Plex first launched their DVR service in beta late last year and today the feature is being made available to all Plex Pass subscribers. When the service first launched, it only supported HDHomeRuns’s networked tuners, but now Plex has added support for additional USB and PCI tuners from Hauppauge and AverMedia. Additionally, the DVR feature now allows users to view live TV on select devices, which unfortunately does not yet include the Fire TV.
Plex’s DVR feature requires several components including a Plex Server, a Plex Client, a networked or PC tuner, a digital antenna, and a Plex Pass subscription. With everything setup and working in unison, the Plex DVR will give you a beautiful interface to schedule and view over-the-air broadcast recordings that can be accessed from multiple devices inside and outside of your home.
While the HDHomeRun tuners that sit on your network are probably still the most popular tuner options to use with Plex’s DVR feature, Plex has added support for specific USB and PCI tuners that connect directly to your Plex Server hardware. Supported USB tuners for North America include the Hauppauge WinTV-DualHD, Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-955Q, Hauppauge Digital TV Tuner for Xbox One, and the AVerMedia AVerTV Volar Hybrid Q. The Windows and Linux internal PCI-E based HAUPPAUGE WinTV-quadHD card is also supported.
In addition to taking the Plex DVR service out of beta and adding support for more than just the HDHomeRun tuners, Plex has also announced that certain Plex clients can now view live TV directly within Plex. This was a large omission from the initial Plex DVR, which could initially only be used to view recorded tuner content. Viewing live TV is only available on iOS and Android TV device right now, but will be coming to the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick soon. Even on the devices that already support live TV viewing, you unfortunately still can’t time shift live broadcasts by pausing or rewinding. Plex co-founder and Chief Product Officer Scott Olechowski says that feature is being worked on and will arrive in “another month or so.”
Nice, I was looking into adding PVR to my server and the Xbox One TV Tuner is supposed to be compatible.
For anyone interested in the UK, the Xbox One USB Tuner is currently £6 on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Official-Xbox-One-Digital-Tuner/dp/B00E97HVJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496338684&sr=8-1&keywords=xbox+one+tv
And cheaper elsewhere:
http://www.graingergames.co.uk/accessories/xbox-one/g37360-xbox-one-official-digital-tv-tuner
update: May have jumped the gun, struggling to get a working driver.
Turns out there’s two adapters, Plex are only supporting the HAUPPAUGE one.
Am I the only one that doesn’t have LiveTV working yet on my server? I thought I had updated to the latest Plex Pass version of the server but I’m not seeing the Live TV options anywhere.