HDHomeRun is a
network-attached digital
television tuner
A tuner is a subsystem that receives radio frequency (RF) transmissions, such as FM broadcasting, and converts the selected carrier frequency and its associated bandwidth into a fixed frequency that is suitable for further processing, usually be ...
box, produced by the company SiliconDust USA, Inc.
Overview
Unlike standard
set-top box
A set-top box (STB), also colloquially known as a cable box and historically television decoder, is an information appliance device that generally contains a TV-tuner input and displays output to a television set and an external source of sign ...
(or set-top unit) appliances, HDHomeRun does not have a video output that connects directly to the user's television. Instead it receives a live TV signal and then streams the decoded video over a
local area network
A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger ...
to an existing
smart phone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which ...
,
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being com ...
,
smart tv
A smart TV, also known as a connected TV (CTV), is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive Web 2.0 features, which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TVs are a techn ...
,
set top streaming device,
computer, or
game console. This allows it to stream content to multiple viewing locations.
General details
There are currently a number of HDHomeRun models on the market:
*single-tuner
ATSC/
clear QAM
QAM is a digital television standard using quadrature amplitude modulation. It is the format by which digital cable channels are encoded and transmitted via cable television providers. QAM is used in a variety of communications systems such as Di ...
*dual-tuner ATSC/clear QAM
*dual-tuner commercial (TECH) ATSC/clear QAM
*dual-tuner
DVB-T/unencrypted
DVB-C
*three tuner CableCard/clear QAM
All models are designed to receive unencrypted digital broadcast or cable television and stream it over a network for use by any PC on the network. HDHomeRun normally receives an IP address via
DHCP
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a cli ...
but will also work via an auto IP address if no DHCP server is available.
The HDHomeRun
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
driver presents the tuners as standard
BDA tuners, enabling BDA-compliant applications to work with the HDHomeRun. The HDHomeRun can also be controlled via a command-line application which is available for Windows,
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
,
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
,
FreeBSD, and other
POSIX
The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) is a family of standards specified by the IEEE Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines both the system- and user-level application programming inter ...
-compliant operating systems. The control library is open source and is available under the
LGPL for use in custom applications.
Select retail packaged HDHomeRun units are distributed with
Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre.
Technical specifications
ATSC OTA models
*
8VSB
8VSB is the modulation method used for broadcast in the ATSC digital television standard. ATSC and 8VSB modulation is used primarily in North America; in contrast, the DVB-T standard uses COFDM.
A modulation method specifies how the radio sig ...
ATSC 1.0 -
US over-the-air digital TV
*
ATSC 3.0
ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).
The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including HEVC for video channels of u ...
(HD*-4k models only)
*
QAM
Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is the name of a family of digital modulation methods and a related family of analog modulation methods widely used in modern telecommunications to transmit information. It conveys two analog message signa ...
64/256 - unencrypted digital cable TV
*
100 Mbit RJ45 connection
CableCard models
*
QAM
Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) is the name of a family of digital modulation methods and a related family of analog modulation methods widely used in modern telecommunications to transmit information. It conveys two analog message signa ...
64/256 - unencrypted digital cable TV
*
CableCard
CableCARD is a special-use PC Card device that allows consumers in the United States to view and record digital cable television channels on digital video recorders, personal computers and television sets on equipment such as a set-top box not pr ...
- US encrypted digital cable TV
*
1 Gbit RJ45 connection
ISDB model
*
ISDB-T - South America over the air
DVB models
*
DVB-T /
DVB-T2
DVB-T2 is an abbreviation for "Digital Video Broadcasting – Second Generation Terrestrial"; it is the extension of the television standard DVB-T, issued by the consortium DVB, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial tele ...
over-the-air unencrypted digital TV
*
DVB-C - QAM 64/128/256 (annex A/C) unencrypted digital cable TV
* 6/7/8 MHz channel bandwidth (Australia, Europe, New Zealand, Taiwan)
* 100Mbit Ethernet RJ45 connection
Compatibility
The HDHomeRun can be controlled and viewed from a wide variety of
DVR/
PVR software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
provides
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center (WMC) is a defunct digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE). It was included in Home Premium and Ultimate ...
for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
XP through 8, but discontinued the product in
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...
