Comparison of PVR software packages
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The following is a comparison guide for popular DVR (digital video recorder, sometimes PVR, personal video recorder) software packages.
[edit] General information
Basic general information for popular DVR (PVR) software packages.
| Name | Official Website | Windows | Macintosh | GNU/Linux | Price | Latest stable release | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond TV | Beyond TV | Yes | No | No | $99.99 software & remote. | 4.9.0 | Not compatible with DVB tuners See also: List of digital television deployments by country |
| CTpvr | CTPVR | Yes | No | No | $29.95 - Media Center; $14.95 - Client | ? | UPDATE Mar-08: CTpvr has sold its products and TV Listings service to an (as yet) unknown company. Currently not available. |
| EyeTV | Elgato | No | Yes | No | Bundled / €79.99 | 3.1 | Free with all Elgato USB tuners, but available separately for use with other tuners. |
| Freevo | Freevo | Limited | Yes | Yes | Free | 1.8.3 | Open source |
| GB-PVR | GB-PVR | Yes | No | No | Free | 1.3.7 (November 2, 2008) | Includes Integrated EPG, media server; PC client (local or networked), MediaMVP clients, web-scheduling. |
| Got All Media | Got All Media | Yes | No | No | $49.95/copy, $39.95 for previous owners who want to upgrade | ? | ? |
| CenterStage | CenterStage | No | Yes | No | Free | ? | Development ceased December 2008 |
| MediaPortal | MediaPortal | Yes | No | No | Free | 1.0 (December 22, 2008) | Open source (built on the .NET 2.0 Framework) |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | Yes | No | No | Discontinued/Free | 2006 | Only available in the U.S.A. |
| MeediOS | MeediOS | Yes | No | No | Free | ? | Open source (built on the .NET Framework) |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | MediaPhoenix | Yes | No | No | MediaPhoenix - Unreleased ShowShifter - Discontinued (Was £30) | ? | 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. |
| MythTV | MythTV | No¹ | Yes | Yes | Free | 0.21 (March 8, 2008) | Open source |
| Plex | Plex | No | Yes | No | Free | 0.7.14 | Open Source. Code fork of XBMC. |
| SageTV | SageTV | Yes2 | Yes | Yes | $79.95 software; $29.95 client; $29.95 per mediaMVP client; | 6.5 | Java based. |
| SesamTV | SesamTV | Yes | No | No | Free | ? | ? |
| TVedia | TVedia | Yes | No | No | $34.95 | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | Windows Media Center | Yes | No | No | $110-$319 (OS Price) | 6.0.6000.16484 (November 8, 2006) | Included in Windows XP MCE 2005 and Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions, Windows 7 Home Premium and Ultimate. |
| XBMC Media Center | xbmc.org | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free | 8.10 (November 13, 2008) | Open source. A cross-platform media center front-end, currently no built-in TV-recording functionality of its own, but offers this via third-party plugins. |
¹ Porting MythTV to Windows is under development.[1]
2There is also a Windows Home Server Edition
[edit] PVR features
Information about what common and prominent PVR features are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons).
| PVR | Subscription Free Electronic Program Guide | Power Management | Multiple TV Tuner Cards Support | CableCARD Support | ATSC Tuner Support | Automated Commercial Skip | Teletext | Schedule Timed Recordings | Personalized Intelligent Recording and Scheduling 1 | DRM Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond TV | Yes | Yes6 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| CTpvr | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| EyeTV | No12 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | External add-on | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Freevo | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes | External add-on | ? | Yes | ? | No |
| GB-PVR | Yes | ? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Got All Media | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| CenterStage | No | ? | No | No | ? | No | ? | No | ? | No |
| MediaPortal | Yes5,9 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Using Plugin10 | Yes | Yes | Yes9 | Partial support |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MeediOS | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | Yes5 | ? | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| MythTV | No5,7 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | External add-on3 | No |
| SageTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Using Plugin9 | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| SesamTV | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TVedia | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes10 | Yes4 | Yes | External add-on2 | Yes | Yes | No11 | Yes |
| XBMC Media Center | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
1 The Personalized Intelligent Recording and Scheduling feature, similar to TiVo enables the PVR application to record programs based on past viewing habits and interests.
2 Windows Media Center has the ability to skip commercials automatically after installing an external plug-in called "DVRMSToolbox" (which is not supported by Microsoft) or "Lifextender" .
3 MythTV has the ability to perform Personalized Intelligent Recording and Scheduling after installing an external plug-in called "tvwish" (which is not supported by MythTV).
4 Windows Media Center supports CableCard when used on CableLabs certified OEM Hardware. [2]
5 Supports over-the-air epg when using cards/boxes which support this functionality, and in areas where such a service is available.
6 To take advantage of operating system power management with Beyond TV, the main user interface must be closed.
7 MythTV has switched from the now defunct Zap2It to the $20 per year Schedules Direct.[1]
8 EPG is supported via WebEpg
9 Is Supported by 3rd party plugins. ComSkip[3] and ShowAnalyzer [4]
10 Windows Media Center supports two NTSC (Analog) tuners and two ATSC (Digital) tuners out of the box. Using additional tuners requires registry modifications.
11 Vista Media Center can do partial intelligent recordings. You can do recordings based on key words, actor(s) names, or other genres.
12 Elgato's contract with TitanTV will expire in 2010. When it expires TV Guide will become the sole EPG provider for EyeTV. One year of TV Guide EPG service costs $19.95.[2][3]
[edit] Video format support
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) | H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10) | WMV | AVI | DivX | Xvid | ASF | QuickTime | MP4 | Real Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond TV | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| CTpvr | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| EyeTV | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| Freevo | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| GB-PVR | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Got All Media | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mac Media Center | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No1 | Yes | No1 |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No1 | ? | ? |
| MeediOS | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MythTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SageTV | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
| SesamTV | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |
| TVedia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | No1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No1 | No1 | No1 |
| XBMC Media Center | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 | No1 |
1 Possible with third-party software.
Information about what video codecs are implemented natively (without third-party add-ons) in the PVRs.
[edit] 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.
| DVR | Tuner Sharing | Hard Disk Pooling | Shared Media Database | Home Automation | Media Extenders | Placeshifting | Two-way Remote Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond TV | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| CTpvr | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| EyeTV | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
| Freevo | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| GB-PVR | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Got All Media | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mac Media Center | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No4 |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | No | Yes1 | ? | No | No | No |
| MeediOS | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MythTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SageTV | Yes | No6 | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
| SesamTV | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TVedia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | No | No | No | No2 | Yes | No5 | No2 |
| XBMC Media Center | No4 | No4 | No4 | No4 | Yes | No4 | No4 |
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 Windows Home Server Edition
[edit] TV Tuner Hardware
DVRs require a TV Tuner in order to work. Many DVRs, as seen above, can handle multiple tuners.
