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All reviews for SichboPVR
| 15 reviews, Showing 1 to 15 reviews |
I have multiple tuners with different antennas and V4 doesn't give the fine control that V3 had. For example if a channel is duplicated on different tuners I can't choose the tuner to use. You can really dig in to the tuner set up in V3. Hopefully V4 updates will add back that functionality.
Review by kupton on
Sep 20, 2021 Version: 4.0.4.0
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 7/10
Rating by CGI on
Jul 8, 2021 Version: 4.0.2.5
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
I've used version 3 and now 4.
For sure the best application for watching TV on PC.
For sure the best application for watching TV on PC.
Review by Brujo on
Jul 8, 2021 Version: 4
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
ive been using Sichbo V3 for years, loved it, best replacement for windows media center, now i am using the new Sichbo V4 its fantastic, so modern, pic in pic toggle great, no title bar in minimize mode, as of v4 at the moment been in pre-Alpha test builds, you can't expect to much, but V4 pre-Alpha test builds has a lot going for it, remember pre-Alpha test builds are the beginning, Sichbo V4 as it matures over time is going rock, in my opinion, Sichbo V4 will become the best TV viewing software for windows pc,out there,
Review by Sydney Australia on
May 21, 2021 Version: 4.0.0.71
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Rating by Kasutaja on
Apr 8, 2020 Version: 3.1.88
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
Rating by Rusty on
Jan 13, 2020 Version: 3.1.77
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
Rating by Giuseppe on
Apr 19, 2019 Version: 3.1.27
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
I've been using this version and earlier versions for a year or two. That said, I think Ive experienced this enough to give an opinion. The item is easy to install, and make easy adjustments. Has great features. Has one of the best integrated EPG interfaces of all the ATSC viewer softwares I've tried; and I've tried many. The look and feel are great and its easy to navigate and customize the interface. Overall I'd say its the best one I've seen. BUT, and this is a bit but, it has one of the worst channel signal detection and locking functions I've seen. Many channels that are regularly picked up and tightly locked by other viewing software are frequently not picked up by Sichbo, and when then are they are very often subject to single loss with the slightest interference. Sichbo is not user friendly in bad weather for ATSC broadcasts. Also, very often in the latest release Sichbo often is now pulling EPG info from the wrong channels and placing it with wrong stations on the menu guide. Unfortunately there has been little to improve those functions regarding EPG info. Would give Sichbo a 9/10 if it could fix those two problems. But if you want simple channel watching stability for your ATSC viewing, you may want to choose something else.
Review by FurryTVfan on
Apr 13, 2019 Version: 3.1.22
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 5/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Rating by Rasou1 on
Oct 31, 2018 Version: 3.1.16
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
This is part 2 of my review of using SichboPVR and wanted to share the following tips.
- To quickly schedule a recording, simply left-click or right-click on a programme in the TV Guide so the 'Show Times' window appears, click on the round record button which turns red and the scheduled recording is now set, while clicking on the round record button again cancels the scheduled recording. In the 'Show Times' window clicking on 'Advanced' you can manually set a single recording by clicking on 'New Time' in 'Queue', or setting a recurring recording such as daily or weekly by clicking on 'Specific channels and times'. If you click on the clock symbol next to the round record button it simply schedules a channel change during live TV so you don't miss watching a programme.
- Click on setup > channels > List1 to select your favourite SD and HD channels in List1 which will appear when clicking on 'List1' in the TV Guide. Rename 'List1', 'List2', etc. by selecting the word 'List1' to delete it and type in a new name, and sort the channels by numbers or alphabetical order.
- All recordings can be saved in its own series folder if you add Title\ in setup > advanced > recording folder so it states Title\Title ChannelName ChannelNumber Date Time.
