HDHomeRun

HDHomeRun is a network-attached digital television tuner box, produced by the company SiliconDust USA, Inc..

Overview

Unlike standard set-top box (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 to an existing smart phone, tablet computer, smart tv, 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
• 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 but will also work via an auto IP address if no DHCP server is available.

The HDHomeRun Windows 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, Linux, FreeBSD, and other POSIX-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 models

• 8VSB (ATSC over-the-air digital TV)
• QAM 64/256 (unencrypted digital cable TV)
• CableCard (encrypted digital cable TV)
• 100Mbit Ethernet RJ45 connection

QAM model

• QAM - North American cable with protected content support for USA cable using CableCARD for access control

ISDB model

• ISDB-T - South America over the air

DVB models

• DVB-T / DVB-T2 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. Microsoft provides Windows Media Center for Windows XP through 8, but discontinued the product in Windows 10. Apple macOS 10 runs EyeTV 3. Linux runs Myth TV.

Newer models of HDHomeRun are DLNA device compatible.

HDHomeRun Tuners

Consumer Tuners

Line	Model	Part Number	Number of Tuners	Tuners								Coax Ports	CableCARD Slots	USB	Hard Drive	DLNA/UPnP	Hardware Transcoder	Notes
				ATSC 1.0	QAM 64/256	ATSC 3.0	CableCard	DVB-T	DVB-T2	DVB-C	ISDB-T
Flex	Flex 4K	HDFX-4K	4	Yes	Yes	Yes (2 of 4 tuners)	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	Yes	No	Yes	No
	Flex 4K Development Edition	HDFX-4K-DEV	4	Yes	Yes	Yes (2 of 4 tuners)	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	Yes	No	Yes	No	Comes with developer firmware for deep signal inspection/tinkering
	Flex Duo	HDFX-2US	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	Yes	No	Yes	No
	Flex Quatro	HDFX-4US	4	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	Yes	No	Yes	No
Connect	Connect 4K	HDHR5-4K	4	Yes	Yes	Yes (2 of 4 tuners)	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
	Connect Duo	HDHR5-2US	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
		HDHR5-2DT	2	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
	Connect Quatro	HDHR5-4US	4	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
		HDHR5-4DT	4	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
	Connect	HDHR4-2US	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
		HDHR4-2DT	2	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
		HDHR4-2IS	2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	1	0	No	No	Yes	No
Scribe	Scribe 4K	HDVR-4K-1TB	4	Yes	Yes	Yes (2 of 4 tuners)	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	1TB	Yes	No
	Scribe Duo	HDVR-2US-1TB	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	1TB	Yes	No
	Scribe Quatro	HDVR-4US-1TB	4	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	1TB	Yes	No
Dual		HDHR3-US	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	No	No
		HDHR3-DT	2	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	No	No
		HDHR3-EU	2	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	1	0	No	No	No	No
		HDHR-US	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2	0	No	No	No	No
		HDHR-EU	2	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	2	0	No	No	No	No
Single		HDHR-US-T1	1	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	No	No
Extend		HDTC-2US	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	MPEG2 → h.264	Plastic case and fan
		HDTC-2US-M	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	MPEG2 → h.264	Metal case, fanless
		HDTC-2US-L	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	MPEG2 → h.264	2US converted to fanless case
Expand		HDHR3-4DC	4	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No	5V 2A power adapter
		HDHR5-4DC	4	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	1	0	No	No	Yes	No	5V 1.5A power adapter
Prime		HDHR3-CC	3	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	1	1	Yes	No	Yes	No
HDHR3-6CC-3x2	6	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	1	2	Yes	No	Yes	No
HDHR5-6CC	6	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	1	1	Yes	No	Yes	No

Commercial Tuners

Line	Part Number	Number of Tuners	Tuners								Coax Ports	CableCARD Slots	USB	Hard Drive	DLNA/UPnP	Hardware Transcoder	Rackmount	Notes
			ATSC 1.0	QAM 64/256	ATSC 3.0	CableCard	DVB-T	DVB-T2	DVB-C	ISDB-T
Tech	TECH3-6CC-3X2	6	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	2	2	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
	TECH4-8US-2X4	8	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	4	0	No	No	No	No	Yes
	TECH4-8DT2x4	8	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	4	0	No	No	No	No	Yes
	TECH4-2US	2	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1	0	No	No	No	No	No
	TECH4-2DT	2	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	1	0	No	No	No	No	No
	TECH4-2IS	2	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	1	0	No	No	No	No	No
	TECH4-8IS	8	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	4	0	No	No	No	No	Yes
	TECH5-4K8-2X4	8	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	4	0	No	No	No	No	Yes
	TECH5-16US-4X4	16	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	4	0	No	No	No	No	Yes
	TECH5-16DT-4X4	16	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	4	0	No	No	No	No	Yes
	TECH5-16DC-4X4	16	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	4	0	No	No	No	No	Yes

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 (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 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 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 device. It is intended to be used with a 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
• LocationFree Player

External links

• Official website