DVR - What to buy and what can it record

D

Davidhelp

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Dec 15, 2021
Messages
109
Location
Canoga Park
DVR - What to buy and what can it record and what resolution does it record at?


Example can it record say a show on Pluto tv while I am watching a Youtube channel?
Or does it just record over the air tv shows?
 
Our DVR is in our cable box. Can record 4 shows at a time off the cable. I don't think it does streaming channels. Max resolution.
 
When we had TIVO, it required cable cards to work. It recorded the incoming cable feed, via it's schedule, or whatever was being broadcast.

Streaming isn't the same at all. I would not look to buy a DVR in 2024. 2004? Great idea.
 
I have a DVR that came with Verizon's FIOS. I just tried Pluto TV, and it won't record it. I think it can record either 4 or 5 programs at once, off regular tv.
 
Physical DVRs like TiVo and cable company boxes record shows broadcast on cable or over the air via an antenna.

YouTube TV has a cloud DVR built in. You don't need a physical box, but it's also not as functional as a TiVo.

I don't know if Pluto TV has any type of "record and stream later" functionality.

The Samsung TV that has a built-in DVR has been around for a while but last time I looked it's not available in the U.S. market.
 
Davidhelp said:
DVR - What to buy and what can it record and what resolution does it record at?


Example can it record say a show on Pluto tv while I am watching a Youtube channel?
Or does it just record over the air tv shows?
Click to expand...

So far as I know, you can't record streaming channels. So you won't be able to record Pluto TV.

On certain streaming devices you can record some programming, if the hardware allows it. For example, my Roku Ultra has a USB port on it. If I place a USB stick in there I can record over-the-air broadcasts. The resolution recorded would be whatever was broadcast. I think Amazon Fire has a similar ability but not sure. Definitely can DVR things if you have cable TV service or satellite TV, but you are merely renting their equipment and you don't own the recordings.

I think that standalone DVR recording is a thing of the past.
 
I don't need a DVR. I have Youtube TV streaming and can record any program I want on the cloud. Works great.
 
I have an over-the-air TIVO (with antenna in the attic). Lifetime license. Mainly used to record local news and a few network shows. If I didn't already have it, I likely wouldn't buy it today as the world has moved on and there isn't much need anymore for me.

Cheers.
 
According to the Antenna man it can be done but not easy. I haven't tried it. Skip to the 2:12 mark of the video.

 
I use a home theater PC with DVR software. I'm still using SageTV, which I don't recommend because it's fading out of existence, but it still works for me to record OTA from my antenna with a couple Hauppauge tuner cards. It simply writes the stream directly to the hard drive, so there's no qualify loss. There are other programs that do the same thing like NextPVR, Media Portal, Myth TV, TV Headend, Plex, Emby, Jellyfin. I don't know the capabilities and limitations of all these, and that's not a complete list.

As for PlutoTV, there are workarounds like using a screen capture program, but an alternative would be to use Sling Freestream, which comes with 10 hours DVR for new accounts. It has a lot of free channels, some overlap with Pluto. I haven't used the DVR for Freestream because my existing account hasn't received this feature, yet, and I don't want to bother setting up a new account. I doubt I would use it much.
 
harllee said:
I don't need a DVR. I have Youtube TV streaming and can record any program I want on the cloud. Works great.
Click to expand...
That sounds suspiciously like Cloud DVR, which is what my cable company offers now instead of a regular DVR. I cut the cord years ago, so I haven't used it. It probably chews into your data cap if you actually watch anything you record.
big-papa said:
I have an over-the-air TIVO (with antenna in the attic). Lifetime license. Mainly used to record local news and a few network shows. If I didn't already have it, I likely wouldn't buy it today as the world has moved on and there isn't much need anymore for me.
Click to expand...
I'm not using TIVO but rather a home theater PC for that functionality, but I could not give it up. It's as useful for recording OTA channels as it was 10 years ago, and I can't see myself stopping using that free service as long as I'm living where I currently do. World moved on? I don't care what anyone else is doing. lol
 
Last edited:
I have a TiVo DVR made for use with antenna only service. I record 100% OTA free TV shows that interest me, usually two or three a week. I also record the nightly news in case something really ‘interesting’ happened, though that is rare. Some of the prime time network shows come with a commercial skipping feature. Press a button and zip past 95% of the commercials. Very nice.

