme guide, schedule recordings, manage media and playback video via a Flash-based player, which works on Android phones and tablets.[6]
- ^ Smartphone and tablet control of the full range of Windows Media Center features is possible on iOS and Android.[7]
- ^ Supported by 3rd party plugins: ComSkip and ShowAnalyzer
- ^ Windows Media Center supports two NTSC (Analog) tuners and two ATSC (Digital) tuners out of the box. Using additional tuners requires registry modifications. Windows 7 Media Center supports up to 4 tuners of each type out of the box, DVB-T, DVB-S, NTSC/PAL.
- ^ Windows Media Center supports CableCard when used on CableLabs certified OEM Hardware.[8] Windows 7 Media Center supports CableCard on any hardware that passes the Digital Cable Advisor tool in MCE.[9]
- ^ Requires and external plug-in such as "DVRMSToolbox" or "Lifextender"; not supported by Microsoft.
- ^ Vista Media Center can do partial intelligent recordings based on keywords, actor(s) name(s), or genre.
- ^ DVB-C is achievable using certain cards that are detected as DVB-T tuners. And also using addons such as DVBLink
Video format support
Information about what video codecs are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons) in the PVRs.
- ^ a b c d e f Possible with third-party software.
- ^ a b c Windows 7 only
Information about what video codecs are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons) in the PVRs.
Network support
Each features is in context of computer-to-computer interaction. All features must be available after the default install otherwise the feature needs a footnote.
1 Yes with registry change
2 Yes with retail third-party plugin
3 Yes with free supported third-party plugin
4 Yes with free unsupported third-party plugin
5 Yes with free third-party software Web Guide 4
6 Yes with add-on software called DVBLink Server
7 Yes with using symlinks, or just adding folders in settings
TV Tuner Hardware
Main article:
TV tuner cardDVRs require TV Tuner(s) in order to receive signals. Many DVRs, as seen above, can use multiple tuners.
See also
External links
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| | | Windows | |
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| | | OS X | |
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| | | Linux distributions | |
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| | | Cross-platform | - Plex (Android, iOS, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Windows Phone)
- SageTV (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows)
- XBMC (Android, Apple TV, iOS, Linux, Mac OS X, MeeGo, Raspberry Pi, Windows, Xbox)
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| | Set-top boxes/
Digital media receivers | |
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| | | Related hardware | |
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| | | System manufacturers | |
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| | | Related articles | |
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Notes
- ^ "MEDIAPORTAL - Download MediaPortal for free!". Team MediaPortal. http://www.team-mediaportal.com/mediaportal-download. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
- ^ Why is there a fee for the EyeTV Program Guide?
- ^ How do I use TV Guide with EyeTV?
- ^ "aMPdroid - Android Apps on Google Play". https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mediaportal.ampdroid. Retrieved 2012-09-27.
- ^ Schedules Direct
- ^ http://code.google.com/p/mythdroid MythDroid
- ^ http://www.evoscan.com/home/
- ^ http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060131-6081.html
- ^ http://www.anandtech.com/show/3588