- If there's no video or sound in Live TV you would need to download and install decoders such as 'LAV Filters' and then select 'LAV' in the 'Decoders' section in setup > advanced. To change a video or audio decoder, click on 'setup' in the top-left, then on 'advanced', then under 'Decoders' select the decoder's name (e.g. MPEG2Video, H264Video, H265Video, MEPG2Audio, AC3Audio, etc.) and choose the decoder such as 'LAV'. In LAV video and audio settings, ensure mp2, mp3, aac, ac3, mpeg2, h264, h265, etc. are enabled.
- Left-clicking on any Channel name/logo at the left of the TV Guide provides a list of programmes for only that specific channel, just like you could do in the old Windows Media Center TV Guide. When clicking on the Calender symbol on the top-right of the TV Guide (next to the arrow) the days of the week appear and clicking on any day displays the listings for that specific day in the TV Guide. Also, you can use the left and right click of your mouse wheel to scroll left or right in the TV Guide.
- Pressing the F1 button on the keyboard and selecting the word 'Shortcuts' with the mouse provides a list of keyboard shortcut keys.
- 'Reclocking of recorded files' in setup > advanced > tweakage ensures correct timestamps in recordings so they play properly in third-party media players and import into advanced video editing software without issue, unlike occasional 'faulty' recordings made by my old Windows Media Center which sometimes had incorrect timestamps that come from the broadcaster.
- In tv > recordings, click on the recording and an options window appears and then click on 'Edit' to activate the video editor for trimming .ts recordings where, for example, you can manually cut out commercials from recordings if required. Simply find the start and end of the commercials and each time click on the 'Cut' button, then click on the tick which changes to an 'X' which disables that section of the recording. Lastly click the 'Save' button and it saves to a folder of your choice in original (lossless) quality as no video encoding is done.
- In Live TV start typing a channel name (exclude any space, e.g. skynews) and press on 'Enter' once on your keyboard and the channel will change, or use the mouse wheel (up and down) in the lower left corner to find and change channel.
- To ensure scheduled recordings take place, in setup > advanced > tweakage, ensure the following boxes are checked/enabled: 'Add SichboPVR to the Windows start-up folder', 'Minimise to system tray instead of closing', 'Start in the background/minimised to tray' and 'Wake the computer for recordings'.
- In Live TV pressing the round record button at the bottom of the screen instantly starts a manual recording of the current live TV channel and clicking it again stops the manual recording.
- Get at least seven channels listed in the TV Guide in full screen mode by right-clicking on the SichboPVR.exe file in C:\Program Files\SichboPVR and clicking on 'Properties', then on the 'Compatibility' tab and checking the box 'Override high DPI scaling behaviour', especially when Display scaling in Windows is set to greater than 100%.
- Timeshifting in Live TV can be turned off (or on again) by clicking on the Settings icon next to the Stop button at the bottom of the Live TV screen and then clicking on the Timeshifting On/Off button. You can set the 'Timeshift Buffer Size' in GB to any number you want in setup > advanced > tweakage (the default is 10GB).
- For Picture-in-Picture hold Ctrl key + Click in the TV Guide to play multiple channels in new windows.
SichboPVR supports DVB-T/T2 Terrestrial, DVB-S/S2 Satellite, DVB-C Cable and ATSC tuners, has support for channels that use the newer H265 HEVC Video Decoder, support for XMLTV EPG files, WMC/MCE remotes and playback of .mpg and .mp4 videos in tv > folders (and in tv > recordings if .mpg and .mp4 videos are placed in your recordings folder).
I've been impressed with SichboPVR and find it easy to use as I don't need instructions as simply clicking on a symbol or word with the mouse usually performs a function. There's a good Help section on the SichboPVR website.
My best PVR was the old Windows Media Center but I find SichboPVR to be the best PVR now. I can't find anything to complain about as it does everything I want and more, and is in regular improvement judging by the Version history / Release notes above (worth a read to learn of its features).
Hope the tips given above are of help to others.
