DVR-MS

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Revision as of 15:16, 2 May 2006 by DonDiego (talk | contribs) (consistent spelling for DVR-MS)
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DVR-MS is the format used to record television shows in Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. The format is based on the ASF specification. The video codec used is MPEG2 and the audio codec is normally MP2 although it can be AC3 for HTTV depending on how the signal is broadcast.

DVR-MS files have built-in support for DRM which is added to the recording if the broadcast stream is marked as copy protected. In such cases the recording can only be played back on the device it is recorded on. (An exception to this is that hardware based Media Center Extenders can play back DRM-enabled files provided they have been upgraded to the latest firmware.)

While DVR-MS files do conform to the ASF specification there are are some unusual features that are not publicly documented. In particular the following are of note:

- Unlike in WMV files the change of the media object number in a sub-packet does not imply that the video frame is now complete. The only way to detect the end of the video frame is to use a codec-specific process to analize the stream and determine when a compete video frame has been read.

- All frames in a DVR-MS file are marked as keyframes which makes it impossible to write correct stream-seeking functions without resorting to codec specific code.

- The audio stream header in a DVR-MS file is stored in the header extension object rather than a standard stream header object. The GUID for the audio stream has never been published by Microsoft which has made it difficult for open source programs to correctly play the format. However the GUID has now been discovered and several open sources media players are now finally capable of playing DVR-MS files.

The DVR-MS format is also currently used by MediaPortal to record television shows.