Make sure you get at least three and preferably four tuners. My TiVo has four tuners so I can record four stations at once. Often it will be using three of the four tuners. A few times a year all four will be needed.

I paid for the All-In service which is a lifetime channel guide. Well worth the cost. The cable monster has not seen a penny of my money ever. Not even 1¢.
 
Last edited:
DVR'ing has become more challenging.

For many years we have used HDHomeRun network tuners (with cable cards) to watch Comcast or Verizon "cable." Until the Windows 8.1 computer died last year we used Windows Media Center to make and view recordings. With difficulty I probably could have scrounged up a replacement 8.1 computer but instead we moved the DVR job to Plex (still using the HDHomeRun cable card tuners).

Plex is more complicated than Media Center and we can no longer record encrypted channels but it also has some advantages. Our Plex server runs on a Windows 11 PC stowed away in an office area. DW uses a Plex client on an Apple TV in our family room to schedule and watch cable shows but Plex clients are available on many other network devices. (The Apple TV also lets us view random slide shows of her many photos while we have morning coffee.)

We moved recently and I would like to use a similar system to record OTA broadcasts. HDHomeRun does offer OTA ATSC tuners which may, in theory, work very well. Unfortunately, our reception of one key (for DW) station (NBC) is clearly blocked by hills. All other major local stations may be possible to receive despite trees and hills. I plan to buy some equipment to experiment with and have vague hope that we can find a way for DW to record NBC via network link (WireGuard or Tailscale) to a relative's home.

The future for OTA ATSC broadcast recording is clouded. Stations in some areas have begun encrypting signals. It's possible that this may become universal.
 
The future for OTA ATSC broadcast recording is clouded. Stations in some areas have begun encrypting signals. It's possible that this may become universal.
Click to expand...
No changes in my smaller market for years at this point, so I'm just going to put this out of my mind until I have to deal with it. I've actually read that some people have newer TVs with next gen tuners that can't decrypt some of their ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. Sounds messy.

Chuckanut said:
Make sure you get at least three and preferably four tuners.
Click to expand...
I have 3 tuner cards, but I never installed the 3rd one because it's rare where there is an overlap of 3 different things that I want to record, but there's only 9 OTA channels that actually have any content I record. Most of the time, no more than 1 tuner is being used for recording. I also record nightly news nightly along with local news. The DVR functionality makes it super quick to pass through the commercials (auto skip) and stuff I'm not interested in.

I understand that some software such as NextPVR would allow me to record subchannels from the same broadcaster with a single tuner at the same time. 7 of my channels are on 2 primary channels (e.g. 10.1, 10.2, 10.3). My old SageTV software can only record one of these as a time on a specific tuner card.
 
Last edited:
Davidhelp said:
DVR - What to buy and what can it record and what resolution does it record at?


Example can it record say a show on Pluto tv while I am watching a Youtube channel?
Or does it just record over the air tv shows?
Click to expand...

We have a OTA DVR at our summer home... a Fire TV Recast (no longer sold)... and it is great. we can record any OTA program and view it later on any of our 4 tvs (each tv has a Fire TV stick and they are all on the same network... the Fire TV Recast broadcasts video to the other vs via our home wifi).

We have had various different DVRs over the years from Dish, Xfinity, etc and they can record any program that they provide.

Also, many of the streaming services have cloud DVRs to record shows (YTTV as an example) but unfortunately, Pluto does not have that capability.

A handy tool for selecting a streaming service that meets your needs is suppose.tv

Input your zip code and your must-have channels and it will suggest what streaming packages best meet your needs.
 
