What is a digital receiver with PVR?

A digital receiver with PVR (Personal Video Recorder) or that is PVR-ready is a receiver with a built-in hard drive to record programs or is a receiver to which an external hard drive can be connected to record programs (via USB). Another term for PVR is DVR, which stands for Digital Video Recorder. If it is also possible to watch HD channels via the digital receiver and the receiver has PVR, then we call it HD-PVR.

When the digital receiver has a PVR, a few extra useful functions are added that ensure even more user-friendliness and viewing pleasure.

Record digital television

With a PVR it is possible to watch one digital channel and record another digital channel at the same time. Some digital receivers even allow you to record multiple channels simultaneously. This often depends on the number of tuners present in the digital receiver. Some digital receivers may have a Single, a Twin, a Dual Twin tuner or a combination of the above tuners.

There are also digital receivers that have 'only' 1 tuner and can still function as a PVR if an external hard drive is connected (via the USB port). It is then possible to record programs, but only on the channel you are watching.

How does a PVR work?

A PVR records the digital signal in the original quality, without loss of quality. When watching a recorded program again, there is no difference from the original broadcast. This is in contrast to earlier analog VHS recorders and/or DVD hard disk recorders, where image quality was often at the expense of image quality.

Record programs with PVR

The PVR can be operated via the buttons on the remote control. Recording of a program can be started immediately using the record button.

Another option is to record via the Electronic Program Guide (EPG). Via the EPG it is possible to program a desired recording via a timer or to start a recording immediately. Multiple recordings can also be set via the timer via the EPG. Via the PVR settings it is possible to arrange that a recording starts a little earlier and stops later than the duration of the program indicated on the EPG. This is to prevent you from missing either the beginning or the (exciting) end of a program or movie.

Time-shifting

A digital receiver with PVR also often supports 'time-shifting'; This functionality makes it possible to pause and resume a 'live' television program at your convenience. By pressing the pause button on the remote control, the program you are currently watching is 'stopped' and recorded on the (internal or external) hard drive. The program will resume from the moment it was 'stopped' as soon as you press the 'play' button on the remote control again. The program will then be played from the HDD. By skipping any commercial breaks (fast-forwarding) you can at some point be synchronized with the 'live' program again. Also by stopping the recording, it is again possible to watch the 'live' broadcast directly.

Another advantage of the time-shift function is that programs can also be (partially) rewound. Every digital receiver with PVR starts to record the program it is watching. By pressing the 'rewind' button you can repeat / watch a part of the watched program again. However, there is a limited buffer size for such recordings, so it is not possible to go back hours. The storage buffer is also overwritten as soon as the channel is changed.

Copy recordings

The recordings are often stored encrypted on the HDD. It may be possible to (temporarily) place recordings on another medium, for example a PC and via the home network, but over time many recordings become unusable. This varies per television provider. Specific (decoding) software is often required to view recordings on the PC, for example.

Resume function

Many PVRs offer a resume function. If you stop watching a recording while watching it and watch the same recording again later (at a different time or day), the PVR will remember where you left off watching the previous time. Many recipients then offer the option to either resume the program from the moment it stopped or to start all over again. The choice is yours...