- To quickly schedule a recording, simply left-click or right-click on a programme in the TV Guide so the 'Show Times' window appears, click on the round record button which turns red and the scheduled recording is now set, while clicking on the round record button again cancels the scheduled recording. In the 'Show Times' window clicking on 'Advanced' you can manually set a single recording by clicking on 'New Time' in 'Queue', or setting a recurring recording such as daily or weekly by clicking on 'Specific channels and times'. If you click on the clock symbol next to the round record button it simply schedules a channel change during live TV so you don't miss watching a programme.
- Click on setup > channels > List1 to select your favourite SD and HD channels in List1 which will appear when clicking on 'List1' in the TV Guide. Rename 'List1', 'List2', etc. by selecting the word 'List1' to delete it and type in a new name, and sort the channels by numbers or alphabetical order.
- All recordings can be saved in its own series folder if you add Title\ in setup > advanced > recording folder so it states Title\Title ChannelName ChannelNumber Date Time.
- If there's no video or sound in Live TV you would need to download and install decoders such as 'LAV Filters' and then select 'LAV' in the 'Decoders' section in setup > advanced. To change a video or audio decoder, click on 'setup' in the top-left, then on 'advanced', then under 'Decoders' select the decoder's name (e.g. MPEG2Video, H264Video, H265Video, MEPG2Audio, AC3Audio, etc.) and choose the decoder such as 'LAV'. In LAV video and audio settings, ensure mp2, mp3, aac, ac3, mpeg2, h264, h265, etc. are enabled.
- Left-clicking on any Channel name/logo at the left of the TV Guide provides a list of programmes for only that specific channel, just like you could do in the old Windows Media Center TV Guide. When clicking on the Calender symbol on the top-right of the TV Guide (next to the arrow) the days of the week appear and clicking on any day displays the listings for that specific day in the TV Guide. Also, you can use the left and right click of your mouse wheel to scroll left or right in the TV Guide.
- Pressing the F1 button on the keyboard and selecting the word 'Shortcuts' with the mouse provides a list of keyboard shortcut keys.
- 'Reclocking of recorded files' in setup > advanced > tweakage ensures correct timestamps in recordings so they play properly in third-party media players and import into advanced video editing software without issue, unlike occasional 'faulty' recordings made by my old Windows Media Center which sometimes had incorrect timestamps that come from the broadcaster.
- In tv > recordings, click on the recording and an options window appears and then click on 'Edit' to activate the video editor for trimming .ts recordings where, for example, you can manually cut out commercials from recordings if required. Simply find the start and end of the commercials and each time click on the 'Cut' button, then click on the tick which changes to an 'X' which disables that section of the recording. Lastly click the 'Save' button and it saves to a folder of your choice in original (lossless) quality as no video encoding is done.
- In Live TV start typing a channel name (exclude any space, e.g. skynews) and press on 'Enter' once on your keyboard and the channel will change, or use the mouse wheel (up and down) in the lower left corner to find and change channel.
- To ensure scheduled recordings take place, in setup > advanced > tweakage, ensure the following boxes are checked/enabled: 'Add SichboPVR to the Windows start-up folder', 'Minimise to system tray instead of closing', 'Start in the background/minimised to tray' and 'Wake the computer for recordings'.
- In Live TV pressing the round record button at the bottom of the screen instantly starts a manual recording of the current live TV channel and clicking it again stops the manual recording.
- Get at least seven channels listed in the TV Guide in full screen mode by right-clicking on the SichboPVR.exe file in C:\Program Files\SichboPVR and clicking on 'Properties', then on the 'Compatibility' tab and checking the box 'Override high DPI scaling behaviour', especially when Display scaling in Windows is set to greater than 100%.
- Timeshifting in Live TV can be turned off (or on again) by clicking on the Settings icon next to the Stop button at the bottom of the Live TV screen and then clicking on the Timeshifting On/Off button. You can set the 'Timeshift Buffer Size' in GB to any number you want in setup > advanced > tweakage (the default is 10GB).
- For Picture-in-Picture hold Ctrl key + Click in the TV Guide to play multiple channels in new windows.