If you want a cheap OTA DVR that is clunky look at:

Mediasonic ATSC Digital Converter Box with Recording / Media Player / TV Tuner Function (HW130STB) $27.99
 
I think Sling Freestream is the only totally free streaming that includes some cloud DVR time (10 hours). See if that will be good enough since Pluto TV doesn't have DVR.
https://www.techhive.com/article/22...eaming-dvr-puts-tubi-and-pluto-on-notice.html
threeonesix said:
"On-demand" replaced the need for DVR's at least a decade ago.
Click to expand...
It hasn't for me. It just added something new to the mix. I can't give up the DVR.
jim584672 said:
If you want a cheap OTA DVR that is clunky look at:

Mediasonic ATSC Digital Converter Box with Recording / Media Player / TV Tuner Function (HW130STB) $27.99
Click to expand...
Oh great. I'm specifically looking for "clunky" in my next OTA DVR.
When I look that up on Amazon, it says
This item cannot be shipped to your selected delivery location. Please choose a different delivery location.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Physical DVR is an orphaned concept. I hesitate to say that because it sounds like I'm just being cynical and/or mean-spirited. There is virtually $0.00 being invested into the technology because cloud-based DVR on streaming services is the current trend. Cloud-based DVR is actually not even a DVR, it is just a pointer to past content that the content provider retains.

That said, in order to get a nice physical DVR setup you will most likely have to hack something yourself using a video capture card and some DVR software that you can run on a local computer. There is not a plethora of solutions out there, mainly because this scares the snot out of content/IP owners who fear the Napster-effect (i.e. pirating).
 
Route246 said:
That said, in order to get a nice physical DVR setup you will most likely have to hack something yourself using a video capture card and some DVR software that you can run on a local computer. There is not a plethora of solutions out there, mainly because this scares the snot out of content/IP owners who fear the Napster-effect (i.e. pirating).
Click to expand...
There are network based tuners that don't require a capture card or even a PC. But there are actually quite a few software packages / apps than be used. They aren't going away any time soon with OTA still free and available to the masses. I've been using the same DVR software for many years with no plan to give it DVRing my OTA broadcast reception, although I might change software. I'm less likely to use one of those cheap boxes linked to.

It might not align with your views, but you need to think outside the box and not realize everyone has the same needs.
 
Last edited:
Davidhelp said:
DVR - What to buy and what can it record and what resolution does it record at?

Example can it record say a show on Pluto tv while I am watching a Youtube channel?
Or does it just record over the air tv shows?
Click to expand...

You might want to check out PlayOn. https://www.playon.tv/

It's the only third-party streaming DVR service I'm aware of that works with multiple streaming channels. Here is the list from their website:

ABC
Acorn
Amazon Prime Video
Apple TV+
CBS
The CW
Discovery+
Disney+
Max
Hulu
NBC
Netflix
Paramount
Peacock
PBS
Pluto TV
Roku Channel
Starz
Tubi
Vudu
YouTube
Click to expand...
 
We record OTA with an older Tablo with a separate HD. It has 2 OTA tuners so can record 2 channels at the same time and uses our WiFi for either watching Live OTA, or any of its recordings on any smart TV on the network. So far it has been pretty good. We haven't come across any streaming channels that we have felt need to record from (yet?).
 
Route246 said:
Physical DVR is an orphaned concept. I hesitate to say that because it sounds like I'm just being cynical and/or mean-spirited. There is virtually $0.00 being invested into the technology because cloud-based DVR on streaming services is the current trend. Cloud-based DVR is actually not even a DVR, it is just a pointer to past content that the content provider retains.

That said, in order to get a nice physical DVR setup you will most likely have to hack something yourself using a video capture card and some DVR software that you can run on a local computer. There is not a plethora of solutions out there, mainly because this scares the snot out of content/IP owners who fear the Napster-effect (i.e. pirating).
Click to expand...

You should still be able to pick up a Tivo w/ lifetime service that can tune OTA off eBay for a reasonable price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Trooper
How Do You Get Live TV?
3 4 5
Replies
112
Views
7K
Z3Dreamer
Z
D
Determining cost basis on inherited stock
Replies
15
Views
504
disneysteve
D
aja8888
Prime 30 second ads..worthless
Replies
8
Views
361
Spock
S
Qs Laptop
Why Would Someone Need Cable TV Service?
4 5 6
Replies
149
Views
10K
badatmath
B
D
Social Security - Any stabs at this one?
Replies
6
Views
867
Drake3287
D

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom