Tip!: The ability to record broadcasts (e.g. DVR) is a premium feature and requires an active Plex Pass subscription. You must also have your compatible tuner & antenna connected to your Plex Media Server.
Does it require a Plex Pass subscription?
Partially. With a compatible tuner and antenna connected to a Plex Media Server, watching over-the-air broadcasts live is free for all users.
DVR recording requires a Plex Pass subscription. The subscription enables our customers to enjoy premium program guide data for their Plex DVR and the very best Plex has to offer, including Mobile Sync, parental controls via Plex Home, premium music and photo features, free access to mobile Plex apps, and much more.
Related Page: Plex Pass
Which apps let me schedule/manage DVR recordings?
The following Plex apps currently allow scheduling and managing DVR recordings:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android (mobile)
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- iOS
- macOS (desktop)
- PlayStation
- Plex Media Player
- Plex Web App
- Roku
- Smart TVs (LG 4K/UHD [webOS 3.0+], Samsung 2016+ UHD, VIZIO SmartCast)
- Windows (desktop)
- Xbox
Related Page: Setting Up Recordings
Which apps let me watch “Live TV”?
Live TV is currently supported on the following Plex apps:
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android (mobile)
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- iOS
- macOS (desktop)
- PlayStation
- Plex Media Player
- Plex Web App
- Roku
- Smart TVs (LG 4K/UHD [webOS 3.0+], Samsung 2016+ UHD, VIZIO SmartCast)
- Windows (desktop)
- Xbox
See the dedicated article for more details.
Related Page: Watching Live TV
What version Plex Media Server is required?
The DVR functionality is currently available when running Plex Media Server v1.16.1 or newer. Some of the supported tuner devices may require newer server versions. We recommend running the most current version of Plex Media Server available. See our Downloads page.
Be aware that if you run your Plex Media Server on a low-powered NAS device that doesn’t support transcoding, many apps will be unable to play recorded content. Over the air broadcasts are often in MPEG2 or other older formats, which few devices or apps can play directly (and would thus require transcoding in those cases).
Related Page: Supported DVR Tuners and Antennas
Do I need to buy my own program guide data (such as HDHomeRun DVR Guide Data)?
Not if you’re in a supported country! Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data is provided for supported countries (see below) as part of the Plex Pass subscription; nothing separate is required for guide data for those countries.
For countries that we don’t officially support, but that use a compatible tuner to receive their TV broadcasts, users can provide their own XMLTV guide data.
Related Page: Using XMLTV for guide data
Which DVR tuners are supported?
Plex currently works with many TV tuner devices that are compatible with many areas of the world. We’ll continue investigating the possibility of supporting additional tuner devices as we move forward.
Related Page: Supported DVR Tuners and Antennas
My tuner isn’t officially supported; am I out of luck?
Even if we don’t have official support for a tuner, you may still be able to use it with Plex. You can choose to try an “unsupported tuner”, if you wish. See our “Community Supported Tuners” article.
Related Page: Community Supported Tuners
What about antenna support?
To receive over-the-air (OTA) TV programming, it is necessary to use a digital antenna with your compatible tuner. There is not a requirement to use any specific antenna brand or model. Different antennas may be better for different users and can vary due to a number of factors.
Related Page: Supported DVR Tuners and Antennas
Can I access it when away from home?
Yes! You’ll need to successfully enable Remote Access for your Plex Media Server. With that, you can stream not only regular library items (including DVR recordings), but also Live TV.
Related Page: Remote Access
Related Page: Troubleshooting Remote Access
Are channels encrypted with DRM supported?
Channels encrypted or protected with DRM of any kind are not supported. Which channels are encrypted depends on the channel provider. Generally “premium” channels are always encrypted, but again it varies by provider.
How much space does a recording take?
The amount of space required can vary by a wide margin and will be affected by a number of factors: the resolution being recorded, the length of recording, and whether the raw video signal is being recorded or it is being transcoded to H.264 (either by the device or Plex Media Server), etc.
