GB-PVR
Encyclopedia
GB-PVR is a PVR
(personal video recorder) application, running on Microsoft Windows
, whose main function is scheduling TV recordings and playing back live TV. This PVR also acts as a home media center
with a digital video recorder, a radio station online tuner, a music and movie player, a library of images and other features. The program has been succeeded by a new PVR program, called NextPVR or nPVR for short.
Although GB-PVR supports open interfaces, the core engine code is closed. However developing personal plug-ins is an option to extend the application and these can be closed or open source, depending on the developer's interests. These plug-ins can be developed in C#, VB.NET or C++
and exist some examples available in the GB-PVR official Forums and the GB-PVR Documentation wiki websites. Moreover the software has been developed with an interface which allows to change the skin view or other graphic elements as the wallpaper.
GB-PVR is mostly an MPEG recording and playback system, but may also play other non-MPG content such as AVI
(DivX
/Xvid
), WMV, and other formats that are supported by the codec
s installed into a computer's.
It requires a supported TV tuner card, a VMR9 capable display adapter (video card), and a supported MPEG2 Decoder. Other requirements are listed on the GB-PVR web site.
and DVB-S
, ATSC
HDTV or QAM HDTV signals. These devices also can include BDA
drivers. Some examples are listed below:
DVB-T AND DVB-S DEVICES
ATSC HDTV DEVICES
QAM HDTV DEVICES
GO7007SB BASED DEVICES
Some plug-ins may be configured in the GB-PVR configuration tool, but most of them are configured by editing the plugins Manual/ Skin (skin.xml)
Available in version 1.3.7 (current version 1.3.11 to be confirmed)
The server is responsible of recordings that the clients can schedule. Therefore clients do not need a recording service. A client PC just can watch tv and recordings from the server, which has to share them. Clients can also use the EPG which runs in the server.
There are two different sharing modes:
Other clients supported:
PVR
PVR may refer to:*Peak Vehicle Requirement, the number of public transport vehicles required to operate the highest frequency service on a route*Penn Virginia Resources, a mining company* Personal video recorder, also known as a digital video recorder...
(personal video recorder) application, running on Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, whose main function is scheduling TV recordings and playing back live TV. This PVR also acts as a home media center
Home theater PC
A Home Theater PC or Media Center appliance is a convergence device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that supports video, photo, music playback, and sometimes video recording functionality...
with a digital video recorder, a radio station online tuner, a music and movie player, a library of images and other features. The program has been succeeded by a new PVR program, called NextPVR or nPVR for short.
Although GB-PVR supports open interfaces, the core engine code is closed. However developing personal plug-ins is an option to extend the application and these can be closed or open source, depending on the developer's interests. These plug-ins can be developed in C#, VB.NET or C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
and exist some examples available in the GB-PVR official Forums and the GB-PVR Documentation wiki websites. Moreover the software has been developed with an interface which allows to change the skin view or other graphic elements as the wallpaper.
GB-PVR is mostly an MPEG recording and playback system, but may also play other non-MPG content such as AVI
Audio Video Interleave
Audio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...
(DivX
DivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
/Xvid
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
), WMV, and other formats that are supported by the codec
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
s installed into a computer's.
It requires a supported TV tuner card, a VMR9 capable display adapter (video card), and a supported MPEG2 Decoder. Other requirements are listed on the GB-PVR web site.
Features
- Integrated graphical user interface to manage all functionality
- 10-foot user interface10-foot user interfaceIn computing a 10-foot user interface is a software GUI designed for display on a large television with interaction using a regular television-style remote control."10 foot" refers to the fact that the GUI's...
for large screen displays - TV Guide for scheduling of recordings
- Support for season recordings
- Support for automatically converting recordings to DivXDivXDivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
/XvidXviDXvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
/WMV/ipod etc - Support for manual recordings on a specified channel at a specified time
- Timeshift television allowing for pausing live TV etc.
- Multidec support enabling the use of a wide range of softcams and other DVB plugins.
- Teletext
- DVB Subtitles
- Support for recording multiple digital channels at the same time with 1 tuner card when channels are on the same frequency
- SRT Subtitles
- Access to music, videos and photos inside the computer.
- Net radio
- FM radio
- Support for HDTV
- Multi-lingual support, with language packs available for many languages.
Supported Capture Cards
Capture or tuner cards are devices that allows a computer to record video signal, receive television signal and playback video. Some examples of capture cards are:Analog TV cards
These capture cards are the most popular as they allow to receive television signals with a computer, moreover some of them also act as video capture, recording television programs in the computer. Some examples are:- Hauppauge
- Adaptec
- ATI
- AVerMedia
- Conexant
- and more...
Digital TV cards
Depending on the type of device these cards can allow to tune the reception of digital signals as DVB-TDVB-T
DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...
and DVB-S
DVB-S
DVB-S is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Satellite; it is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and demodulation standard for satellite television and dates from 1994, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997...
