This is a comparison of digital video recorder (DVR), also known as personal video recorder (PVR), software packages.
Basic general information for popular DVR software packages.
Name | Windows | MacOSX | Linux | BSD | Android | Prices | License | Latest stable release | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beyond TV | Yes | No | No | No | No | Terminated (See notes) |
Proprietary | 4.9.3 Build 6535 (October 15, 2010) (final version) |
Not compatible with DVB tuners. While Snapstream is providing minor fixes for Beyond TV, they are 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) remains active and the program is still available. See also: List of digital television deployments by country |
DVB Dream | Yes | No | No | No | No | $49 | Proprietary | 2.8.1 (January 18, 2016) |
Focused on DVB and live TV |
DVBViewer | Yes | No | No | No | No | €20 | Proprietary | 5.6.1 (March 15, 2016) |
|
Emby (formerly Media Browser) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Client Only) |
|
|
3.0.8100 (October 13, 2016) |
Compatible with SiliconDust HD Homerun Tuners.[1] |
EyeTV | No | Yes | No | No | No | Bundled | Proprietary | 3.6.1 | Bundled for no extra charge with all Elgato USB tuners, but also sold separately for use with other tuners. |
Hauppauge WinTV | Yes | No | No | No | No | Bundled | Proprietary | WinTV8, CD4.1 (current Mar 16) |
Bundled for no extra charge, only works with Hauppauge TV cards and peripherals. |
InterVideo WinDVR | Yes | No | No | No | No | Discontinued | Proprietary | (final version) | Discontinued. Used to be bundled for no extra charge with various TV tuner devices. |
JRiver Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | $49.98 (one license covers all owned HTPCs | Proprietary | 21 October 2015 (October 2015)[2] |
DirectShow video player, madVR, LAV filters, HD audio, images, 10 foot GUI, Remote control, DLNA, Android/iPhone interface, automatic meta-data lookup for Audio, TV and Movies, fully customizable database |
Kodi (formerly XBMC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free and open-source software | GPL | 17.0 "Krypton"
(February 1, 2017)[3] |
Cross-platform free and open source software media center application, able to watch live or recorded TV, music, photos and has one of the most expansive collection of plugins/addons, enabling the system to do anything from browsing the web or downloading movies, to dimming the lights in the sitting room. |
MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | Yes | No | No | No | No | MediaPhoenix – Unreleased ShowShifter – Discontinued (was £30) |
Proprietary | 3.1 (final version) |
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 | No | No | Free and open-source software | GPL | MP1 1.15.0
(28 June 2016)[4] MP2 Spring '16 |
built on the .NET 2.0 Framework |
MythTV | Limited[3] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Free and open-source software | GPL | 0.29 (July 31, 2017) |
Free Open Source software digital video recorder (DVR) project distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL. It has been under heavy development since 2002, and now contains most features one would expect from a good DVR. |
NextPVR | Yes | No | No | No | No | Freeware | Proprietary | 4.0.4 (2017-07-23[5]) |
|
SageTV | Yes[4] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (Client Only) |
Free and open-source software
formerly sold for $79.95 server and $29.95 per client. |
GPL (Formerly Proprietary) |
7.1 (final retail version) 9.0 (free version) |
Java based. SageTV was purchased by Google on June 20, 2011 and its online store was shut. On 10 August 2015, it was announced by Narflex that SageTV officially became Open Source.[6] |
Tvtime | No | No | Yes | No | No | Free and open-source software | GPL | 1.0.2
(November 10, 2005) |
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 (VDR) | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Free and open-source software | GPL | 2.2.0
(February 19, 2015) |
TV Done Right, VDR can use one to eight video cards and support DVB-S, DVB-C and DVB-T. Record and read any DVB flux with a lot of plugins. |
Windows Media Center | Yes | No | No | No | No |
|
Proprietary | 6.3.9600.16384 (2013) (final version) |
Included with Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions and Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions. Was available for Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8.1 Pro as part of the Media Center Pack add-on, until it was discontinued on October 30, 2015.[7] Available for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 unofficially through a windows command script installer.[8] Not available for Windows RT. |
VBox Home TV Gateway VBox@TV | Yes | Yes[5] | Yes | No | No | Bundled | Proprietary | 2.46
(November 11, 2014) |
Bundled for no extra charge with VBox Home TV Gateway - Network TV Tuner, Manage and schedule recordings from any web browser, local or over the internet |
