[jp2code]

I used to use Windows Media Center via the WMC Server plugin until Microsoft killed the Guide Info.

For the last 18-months or so, we have been using NextPVR. I've about decided this program really needs help that I can't give it.

There is a thread on here called Best Windows PVR Backend. In it, the TvHeadEnd and Argus combination stand out.

All of the info I seem to find on TvHeadEnd indicates it is for Linux builds, even though everyone posted that as their favorite in that "Best **WINDOWS** Backend" thread.

I have grown up on Windows OS. I can figure out how to do just about anything on them. Linux I have tried a couple of times, but I never remain with it because everything I do is like trying to pull teeth.

Is there a Windows way to run TvHeadEnd? Does it and Argus allow users to record shows (like the nightly news so I can find out what's going on in the world and see the weather when I get home from work)?

[kitehigh]

Tvheadend and Argus are separate backends. Argus runs on Windows. Tvheadend runs on Linux. You don't use them together.

I have tried Argus, and whilst it seems very stable unfortunately the new series record functions in Kodi 16 are not yet supported and there is no sign of an active developer for the addon at the moment. If scheduling series in Kodi is not important then I guess you just need to install and set up Argus TV on the same box you use for WMC and give it a try.

Otherwise if NextPVR doesn't work then you'll probably be looking at the Linux options like tvheadend or Mythtv.

[jp2code]

Thanks Kitehigh. Does Tvheadend record shows?

I wished I knew more about how computers used the TV signals to create a PVR. I'd love to model something after Windows Media Center.

If it (WMC) had better support for other types of videos (codecs, FFW, REW, Captions, etc.) and the On Screen Guide (OSG) still worked, I wouldn't even be here.

I'd probably opt for a Dish Network subscription if it had a way for me to plug in my 4-TB drive of media.

[kitehigh]

Maybe have a read of the wiki and hopefully that should make more sense?

[Prof Yaffle]

Does Tvheadend record shows?

I wished I knew more about how computers used the TV signals to create a PVR.

Broadly, all of the backends (tvheadend, Mythtv, Argus, NPVR...) perform the same set of functions:

1. They take a TV signal from a tuner (card or stick plugged into a terrestrial aerial/antenna or satellite dish) and decode it to pictures and sound
2. They record that stream to a file (.ts, .mkv, whatever)
3. They stream that signal over to a corresponding addon in Kodi so that a remote client (HTPC) can be used to watch TV

... in the process, they then also do things like grab EPGs (from over-the-air signals or from external sources like XMLTV), handle series recording or one-time recording/avoidance of duplicates and similar, scan for new channels, and so on. Precise functionality - and the how as much as the what - then varies a bit from platform to platform.

So: yes, tvheadend records shows. But then, they all do - that's what the "VR" bit means, "video recorder".