. Apple
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
10 runs
EyeTV 3.
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
runs
Myth TV.
Newer models of HDHomeRun are
DLNA
Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA; originally named Digital Home Working Group, DHWG) was founded by a group of PC and consumer electronics companies in June 2003 (with Intel in the lead role) to develop and promote a set of interoperability ...
device compatible.
HDHomeRun Tuners
Consumer Tuners
Commercial Tuners
Sources:
HDHomeRun PRIME
Introduced Fall 2011, the HDHomeRun PRIME provided the ability to view and record all the digital cable channels they subscribe to without using a cable supplied set-top-box. The device employed a CableCARD to replace the set-top box. The rental fee was usually much less than the rental fee for the cable box. The HDHomeRun PRIME integrated easily with
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center (WMC) is a defunct digital video recorder and media player created by Microsoft. Media Center was first introduced to Windows in 2002 on Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE). It was included in Home Premium and Ultimate ...
(WMC), included with Windows 7 and available with Windows 8, and turned your PC into an HD DVR. With 3 tuners, the PRIME let you record two programs and watch another live all at the same time. Although a few HDHomeRun Prime boxes can be found for sale on the internet, they are no longer in production. Cessation of production has been attributed to a change in FCC regulation, which no longer requires cable service providers to make CableCARDs available to their customers.
* CableCards are still available from many US digital cable providers.
* The Prime can be used without a CableCard in cable systems that still have clear QAM channels available.
* The Prime does not support digital cable on-demand but can receive
PPV
PPV, ppv or pPv may refer to:
Technology
* Pay-per-view on cable or satellite television
* People Powered Vehicle, a human-powered vehicle from 1970
* Police Pursuit Vehicles, the most common police vehicles in the United States and Canada
Scienc ...
that is ordered on the phone from your cable provider.
* The Prime is a dedicated cable TV device with no ATSC tuner and thus can not be used with an antenna.
* Windows Media Center is the most widely used software available for use with the Prime, and the only one with Digital Rights Management (DRM) to view and record premium cable channels like HBO. Many other software options are available; please see the list in this Wiki and the Silicondust website for details. When running WMC, an additional, separate ATSC tuner can be used with the PC and WMC will combine both the Prime and ATSC tuner in the guide for live TV and recording. By default, WMC has a 4 tuner limit for each type (ATSC, CableCard) of tuner, but a 3rd party software product called TunerSalad increases the number of tuners to 32 per type; you can use up to 32 cable tuners (11 Primes = 33 cable tuners) and 32 ATSC tuners, for a total of 64 tuners. There is also another 3rd party software called My Channel Logos that adds channel logos to the WMC channel guide. For a detailed discussion of WMC, please see TheGreenButton.tv website.
WMC was included with Windows 7 but is an additional $100 for Windows 8/8.1 and an additional $10 for Windows 8/8.1 Pro. It is not available from Microsoft on Windows 10 but members at The Green Button are developing a way to use a modified version of WMC with Windows 10.
HDHomeRun DVR
The HDHomeRun DVR is a
DVR software designed for installation on a
network-attached storage
Network-attached storage (NAS) is a file-level (as opposed to block-level storage) computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. The term "NAS" can refer to both the tech ...
device. It is intended to be used with an HDHomeRun tuner and is expected to overcome
digital rights management complications.
HDHomeRun Premium TV
Launched in 2018, HDHomeRun Premium TV was a
virtual MVPD service that worked with the HDHomeRun Prime and HDHomeRun DVR service. A unique feature of this service over most other MVPDs was the ability to record the channel streams to a local hard drive for time-shifted viewing. In March 2019, HDHomeRun announced that it would shut down its Premium service.
See also
*
Monsoon HAVA
*
Dreambox
*
DBox2
*
Slingbox
The Slingbox was a TV streaming media device made by Sling Media that encoded local video for transmission over the Internet to a remote device (sometimes called placeshifting). It allowed users to remotely view and control their cable, satel ...
*
LocationFree Player
Sony's LocationFree is the marketing name for a group of products and technologies for timeshifting and placeshifting streaming video. The LocationFree Player is an Internet-based multifunctional device used to stream live television broadcasts (i ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hdhomerun
Television technology
Television placeshifting technology