Comparison of PVR Software Packages
From HTPCnz
The following is a comparison guide for popular DVR (PVR) software packages.
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 | 4.7.1 | Not compatible with DVB tuners |
| CTpvr | CTPVR | Yes | No | No | $29.95 - Media Center; $14.95 - Client | ? | ? |
| EyeTV | Elgato | No | Yes | No | Bundled / €79.99 | ? | 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 | 1.1.5 (November 10, 2007) | Includes Integrated EPG, media server; PC client (local or networked), MediaMVP clients, web-scheduling. |
| Got All Media | Got All Media | Yes | No | No | Free | ? | ? |
| 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 | No | Yes | Yes | Free | 0.20.2 (August 24, 2007) | Open source. Next version (due March 1, 2007) also works with windows. |
| SageTV | SageTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | $79.95 software; $29.95 client; $29.95 per mediaMVP client; | ? | ? |
| 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) | It is included in Windows XP Media Center Edition and higher-end editions of Windows Vista |
| Xlobby | Xlobby | Yes | No | No | Free | ? | ? |
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 | Commercial Skip | Teletext | Recording Scheduled Programs | Personalized Intelligent Recording and Scheduling ¹ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beyond TV | Yes | Yes6 | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
| CTpvr | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| EyeTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes 8 | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Freevo | ? | ? | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| GB-PVR | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Got All Media | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mac Media Center | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | No9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MeediOS | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | Yes5 | ? | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MythTV | No7 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No³ |
| SageTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SesamTV | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TVedia | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes4 | No² | ? | Yes | No |
| Xlobby | ? | ? | ? | 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).
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. [1]
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.There are several options for free EPG data for MythTV in NZ.
8 Supported in EyeTV 610 (DVB-C) and EyeTV 310 (DVB-S)
9 MediaPortal natively supports CAM modules which are able to decrypt supported encrypted broadcasts
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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| GB-PVR | Yes² | Yes | Yes² | Yes | Yes² | Yes² | Yes² | Yes² | Yes² | Yes² | Yes² | Yes² |
| Got All Media | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mac Media Center | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 | Yes3 |
| Meedio TV/Yahoo Go! TV | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MeediOS | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPhoenix/ShowShifter | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MythTV | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes4 | Yes4 | Yes4 | ? |
| 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 | No¹ | No¹ | No¹ | Yes |
| Xlobby | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
1Windows Media Center has the ability to play this video format after the installation of 3rd Party codecs and splitters but is unable display TV if broadcast in this format at this time.
2 GB-PVR has the ability to play this video format if the user has installed the codecs and splitters for this file type. It also has the ability to convert a recording to this format using its built in transcoding functionality.
3 MediaPortal has the ability to play this video format if the user has installed the codecs and splitters for this file type. MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 codecs are provided as part of the MediaPortal Installation Package
4MythTV is able to play a very wide variety of formats but uses reversed-engineered codecs which are not fully compatible with some ASF,MP4, and Quicktime files.