SichboPVR supports DVB-T/T2 Terrestrial, DVB-S/S2 Satellite, DVB-C Cable and ATSC tuners, has support for channels that use the newer H265 HEVC Video Decoder, support for XMLTV EPG files, WMC/MCE remotes and playback of .mpg and .mp4 videos in tv > folders (and in tv > recordings if .mpg and .mp4 videos are placed in your recordings folder).
I've been impressed with SichboPVR and find it easy to use as I don't need instructions as simply clicking on a symbol or word with the mouse usually performs a function. There's a good Help section on the SichboPVR website.
My best PVR was the old Windows Media Center but I find SichboPVR to be the best PVR now. I can't find anything to complain about as it does everything I want and more, and is in regular improvement judging by the Version history / Release notes above (worth a read to learn of its features).
Hope the tips given above are of help to others.
Review by vh688 on
Jul 22, 2018 Version: 3.1.13
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
As an old school Windows user I initially found the setup unfamiliar and awkward.
But now it's configured the interface is refreshing and usable.
I too was suspicious about the Web installation, but now I just think it's efficient. Not a squeak out of my security stuff.
Above all this software deals with my frequently poor signal better than most and I can start recording seriously again.
Thanks and kudos to the developers. Recommended.
But now it's configured the interface is refreshing and usable.
I too was suspicious about the Web installation, but now I just think it's efficient. Not a squeak out of my security stuff.
Above all this software deals with my frequently poor signal better than most and I can start recording seriously again.
Thanks and kudos to the developers. Recommended.
Review by AlanC on
Mar 30, 2018 Version: 3.1.13
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
SichboPVR is one of the best PVRs I've used. It's amazing. The UI is very modern and attractive. It's so easy to use. I just right-click a show in the TV Guide (EPG) and get options to schedule a recording by clicking on the round button (that's all I need to do to schedule a recording). Selecting 'Advanced' and clicking on 'Specific dates and times' and I can schedule recordings daily or on certain days of the week at specific times. What I like is clicking on 'All times' and it only schedules recordings for the original scheduled recording time and not for any repeat broadcasts, unless I select 'Record duplicate episode descriptions' so it also schedules repeat/rerun broadcasts. There's also manual recording in the live TV screen by clicking on the record button.
Or if I click on 'Search' at the top and type a TV show name, then click on the show name and I can schedule its recording. I also like how it still makes the scheduled recording if the recording time is changed by the broadcaster within 20 minutes earlier or later. I can schedule to record a series on one channel or on all channels, I just right-click on the show name in the TV Guide, click on 'Record Series' and select 'All times' of the channel name, or click on 'Any channel or time'. There's also record padding whereby the scheduled recordings can start earlier and/or end later at the minutes you specify.
There are many tweaks that can be made by selecting setup > advanced at the top left. I like how clicking on the time in the top-right opens the Scheduled recordings page directly (tv > recordings > schedule) which lists the scheduled recordings and where I can select a show name and edit any scheduled recordings.
I have set the EPG to update at a specific time each day and even if the EPG update time is missed because my computer is alseep, the EPG update begins as soon as my computer wakes up. There's also the option to wake up the computer to update the EPG. For me it only takes about a couple of minutes to update the 7 day EPG (TV Guide).
I use SichboPVR with a dual DVB-T/T2 tuner but can also use it with satellite tuners. With dual or more tuners, you configure only one tuner and 'Slave' the rest of the tuners to the first configured one and that way you can watch and record more than one channel, or record on as many other available tuners. It even asks you if you want to slave the other tuners.
Installation is now using a standard setup installer and no longer uses Microsoft's ClickOnce to install, and installs in Program Files directory. The settings folder is in C:\ProgramData\SichboPVR (C:\ProgramData can be hidden on some computers) and I backup this SichboPVR folder as it contains my settings, etc.
Clicking on tv > recordings shows all the recordings which can be played inside SichboPVR or even edited by selecting the recording and the various options appear, after editing it can be saved to any folder.