^ Emby Server is available for free under GPL which provides web access to the library. Client software is generally free when connected to an Emby Premiere-licensed server. Premiere license costs $4.99/month, $49.99/year, or $99.99 for lifetime.[9] Some client applications, like Emby on the Windows Store cost $4.99.[10]
^ Porting MythTV to Windows is under development.[6]
^ There is also a Windows Home Server Edition
^ Manage and schedule recordings
Information about what common and prominent DVR features are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons unless stated otherwise):
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | ? | ? | ? |
WinTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited[f 5] | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
Kodi (formerly XBMC) | Yes | Yes | External add-on | External add-on | External add-on | External add-on | Yes | External add-on | External add-on | External add-on | External add-on | External add-on | Using Plugin | Using Plugin | Using Apps |
NextPVR | Yes[f 6] | Yes | Yes | Partial[f 7] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
MediaPortal | DVB[f 3]/XMLTV[f 9] | Yes | Yes | Partial[f 10] | Supported on some specific cards | Yes | Using Plugin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial support | Yes | Yes[f 11] | ? | Yes[f 11] |
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 12] | Yes | Yes | Limited[f 13] | Yes[f 14] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Requires external add-on[f 15] | No | Yes[f 16] | Yes[f 17] | No | Yes[f 17] |
SageTV | Yes (with former purchased license) | Yes | Yes | Partial Using Plugin[f 18] | ? | Yes | Using Plugin[f 19] | No | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Video Disk Recorder | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Using Plugin | Yes | Using Plugin | No | Yes | Using Plugin | No | Using Plugin |
Windows Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes[f 20] | Yes[f 21] | ? | Yes | External add-on[f 22] | Yes | Yes | Yes[f 23] | Yes; also respects "do not record" flag | Supports DVB-T/T2 and DVB-S/S2; does not support DVB-C[f 24] | Yes | Yes | Yes |
VBox@TV | DVB Guide info varies by broadcaster and TV service provider | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Information about what video codecs are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons) in the PVRs.
DVR | MPEG-1 | MPEG-2 | MPEG-4 ASP (MPEG-4 Part 2), i.e. DivX, XviD | H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10) | HEVC (H.265) | VP8 | VP9 | WMV | AVI | ASF | QuickTime | MP4 | RealVideo | MKV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beyond TV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Unknown | No | No | No | Unknown |
EyeTV | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
WinTV | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown |
GB-PVR | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown |
Kodi (formerly XBMC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[v 1] | Yes | No[v 1] | Yes |
MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
MythTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
SageTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes |
Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | No | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
Windows Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[v 1][v 2] | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[v 1][v 2] | Yes[v 1][v 2] | No[v 1] | Unknown |
VBox@TV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Information about what video codecs are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons) in the PVRs.
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.
DVR | Tuner Sharing | Hard Disk Pooling | Shared Media Database | Home Automation | Media Extenders | Placeshifting/Spaceshifting | Two-way Remote Control | Second Screen |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beyond TV | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Unknown |
EyeTV | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown |
GB-PVR | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Kodi (formerly XBMC) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes4 | Yes | Unknown | Yes3 | Unknown |
MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes4 | Unknown |
MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
MythTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
SageTV | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown |
Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Unknown |
Windows Media Center | Yes6 | Yes7 | Yes | Yes2 | Yes | Yes5 | Yes2 | Unknown |
VBox@TV | Yes | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
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 gateway network tuner TV servers
DVRs require TV tuner cards to receive signals. Many DVRs, as seen above, can use multiple tuners.
HdHomerun has CableCARD Models (HDHomeRun Prime) and OTA Models (HDHomeRun Connect) that are networked TV Tuners
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