MythTV
Encyclopedia
MythTV is a free and open source
home entertainment application with a simplified "10-foot user interface
" design for the living-room TV, and turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network
streaming
digital video recorder
, a digital
multimedia
home entertainment system, or home theater personal computer
. It can be considered as a free and open source
alternative to Tivo
or Windows Media Center
. It runs on various operating system
s, primarily Linux/Mac/FreeBSD.
In early 2007, Apress published Practical MythTV on MythTV and its installation.
and DVB content, as well as encrypted DVB content when using a tuner with an integrated CI
module. Most U.S. cable
and satellite
providers use encrypted video only accessible through their own set-top box
es. Cable systems may provide some unencrypted QAM channels, but these will generally only be local broadcast stations, and not cable programming or premium channels.
OpenCable
devices are available to access encrypted content on U.S. cable systems, but as this is a full DRM
system, and not just CA
like DVB CI, every piece of hardware and software on the playback chain must be tested and licensed by CableLabs
. At current, Windows Media Center
is the only DVR software to meet these requirements, and only it, and other software using its recording libraries, can use these devices. In 2010, CableLabs relaxed the DRM restrictions allowing unlicensed devices to record copy freely content using these devices, however it is still entirely up to cable operators what content they provide flagged as such.
As an alternative to direct digital capture, one can use an external decoder to receive the channels, and then capture using digital-analog-digital conversion. A popular means of doing this conversion is to connect the component outputs of a set-top box to the Hauppauge HD PVR.
kernel
drivers; lists of supported devices are available.
MythTV also supports program capture via FireWire from digital set-top box
es. These include the Motorola DCT-6200, the STB used by Cogeco Cable in the USA and Shaw Cable in Canada for its HD services. It can also recording directly from IPTV
sources such as the Freebox
service, as well as from the HDHomeRun
network tuner.
The base system integrates well with its modules. A system can be controlled with an infrared remote control using LIRC
, or radio remote control using kernel modules.
video stored in a slightly-modified version of Roman Hochleitner's "NuppelVideo" (.nuv) container . NUV files are also playable in VLC media player
and MPlayer
, but can occasionally exhibit problems in A/V synchronization due to the MythTV-specific modifications. It also appears that MythTV is now the single authority on the NuppelVideo file format, since the original author's website is no longer available.
MythTV can also record via hardware-encoder cards and other sources of MPEG-2
digital TV streams like DVB, ATSC and Firewire (from HDTV cable boxes in the United States
), so many users of MythTV rarely see NuppelVideo files unless they choose to transcode
their files to NuppelVideo to save disk space.
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
home entertainment application with a simplified "10-foot user interface
10-foot user interface
In 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...
" design for the living-room TV, and turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
digital video recorder
Digital video recorder
A 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...
, a digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
home entertainment system, or home theater personal computer
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...
. It can be considered as a free and open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
alternative to Tivo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
or Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player developed by Microsoft. It is an application that allows users to view and record live television, as well as organize and play music and videos...
. It runs on various operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s, primarily Linux/Mac/FreeBSD.
History
The MythTV project was started in April 2002 by Isaac Richards, who explained his motivation:In early 2007, Apress published Practical MythTV on MythTV and its installation.
Features
- Pause, skip, and rewind live TV shows.
- Completely automatic commercial detection and optional skipping.
- Intelligently schedules recordings to avoid conflicts.
- Interfaces with TV listing sources such as XMLTVXMLTVXMLTV is an XML based file format for describing TV listings. IPTV providers use XMLTV as the base reference template in their systems, and extend it internally according to their business needs.-External links:* * * * *...
or PSIPProgram and System Information ProtocolThe Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
. - Interfaces with nonprofit subscription listings service Schedules DirectSchedules DirectSchedules Direct is a non-profit organization that provides a low-cost television program listing service for open source and freeware digital video recorders....
in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Schedules Direct delivers the same Tribune Media ServicesTribune Media ServicesTribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
listings data that TiVo and other video recorders use. - Supports ATSC, QAM, and DVB high-definition televisionHigh-definition televisionHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
. - Supports XvX video extensionThe X video extension, often abbreviated as XVideo or Xv, is a video output mechanism for the X Window System. The protocol was designed by David Carver; the specification for version 2 of the protocol was written in July 1991. Its main use today is to rescale video playback in the video controller...
, OpenGLOpenGLOpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
, and VDPAUVDPAUVDPAU is an open source library and API originally designed by Nvidia for its GeForce 8 series and later GPU hardware, targeted at the X Window System on Unix-based operating systems...
video output. - A backend server and frontend client architecture, allowing multiple frontend client machines to be remotely served content from one or more backend servers. A single computer can perform as both the frontend client and the backend server.
