[z-vap]

So my 1080p television I bought about 10 (?) years ago (for $3000) is starting to loose its picture. Its starting to show its legs, so I thought that I would start looking around for another TV. I noticed that the Vizio TV's were a good price and they were 4K, However they don't come with Tuners. Considering that I don't have cable having a tuner for PBS, local news, and the occasional sitcom is a must.

To go with the Vizio, I was thinking of getting a Mediasonic Homeworx or ViewTV AT-263 but then I stopped and said, WOAH. Maybe I can intertwine this whole new setup with the Kodi. For all I know the Homeworx or ViewTV won't even work with Kodi.

Any recommendations?

[MetalChris]

So my 1080p television I bought about 10 (?) years ago (for $3000) is starting to loose its picture. Its starting to show its legs, so I thought that I would start looking around for another TV. I noticed that the Vizio TV's were a good price and they were 4K, However they don't come with Tuners. Considering that I don't have cable having a tuner for PBS, local news, and the occasional sitcom is a must.

To go with the Vizio, I was thinking of getting a Mediasonic Homeworx or ViewTV AT-263 but then I stopped and said, WOAH. Maybe I can intertwine this whole new setup with the Kodi. For all I know the Homeworx or ViewTV won't even work with Kodi.

Any recommendations?

I've owned a Homeworx HW-150PVR for a couple of years, and never even considered if I could use it with Kodi. It would be a bonus if I could. Hope someone else can chime in here and answer the question.

It's a good box as a tuner though. It pulls in twice as many channels as the built in tuner in my TV, and with an external USB drive attached it makes a great DVR. The only improvement would be a better remote, as the one it comes with has a somewhat confusing arrangement of buttons at the bottom.

[RockerC]

Neither Homeworx nor ViewTV will currently work with Kodi as far as I know.

I believe that the network-attached TV-tuners in SiliconDust's HDHomeRun series are currently the most flexible and should last you the longest:

https://www.silicondust.com
https://www.hdhomerun.net

They have different types of Kodi integration (as well as competing HTPC clients) and will work with almost any PVR backend software:

http://kodi.wiki/view/PVR
http://kodi.wiki/view/PVR_backend

You can also just use them as stand-alone via either any UPnP client or existing Android TV, Android OS, and iOS apps available for them.

My tip would to also get a good NAS (Network Attached Storage) solution for recordings and more; best is currently those from Synology:

https://www.synology.com

Note that Synology is not the best because they have the latest hardware but because they have best software, DiskStation Manager:

https://www.synology.com/en-us/dsm/6.1/features

Combine a SiliconDust HDHomeRun tuner and Synology NAS with a PRV backend installed on it and you have an awesome setup.

PS: My last tip would to get at least two large harddrives for the Synology NAS and configure them in Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR).

[z-vap]

Thanks. Good to know as I wasn't sure if homeworx or ViewTV could be married to one of the PVR's.

I knew of HDHomerun but was unsure if it had its own tuner or if it worked in conjunction with the TV's existing tuner. Know I know This subforum (PVR) has a ton of sub pvr topics. Is HDHomerun the only one that has a tuner with it? Or do some of the others have one?

[RockerC]

See the wiki pages about PVR http://kodi.wiki/view/PVR and more specifically checkout the wiki page about "PVR backends" http://kodi.wiki/view/PVR_backend which have an "Other" section with compatibility tables.

HDHomeRun (SiliconDust), VBox TV Gateway, Dreambox/Vu+ (Enigma) and Octopus NET (Digital Devices) are all different types of boxes which all have integrated TV-tuners.

As far as I know however HDHomeRun is the only one that makes boxes for all types of worldwide digital broadcast systems, while I think that the others only make "DVB" boxes for EMEA (and maybe APAC) regions.

Unlike the HDHomeRun series the boxes from those other manufacturers also works as classic TV-boxes does so they have HDMI output ports and remote controls.

That is, the other boxes are really only classic TV-boxes that also work as network-attached tuners, while the HDHomeRun series are dedicated network-attached tuners with no HDMI output port and remote control.

The other boxes could be called boxes that are "Jack-of-all-trades but master of none", but the HDHomeRun series is master of its specialist field.

You can not connect a HDHomeRun series directly to your television as it has no HDMI port, only a network port, so you have to access it through Kodi or if you have a Smart TV install a client app for it.

Benifit of using Kodi with any network-attached tuners is that you get all your media including live television in one app.


Another tip is to buy an "Android TV" based Smart TV, as then you can run Kodi as well as other HDHomerun client apps directly on the TV.

https://www.android.com/tv/

Recently HDHomeRun also got native support in Android TV 7.0 officiail Live Channels app, but unfortuatly not many manufactuers ship Android TV 7.0 for their Smart TVs yet, however read that Sony will soon though.

https://androidtv.news/2017/02/live-chan...r-support/

You can read more news about Android TV related topics on androidtv.news

https://androidtv.news/

[z-vap]

SiliconDust (HDHomerun) does look like a winner. If I go this route it looks like I may need to figure out how to wire my indoor antenna differently (Mohu leaf on the wall). But it also might be overkill. I have lots to think about. Thanks for the info.

[z-vap]

well who said i need to have the HDHomerun in the basement? I guess I can just leave it near the TV with a Cat6 cable running to the network (problem solved).

[RockerC]

well who said i need to have the HDHomerun in the basement? I guess I can just leave it near the TV with a Cat6 cable running to the network (problem solved).

Exactly, just connect the HDHomeRun boxes where you have the antenna and a power-outlet, and the closer you put the HDHomeRun box to the antenna the better.

Tip is that instead running a Cat5/6 network-cable you could just use WiFi or better and simpler than WiFi is to use a couple of "HomePlug" power-line adapters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug

Cat5/6 network-cables of course offer the best and most stable network connection, but latest generation of HomePlug AV2 with 1 Gbps + (1000 Mbps or higher) capable powerline adapters are a really choice good too for streaming video around a small house or appartment.

https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-Powerline-...00PVDJQHY/
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Powerline...01EO5A4TI/
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-PowerLINE...00S6DBGJM/
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-PowerLINE...01929ESG6/
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-PowerLINE...01929ESG6/
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Powerline...01EE9APYS/

[noggin]

I think TV Headend also has ATSC support with ATSC USB tuner sticks (like those made by Hauppauge) - though the HD Homerun may be simpler to set-up.

TV Headend is a great PVR backend for Kodi (running either on the same device as Kodi or on a separate box elsewhere on the network). It's used widely in DVB territories (I've used it for years)