, ATSC
ATSC
ATSC standards are a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks....
HDTV or QAM HDTV signals. These devices also can include BDA
BDA
BDA may refer to:*British Dietetic Association – a professional association and trade union for dieticians in the United Kingdom*Bermuda International Airport - now called L.F...
drivers. Some examples are listed below:
DVB-T AND DVB-S DEVICES
- Hauppauge
- Fusion HDTV
- ATI HDTV
- Kworld
- and more...
ATSC HDTV DEVICES
- Fusion HDTV
- Hauppauge
- AverMedia
- SiliconDust
QAM HDTV DEVICES
- OnAir GT
- SiliconDust HDHomeRun
- Hauppauge HVR-1600
- Hauppauge HVR-1800
GO7007SB BASED DEVICES
- Generic Conexant “Blackbird” based card
- Plextor PX-M402U, PX-TV402U
- Lifeview TV Walker
Remote Control
IR or RF signal transmitters and receivers are used for GB-PVR remote control. Software makes the interpretation of the signals. With few buttons the user can interact with GB-PVR. Some manufacturers have developed remotes for remote PC wake up.Playback
- Playback of many video formats, MPEG, AVIAudio Video InterleaveAudio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...
, DivXDivXDivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
, XvidXviDXvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
, TS, etc. - Extensible playback mechanism allowing additional file types to be added with correct codecs installed
- Automatic aspect ratio control
- DVD playback from either DVD drive or DVD image on hard disk.
- Supports VMR9/VMR7/Overlay video renderers
- VMR9 full screen Exclusive mode
- Music visualizations.
Plug-ins
For the installation of the dll, it should be in the gbpvr/plugins directory. The plug-ins skin should be copied to the skin directory. Normally the plug-ins are distributed as zip files and they can be extract to the gbpvr root directory. When there is a skin which is not available in the plug-ins zip file, it has to be copied into the current skin directory.Some plug-ins may be configured in the GB-PVR configuration tool, but most of them are configured by editing the plugins Manual/ Skin (skin.xml)
Available in version 1.3.7 (current version 1.3.11 to be confirmed)
- AnimeLibrary (Collection of AnimeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
episodes, images...) - BurnDVDX2 (DVD creator from MPGMPGMPG or mpg may refer to:*.mpg, one of a number of file extensions for MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 audio and video compression*General Motors Milford Proving Ground*Havas Media, formerly known as Media Planning Group, a media division of Havas...
s) - Cinema (Shows information of our local cinemas, time, films...)
- DVB-TRadio (Pluggin for playing DVB-TDVB-TDVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...
Radio channels) - GameZone (Front-end for multiple emulatorEmulatorIn computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
s) - GraphRecorder (Allow to use an external to record programs for GB-PVR)
- MLPanel (Design screen-savers, picture slide...)
- MovieWiz (Movie manager)
- Music (Fast database driven music player application with free text search and tag edit)
- SkinPlugin (Allows to browse themes and change the look of GB-PVR on-the-fly.)
- SS2Recorder (Record and watch Live TV by TechniSatTechniSatTechniSat is a German manufacturer and market leader of direct broadcast satellite receivers as well. They also produce televisions, car navigation and entertainment systems...
) - Torrents (Torrent files manager using ‘uTorrent’)
- TVListings (TV guide)
- Weather (on demand weather channel)
- WebCams (Allows to view webcams all around the world)
Client/Server support
When configuring the machine which is running GB-PVR, the possibilities are client and server mode.The server is responsible of recordings that the clients can schedule. Therefore clients do not need a recording service. A client PC just can watch tv and recordings from the server, which has to share them. Clients can also use the EPG which runs in the server.
There are two different sharing modes:
- Streaming (only supports MPEG2)
- File sharing
Other clients supported:
- HauppaugeHauppauge Computer WorksHauppauge Computer Works , or just Hauppauge, is a US manufacturer and marketer of electronic video hardware for personal computers. Although it is most widely known for its WinTV line of TV tuner cards for PCs, Hauppauge also produces personal video recorders, digital video editors, digital media...
MediaMVP - NMT (Network Media Tank)
See also
- Comparison of PVR software packagesComparison of PVR software packagesThe following is a comparison guide for popular DVR software packages.-General information:Basic general information for popular DVR software packages....
- Digital Video RecorderDigital video recorderA digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
- Hard disk recorderHard disk recorderA hard disk recorder is a type of direct to disk recording system that uses a high-capacity hard disk to record digital audio or digital video. Hard disk recording systems represent an alternative to more traditional reel-to-reel tape or cassette multitrack systems, and provide editing...
- Home Theater PCHome theater PCA Home Theater PC or Media Center appliance is a convergence device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that supports video, photo, music playback, and sometimes video recording functionality...
- Media PC
- Silent PC