- Plays recordings at an accelerated or decelerated rate, adjusting the audio pitch as necessary.
- Schedule and administer various system functions using a web browser-based interface.
- Controls a settop box using an infrared remote (IR blasterInfrared blasterAn infrared blaster is a device that emulates an infrared remote control to autonomously control a device that is normally controlled only by remote control key presses. The most common use of an IR blaster is to allow a recording device such as a DVR or VCR to change the channel on an external...
), or firewire.
HDTV support
MythTV is capable of capturing HDTV streams from any source that will provide unencrypted video. This means broadcast ATSCATSC
ATSC standards are a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks....
and DVB content, as well as encrypted DVB content when using a tuner with an integrated CI
Common Interface
In Digital Video Broadcasting, the Common Interface is an extensible digital interconnect found in the digital TV market. It is also known as DVB-CI for Digital Video Broadcast Common Interface....
module. Most U.S. cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
providers use encrypted video only accessible through their own set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es. Cable systems may provide some unencrypted QAM channels, but these will generally only be local broadcast stations, and not cable programming or premium channels.
OpenCable
OpenCable
OpenCable is a set of hardware and software specifications under development in the United States by CableLabs to "define the next-generation digital consumer device" for the cable television industry...
devices are available to access encrypted content on U.S. cable systems, but as this is a full DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
system, and not just CA
Conditional access
Conditional Access is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to this content...
like DVB CI, every piece of hardware and software on the playback chain must be tested and licensed by CableLabs
CableLabs
Founded in 1988 by cable television operating companies, Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. is a not-for-profit research and development consortium that has cable operators as its members. System operators from around the world are eligible to be members. Members dues are based on revenue...
. At current, Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player developed by Microsoft. It is an application that allows users to view and record live television, as well as organize and play music and videos...
is the only DVR software to meet these requirements, and only it, and other software using its recording libraries, can use these devices. In 2010, CableLabs relaxed the DRM restrictions allowing unlicensed devices to record copy freely content using these devices, however it is still entirely up to cable operators what content they provide flagged as such.
As an alternative to direct digital capture, one can use an external decoder to receive the channels, and then capture using digital-analog-digital conversion. A popular means of doing this conversion is to connect the component outputs of a set-top box to the Hauppauge HD PVR.
Supported tuner cards
The MythTV software supports TV tuner cards fully compatible with V4L-DVBVideo4Linux
Video4Linux or V4L is a video capture application programming interface for Linux. Many USB webcams, TV tuners, and other devices are supported. Video4Linux is closely integrated with the Linux kernel. Video4Linux was named after Video for Windows , but is not technically related to it.- V4L2 :V4L2...
kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
drivers; lists of supported devices are available.
MythTV also supports program capture via FireWire from digital set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es. These include the Motorola DCT-6200, the STB used by Cogeco Cable in the USA and Shaw Cable in Canada for its HD services. It can also recording directly from IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
sources such as the Freebox
Freebox
The Freebox is an ADSL modem that the French internet service provider named Free provides to its ADSL subscribers.Its main use is as a high-end wireless modem , but it also allows Free to offer added services using ADSL as support, like HD television , video recording with timeshifting...
service, as well as from the HDHomeRun
HDHomeRun
-General Details:There are currently 4 HDHomeRun models on the market: a single-tuner ATSC/clear QAM model, a dual-tuner ATSC/clear QAM model, a dual-tuner commercial ATSC/clear QAM model, and a dual-tuner DVB-T/unencrypted DVB-C model. All models are designed to receive unencrypted digital...
network tuner.
Modules
MythTV's add-on modules (plugins) include:- MythVideo plays various video file formats
- MythMusic a music player, jukeboxJukeboxA jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
, collection manager, and CD ripper - MythGallery online photo gallery manager
- MythNews RSS feed news reader
- MythWeather fetches weather forecasts - including weather radarWeather radarWeather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
- from the Internet - MythBrowser small web browserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
- MythGame frontend for game console emulators
- MythWeb controls MythTV from a remote web browser
- MythArchive DVD burner
- MythNetvision streaming video player intended primarily for Flash-websites like YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- MythZoneMinder frontend interface for a ZoneMinderZoneMinderZoneMinder is a free, open source CCTV software application developed for Linux.It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License .-Feature List:*Runs on any Linux distribution supporting Video4Linux....
system - UPnP AV MediaServer v1.0 compliant server: share media files with UPnP-clients
The base system integrates well with its modules. A system can be controlled with an infrared remote control using LIRC
LIRC
LIRC is an open source package that allows users to receive and send infrared signals with a Linux-based computer system.There is a Microsoft Windows equivalent of LIRC called WinLIRC....
, or radio remote control using kernel modules.