Clicking on tv > explorer > (your tuner) > (your tv source) shows all the transponders with the channel names, etc.
There's also network options and a TV server where you can make live TV and recordings available on devices in your home network.
Or if I click on 'Search' at the top and type a TV show name, then click on the show name and I can schedule its recording. I also like how it still makes the scheduled recording if the recording time is changed by the broadcaster within 20 minutes earlier or later. I can schedule to record a series on one channel or on all channels, I just right-click on the show name in the TV Guide, click on 'Record Series' and select 'All times' of the channel name, or click on 'Any channel or time'. There's also record padding whereby the scheduled recordings can start earlier and/or end later at the minutes you specify.
There are many tweaks that can be made by selecting setup > advanced at the top left. I like how clicking on the time in the top-right opens the Scheduled recordings page directly (tv > recordings > schedule) which lists the scheduled recordings and where I can select a show name and edit any scheduled recordings.
I have set the EPG to update at a specific time each day and even if the EPG update time is missed because my computer is alseep, the EPG update begins as soon as my computer wakes up. There's also the option to wake up the computer to update the EPG. For me it only takes about a couple of minutes to update the 7 day EPG (TV Guide).
I use SichboPVR with a dual DVB-T/T2 tuner but can also use it with satellite tuners. With dual or more tuners, you configure only one tuner and 'Slave' the rest of the tuners to the first configured one and that way you can watch and record more than one channel, or record on as many other available tuners. It even asks you if you want to slave the other tuners.
Installation is now using a standard setup installer and no longer uses Microsoft's ClickOnce to install, and installs in Program Files directory. The settings folder is in C:\ProgramData\SichboPVR (C:\ProgramData can be hidden on some computers) and I backup this SichboPVR folder as it contains my settings, etc.
Clicking on tv > recordings shows all the recordings which can be played inside SichboPVR or even edited by selecting the recording and the various options appear, after editing it can be saved to any folder.
Clicking on tv > explorer > (your tuner) > (your tv source) shows all the transponders with the channel names, etc.
There's also network options and a TV server where you can make live TV and recordings available on devices in your home network.
Review by vh688 on
Mar 3, 2018 Version: 3.1.0.
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
This would be so far perfect if only I was able to set the pause buffer to whatever size I wanted. I otherwise use win mce if I want to use my 8 hour buffer.
Review by kakureru on
Apr 8, 2016 Version: 3.0.0.115
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
I love it! This is the one to choose if you just want PVR functionality and no fluff. The installer is simple and automatic. It's so easy, there aren't even any instructions. Compare that to programs like Kodi that Einstein would have trouble with. The app opens instantly (no waiting for stuff to load, just bing! there you are!) The interface is beautiful and the EPG is pulled from the broadcast signal. It's controllable with WMC remotes. The only thing I could find to complain about is the sub-menu that opens when you select a show is a little bit hard to navigate by remote.
Review by rogeroo on
Dec 14, 2015 Version: 3.0.0.149
OS: Windows 10 64-bit Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
I am not sure I trust this application since it goes to great pains to hide itself and seems to launch from a website using some ClickOnce technology where you cannot see the executable files. The setup file is only ~400Kb while it downloads a 21+ Mb file, which installs something then seems to delete itself. Seems very suspect-like it is trying to hide something. Not to mention that minutes after installing this application McAfee reported it deleted a Trojan file from my machine.......
OTOH it looks really nice, but with how it is deployed and the lack of reviews and also the fact that my companies webserver blocks their website as malware, I remain circumspect about the app developers and their motives. Because of these things I specifically gave it a very low score on ease of use.
OTOH it looks really nice, but with how it is deployed and the lack of reviews and also the fact that my companies webserver blocks their website as malware, I remain circumspect about the app developers and their motives. Because of these things I specifically gave it a very low score on ease of use.
Review by qz3fwd on
Oct 30, 2014 Version: 3.0.0.124
OS: Windows 7 Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
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