Comparison of PVR software packages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This list may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this list. It may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. (January 2008) |
 |
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (November 2007) |
The following is a comparison guide for popular DVR (PVR) 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 | $69.99 - $79.99; $29.99 client; $49.99 network media playback; Free mediaMVP client | 4.8.1 | 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 | 3.0 | Free with all Elgato USB tuners, but available separately for use with other tuners. |
| Freevo | Freevo | Limited | Yes | Yes | Free | 1.7.5 | Open source |
| GB-PVR | GB-PVR | Yes | No | No | Free | 1.2.9 (08 March 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 | ? | ? |
| Mac Media Center | Mac Media Center | No | Yes | No | Free | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | MediaPortal | Yes | No | No | Free | 0.2.3.0 (November 15, 2007) | Open source (built on the .NET Framework) |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | Yes | No | No | Discontinued/Free | ? | 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 |
| SageTV | SageTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | $79.95 software; $29.95 client; $29.95 per mediaMVP client; | 6.3.10 | ? |
| SesamTV | SesamTV | Yes | No | No | Free | ? | ? |
| TVedia | TVedia | Yes | No | No | $34.95 | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | Windows Media Center | Yes | No | No | N/A | 6.0.6000.16484 (November 8, 2006) | Included in Windows XP MCE and Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions. |
¹ Porting MythTV to Windows is under development.[1]
[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 | Recording Scheduled Programs | Personalized Intelligent Recording and Scheduling 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond TV | Yes | Yes6 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| CTpvr | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| EyeTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | No 8 | ? | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Freevo | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| GB-PVR | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Got All Media | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mac Media Center | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes5,9 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes10 | Yes | Yes | Yes10 |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MeediOS | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | Yes5 | ? | Yes | No | ? | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MythTV | Yes5,7 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No3 |
| SageTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes10 | No | Yes | Yes |
| SesamTV | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TVedia | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes11 | Yes4 | Yes | No2 | ? | Yes | No12 |
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 Schedules Direct, which costs $20/year.
8 Supported in EyeTV 610 (DVB-C) and EyeTV 310 (DVB-S)
9 EPG is supported via WebEpg
10 Is Supported by 3rd party plugins
11 Out of the box MCE supports Two ATSC tuners and Two NTSC tuners, to get additional tuners you have to perform registry modifications to get more than two ATSC or two NTSC tuners.
12 Vista Media Center can do partial intelligent recordings. You can do recordings based on key words, actor(s) names, or other genre's.
[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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 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 | Yes1 | Yes | Yes1 |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes¹ | ? | ? |
| 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 |
1 Requires 3rd 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 | No | ? | No |
| CTpvr | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| EyeTV | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Freevo | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| GB-PVR | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Got All Media | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mac Media Center | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes4 |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | No | Yes1 | ? | No | No | No |
| MeediOS | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MythTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| SageTV | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
| SesamTV | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TVedia | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | No | No | No | Yes2 | Yes | No5 | Yes2 |
1 registry change.
2 retail third party plugin
3 free supported third party plugin
4 free unsupported third party plugin
5 Yes with free third party software Web Guide 4
[edit] TV Tuner Hardware
DVRs require a TV Tuner in order to work. Many DVRs, as seen above, can handle multiple tuners.
[edit] See also
- DVD recorder
- Hard disk recorder
- Home theater PC
- Media PC
- Pace Twin PVR
- Wizo
- Sky+
- TiVo
- Silent PC
[edit] Media PC Retailers
 |
This multimedia software-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