Over-the-air broadcasts are usually done in MPEG2 encoding (particularly in the United States), which is an older video format and not nearly as efficient as newer standards. In some places, broadcasts might be in the newer, more efficient H.264 (or even HEVC) encoding. HDHomeRun EXTEND users can also have their device transcode to H.264 for them and users can enable experimental support to have Plex Media Server do similar transcoding to H.264 for many other models. The following are some very rough guidelines to help you understand how much space a recording might take:
- 1 hour of 480i as MPEG2: 1-2GB
- 1 hour of 720p as MPEG2: 3-5GB
- 1 hour of 1080i as MPEG2: 6-8GB
- 1 hour of 1080p as H.264: 4-6GB
Related Page:
Can I add more than one DVR tuner?
Multiple tuners can be added to your server from within the Plex Web App. Tuners should be of the same type; all OTA or all cable, on the same Plex Media Server
How do I configure and use Plex DVR?
While recorded DVR programs can be viewed from any Plex app, not all apps may support scheduling recordings (see earlier). DVR configuration can only be performed from within the Plex Web App. You can always access Plex Web at https://plex.tv/web and manage recordings, even when you’re away from home (if you’ve enabled Remote Access, as noted earlier).
Related Page: Opening Plex Web App
Can commercials be automatically removed from recordings?
Automatic removal of commercials is an experimental feature. You can enable commercial removal globally (applied to all recordings) in Plex Web under the Server > Live TV & DVR settings. You can also enable the feature for individual recordings in the recording options for each recording. Plex will attempt to automatically detect commercials from recordings. This process may take a long time and cause high CPU usage.
You can choose whether commercials are simply marked, allowing you to skip them with a single click (the default) or whether they’re physically removed from the recording altogether. See the dedicated support article for more details.
Related Page: Removing Commercials
Can the way commercials are located and removed be customized?
Recommended for experienced or adventurous users, the way Plex locates and removes commercials can be modified by providing your own, custom comskip.ini file. See the related page for more information.
Related Page: Removing Commercials
Is DVR available when running on NVIDIA SHIELD?
Yes, the DVR feature is available for Plex Media Servers running on NVIDIA SHIELD. In almost all respects, it is identical to when running the server on a regular computer. The main difference is that NVIDIA SHIELD is limited to where it can write/save content – there are limitations on where content can be written when not using “internal storage”. See our NVIDIA SHIELD support information for more details.
Related Page: Media Storage Options for NVIDIA SHIELD
How often is program guide data updated?
Your Plex Media Server will refresh program guide data daily as part of the Scheduled Tasks maintenance period.
Related Page: Scheduled Tasks
Will a scheduled recording wake Plex Media Server out of sleep?
No, please ensure the computer / NAS that the Plex Media Server runs on does not sleep / hibernate, turn off the disks, or go into power save for the network interfaces. Plex Media Server would not bring the system out of sleep to start a scheduled recording.
What countries are supported?
The DVR functionality is a feature of Plex Media Server and so is technically available for download anywhere. However, to make use of DVR, you’ll need to ensure:
- You have a supported tuner and antenna
- Electronic program guide (EPG) data is available for your area
We currently have EPG data available for the following countries (country support could change at some point in the future):
- North America
- Canada
- US
- Latin America
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Caribbean
- Anguilla
- Antigua & Barbuda
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- BR Virgin Islands
- Curaçao
- Grenada
- Jamaica
- Montserrat
- Puerto Rico
- St. Lucia
- St. Martin
- St. Kitts & Nevis
- St. Vincent
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Turks & Caicos
- Europe
- Austria
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Norway
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
Note: We have EPG data for the above countries, but in some cases we may not have data for all providers (broadcast companies) in the country.
For countries that we don’t officially support, but that use a compatible tuner to receive their TV broadcasts, users can provide their own XMLTV guide data.
Related Page: Using XMLTV for guide data
Last modified on: March 15, 2021