Operating system bundles
There are several projects which include a Linux distribution bundled with MythTV (and associated libraries) to make installation, configuration and maintenance easier and faster:- LinHES (formerly known as KnoppMythKnoppMythKnoppMyth is a Linux distribution designed for use on Home Theater PCs . As of version R6, it is now called LinHES . The most recent release is based on Arch Linux, though previous versions were based on Debian Linux with configuration scripts from the Knoppix Linux distribution...
) is a bootCDBootCDBootCD is a tool for making bootable CDs with Apple's operating system Mac OS X with a working Finder and Dock. Such CDs are known as Live CDs....
derivative of ArchLinux. Its MythTV frontend can be run from the CD. An entire installation to the hard disk can be made in minutes. - MythbuntuMythbuntuMythbuntu is a media center operating system . It is based on Ubuntu and integrates the MythTV Media center software as its main function, and does not install with all of the programs included with Ubuntu....
combines UbuntuUbuntu (operating system)Ubuntu is a computer operating system based on the Debian Linux distribution and distributed as free and open source software. It is named after the Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu...
distributions with MythTV. The Ubuntu community has built extensive resources for installing, configuring and troubleshooting MythTV. - MythdoraMythDoraMythDora is a specialized operating system based on Fedora and MythTV. Since 2009, the version number comes from the version of Fedora used followed by the version of MythTV used. For example, the current version 12.23 uses Fedora 12 and MythTV 0.23. Like KnoppMyth, MythDora is designed to simplify...
is a Red Hat FedoraFedora (operating system)Fedora is a RPM-based, general purpose collection of software, including an operating system based on the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat...
distribution with MythTV. - iMedia MythTV Linux distribution is a version of the iMedia embedded Linux distribution.
- MiniMyth is a small Linux distribution that turns a diskless computer into a MythTV frontend.
- LinuxMCELinuxMCELinuxMCE is a free and open source software platform with a 10-foot user interface designed to allow a computer to act as a home theater PC for the living-room TV, personal video recorder, and home automation system. It allows control of everything in the home, from lighting and climate to...
bundles MythTV with KubuntuKubuntuKubuntu is an official derivative of the Ubuntu operating system using the KDE Plasma Desktop instead of the Unity graphical environment. It is part of the Ubuntu project and uses the same underlying system. It is possible to install both the KDE Plasma Desktop as well as the Unity desktop on...
as the Linux distro, along with the Pluto Home automation suite. - Xebian is a distribution of DebianDebianDebian is a computer operating system composed of software packages released as free and open source software primarily under the GNU General Public License along with other free software licenses. Debian GNU/Linux, which includes the GNU OS tools and Linux kernel, is a popular and influential...
Linux for the MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
XboxXboxThe Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
game console and includes MythTV.
Internals
The default file format for software encoding is a RTJPEG or MPEG-4MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
video stored in a slightly-modified version of Roman Hochleitner's "NuppelVideo" (.nuv) container . NUV files are also playable in VLC media player
VLC media player
VLC media player is a free and open source media player and multimedia framework written by the VideoLAN project.VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is able to...
and MPlayer
MPlayer
MPlayer is a free and open source media player. The program is available for all major operating systems, including Linux and other Unix-like systems, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Versions for OS/2, Syllable, AmigaOS and MorphOS are also available. The Windows version works, with some minor...
, but can occasionally exhibit problems in A/V synchronization due to the MythTV-specific modifications. It also appears that MythTV is now the single authority on the NuppelVideo file format, since the original author's website is no longer available.
MythTV can also record via hardware-encoder cards and other sources of MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
digital TV streams like DVB, ATSC and Firewire (from HDTV cable boxes in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), so many users of MythTV rarely see NuppelVideo files unless they choose to transcode
Transcode
Transcoding is the direct digital-to-digital data conversion of one encoding to another, such as for movie data files or audio files. This is usually done in cases where a target device does not support the format or has limited storage capacity that mandates a reduced file size, or to convert...
their files to NuppelVideo to save disk space.
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....
- IvtvIVTVIVTV is a driver for Linux/Unix systems to allow them to use certain video capture cards that make use of on-board MPEG-1/MPEG-2 encoders.-What is IVTV?:...
- tvtimeTvtimetvtime is a program for Linux that allows a person to watch television through his or her PC using a TV tuner or a satellite receiver card DVB-S....
- 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...
- Schedules DirectSchedules DirectSchedules Direct is a non-profit organization that provides a low-cost television program listing service for open source and freeware digital video recorders....
- Infrared blasterInfrared blasterAn infrared blaster is a device that emulates an infrared remote control to autonomously control a device that is normally controlled only by remote control key presses. The most common use of an IR blaster is to allow a recording device such as a DVR or VCR to change the channel on an external...